Southampton Boys Tennis Posts A Dominant Win Over Hampton Bays

The gusting wind wasn’t going to stop Southampton’s boys tennis team from blowing away the competition on Monday, with the Mariners (3-8) taking all their matches in straight sets over Hampton Bays, 6-1.

One of the first off the court was Southampton senior captain Luke Sacconaghi, who topped classmate Noah Sanabria, 6-2, 6-1.

“His game just keeps getting better and better and better,” Southampton head coach Juni Wingfield said of his standout player.

Sacconaghi said the weather was a challenge, but he quite literally pushed through it.

“It’s a different game, for sure. It’s very difficult. It makes things a lot harder,” the senior said. “But I served well today. I was hitting my serves a little lighter because of the wind and was trying to focus more on being consistent instead of hitting harder.”

The longest and one of the most exciting matches, though, was the lone win for Hampton Bays (0-12), a tiebreak victory from junior Israel Pulla over sophomore Lucas Bencardino, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).

“They each won such great points. There were long rallies,” Hampton Bays head coach Diana Vamvakitis said. “I think they played great — both of them.”

Wingfield agreed, adding that he was especially impressed with the long volleys considering the conditions.

Southampton senior Luke Bryan topped Hampton Bays junior Santi Salazar, 6-3, 6-2, at third singles, and Southampton senior Daniel Sibre defeated Hampton Bays freshman Chris Clinton, 6-3, 6-0, at fourth singles. The No. 1 doubles duo of Charlie Davis and Yassine Boukaissi beat Dylan Foley and Bobby Casabianca, 6-3, 6-2; Raphael Garcia and Yostin Sandoval took their No. 2 doubles match over Ryan Connolly and Kael Schoerlin, 6-1, 6-2; and brothers Andrew and Matt Villalobos bested Adrian Santamaria and Erik Sandstrom, 6-0, 6-2.

Vamvakitis said she was proud of her student-athletes for giving it their all. “I think that they’ve grown a lot individually,” she said. “They played really well. We have a lot of beginner players and novice players, and you can definitely see a big difference from the beginning of the season to now.”

Sacconaghi said he’s also likes how his team has improved over time. “We’ve come together well,” he said. “Most teams have some better players, but we’re a good team, we stick together and we play our best. We just have to keep playing better every game and carry that into the individual tournament.”

Wingfield said although the dominant win is exciting, what thrills him is the fact that his athletes know it’s not as much about the victories as it is the growth across the season.

“They know my mantra,” Wingfield said, laughing. “I send them all kinds of messages, and the last message I sent them was: ‘The season is not about winning or losing, but about who you have become.’ I’m watching them become these incredible individuals who understand that full effort is fully victory. And every time they come out, they work hard.”