It was a lob, but not a deep one and Vir Vinnay Singh had plenty of time to execute the shot. The Friends Academy junior also had plenty of time to feel the gravitas of the situation.

This was the Quakers’ third straight trip to the state small schools boys team tennis championship match and they still hadn’t won one. On Friday, Singh wasn’t going to let this one get away. He rifled an overhead winner that gave him and Blake Dean a three-set victory at third doubles and Friends Academy a 3-2 triumph over Section I champion Byram Hills at the USTA National Tennis Center for its first state crown.

“It was stressful — the whole team wanted it and so did I,” Singh said after the 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win. “The first time we broke serve in the third set, Blake and I started coming on.”

“This is best feeling in the world,” said senior Ved Rawat, who was part of those two title-match defeats. “Finally [we’re] champions.”

Both championship-match losses were to the Section I champ (Bronxville, both years) and so this meeting promised to be taut and truly was. Will Bonner won at first singles without dropping a game and Hudson Lee and Steven Seviroli posted a 6-3, 6-2 win at first doubles for Friends (12-7). Vasily Ouyang-Christiansen won in straight sets at second singles and Byram Hills'  Casey Goldstein and Arun Das won a second doubles thriller over Rawat and Henry Koelmel, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

That put all eyes on Blake and Singh in their battle against Byram Hills’ Ethan Adamsky and Nevin Dani. Blake and Singh looked like they had a shot to win it in two sets until the Bobcats duo broke Singh’s serve and won the second set.

“They kept their heads in the game . . . they didn’t let things that went wrong get them down,” Quakers coach Owen Kassimir said.

If there is an irony to it all, Singh and Blake were not part of those teams that lost the two title matches. But they felt the urgency in the program.

“Everyone really wanted to win this season, but you can’t let it get into your head during the match if you’re going to win,” Doan said.

To reach the title match, Friends Academy posted a convincing 4-1 win over Section III champion Skaneateles. Bonner took first singles in straight sets while dropping only one game and the three Quakers doubles teams all won in straight sets while dropping an aggregate eight games over six sets.

Afterward, Bonner explained that the Quakers would go into the title match not with the regrets of the past two seasons, but with confidence and experience.

“It’s a new year, we know we’re a great team and we know we’re back for a reason,” he said.

“In the Long Island championship [win over Ross], you saw how resilient we can be when our second and third doubles teams came from behind to win,” Kassimir said. “It was there again today when it counted the most.

“Winning the championship? And winning it here?” he added. “That’s a feeling that can’t be beat.”