Stonington — Waterford sophomore Sarah Hage earned every point of the Eastern Connecticut Conference girls' tennis tournament singles championship on Wednesday.

Challenger Maddie Hamm of Stonington made sure nothing came easy for the defending champion.

Some rallies went on for an exhausting amount of time, with both players refusing to give in.

In other words, it was a typical Hage versus Hamm match.

"If you watch their matches, it's like a battle," Waterford coach Ed Kolnaski said. "That's what they always do. They always have these long, long rallies."

Hage, the top seed, emerged from the entertaining match with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the rematch between last year's finalists.

"It feels really special," Hage said of winning two straight singles titles. "At the same time, I think I worked really hard for it."

In last year's final, the two players battled for three hours, 16 minutes, before Hage won in three sets. It took one hour, 39 minutes on Wednesday but it also was a fierce fight to the finish.

After dropping five straight games to lose the first set, Hamm, the No. 2 seed, picked up her energy and intensity levels and stood locked at 4-4 heading into the key ninth game of the second set.

This is when both players really displayed their competitive spirit, talent and tenacity.

They ran down and traded impressive shot after impressive shot, going to deuce four times before Hage won to go up 5-4.

"I was really hoping to get that game to go up 5-4," Hamm said. "I thought that game was pretty crucial in the set because it could have helped win that second set. But she got it, she worked for it and she deserved it."

In the next game, Hage finally finished off Hamm to clinch the title.

"It was definitely nerve-racking," Hage said. "It was the ECC finals so I knew both of us were definitely going to play differently. Both of us wanted to win every single point. ... We had so many games that were deuce and adds. Sometimes, it would be add-in, then it would be deuce and add-out. It kept going back and forth.

"At that moment, you just have to think about every single point rather than think about a third set or the rest of the set. So, I just tried to focus on every single point."

Hage's ability to consistently hit winners at critical points enabled her to pull out the match.

"She's like the nicest person," Kolnaski said. "But when she gets on the court, she's still nice but she's very tough. She wants to win every point. That was a battle, because Maddie is just an unbelievable player."

Hamm has had an impressive high school career. She reached three ECC singles finals, winning the crown in 2019.

"I'm happy," Hamm said. "Every year my goal has been to just get to the finals and then see what happens. I won my freshman year. I was really happy about that and everything else would be a plus. I'm really happy for her."

In a stunning result, freshman Marcella Hamm and sophomore Lauren Buckley became the first No. 7 seed to win the doubles title. They beat Stonington teammates Katie Johnstone and Katya Snegovskikh, 6-3 and 6-2.

Hamm and Buckley play No. 3 doubles for the Bears.

"It's incredible," Buckley said. "We just came in saying, work hard for it, play point by point. We worked so hard and it came out in our favor. I still just can't believe it."

They admitted to being a bit intimidated facing their teammates — Stonington's No. 1 doubles duo and defending ECC doubles champions.

Hamm, Maddie's younger sister, added that they felt no pressure because no one expected them to reach this point, never mind win.

"It's always nerve-racking to play your own teammates in the final, but we thought of it as we've come this far and there's no pressure," Marcella Hamm said. "We've just got to play our best."

And the winning duo did just that.

g.keefe@theday.com