Weekly Roundup: High School Teams off to Hot Starts This Fall

The Hampton Bays girls volleyball team is nearing its first Suffolk County playoff berth since 2016. The Baymen are off to their strongest start yet, on a 7-0 run that was capped with a close 3-2 nonleague victory — 25-22, 25-27, 25-15, 14-25, 15-12 — over Mattituck September 16. It was the team’s closest matchup to-date, with Hampton Bays dropping one set twice and sweeping the rest of its competitors this season.

On Friday, junior outside hitter Tania Quiros finished with 18 kills and five aces and sophomore middle blocker Asha Pensa-Johnson added 12 kills and five blocks. Senior setter Brianna Quiros, Tania’s older sister, had 24 assists and 12 digs.

The girls cross country team also saw success this past week.

Sophomores Sumeja Bytyqi and Eman Khalid and freshman Adriana Tapfer all competed this past weekend at the Bob Pratt Invitational. Bytyqi’s race was a personal-best time by 24 seconds, and Khalid improved her best time by 27 seconds. Tapfer set a school record on the freshmen 1.5-mile course, breaking the previous record by 8 seconds with a time of 9:41.

Head coach Kevin O’Toole said Tapfer had her eyes set on Cameron Heaney’s 2012 course record since the end of last season, when she ran the course as an eighth-grader.

“She ran hard and executed her race strategy perfectly, going out hard early and sticking with the leaders for the length of the race,” O’Toole said. “She was thrilled with the outcome and really proud to have gotten the record that she’s been looking at for so long.”

The Westhampton Beach football team remains perfect on the season following a 36-18 win on the road at Amityville Saturday.

The Hurricanes (2-0) were led by junior quarterback Will Gambino, who ran the ball 2 yards for a touchdown and completed 14 of 20 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns. Junior wide receiver TJ Hill caught four passes for 61 yards and one touchdown and junior tight end and defensive end Jordyn Brown caught two passes for 46 yards and a touchdown and followed it up with a sack in the end zone to give Westhampton a 29-6 lead at the end of the first half of the Division III contest. Co-captains Luke Kilroy, a senior outside linebacker, and Noah Hebberd, a defensive end and guard, made six and five tackles across the victory, respectively.

The girls volleyball team is on a three-game winning streak after sweeping Miller Place and Comsewogue and beating Eastport-South Manor, 3-1, this past week. The Hurricanes (5-2 overall, 5-1 in League VI) topped the Sharks, 25-12, 25-11, 20-25, 25-17. Set results from the Panthers matchup were not available by press time.

The girls soccer team (2-2-1 overall, 2-1 in League IV) bounced back from a loss to Mt. Sinai last week with a 2-1 overtime win over Comsewogue Friday. Senior forward Isabella Blanco scored off a corner kick from junior midfielder Sarah Gormley with three minutes left in the second overtime period to lift the Hurricanes. Freshman midfielder and forward Khloe Hoda scored the opener in the second half and freshman goalkeeper Ava Failla made seven saves for Westhampton.

The boys and girls cross country teams are off to 1-0 starts following season-opening victories. The boys beat Islip, 18-37, and the girls took home a victory over Islip, 17-38, last Tuesday.

The boys golf team (2-0) is also perfect following a 9-0 sweep and 6-3 win over Center Moriches and East Hampton.

The Southampton girls soccer team (4-3 overall, 2-2 in League IV) had a three-game winning streak snapped by Mt. Sinai Monday.

CeCe Ginsberg made a game-high 16 saves for the Mariners, but the Mustangs’ (3-2, 2-1) Mia Betancourt found the back of the net off an assist from Taylor Pedra.

The loss comes after wins over Port Jefferson, Stony Brook and Hampton Bays.

During a 7-1 win over the Baymen, Juliette and Vivienne Archer both scored twice, Juliette and Jaylin Maloney each came away with two assists and Ella Liebnitzky made four saves.

The boys golf team is undefeated to start this season after a 7.5-1.5 win over William Floyd and a dominating 8-1 win over Center Moriches. The boys cross country team bounced back from a 24-31 loss to Center Moriches to start the season with a 19-44 victory over Elwood-John Glenn.

The Pierson/Bridgehampton boys soccer team (3-1 overall, 2-1 in League V) is on a two-game winning streak following a 2-1 victory at Center Moriches and 5-1 win over Greenport.

The East Hampton/Bridgehampton/Pierson girls swimming team is 1-0-1 to start the season with a win over Sachem East and tie with Connetquot/East Islip.

The Bonackers beat the Flaming Arrows, 90-72, in a nonleague contest last Wednesday after Ashley Leon won the 50-meter freestyle in 28.15 seconds and the 500 free in 6:16.39. In the nonleague tie against Connetquot/East Islip, Ava Castillo grabbed first in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:27.23 and 100 butterfly in 1:05.29.

The East Hampton boys soccer team is on a five-game tear following a 4-0 shutout of Hampton Bays Monday.

Michael Figueroa scored twice and Gary Gutama had three assists. Nicholas Guerrero made three saves for the Bonackers (5-1 overall, 3-0 in League III).

In a 3-1 nonleague win over Stony Brook Saturday, Jose Calderone scored twice. Figueroa and Gutama each added an assist and Guerrero made five stops.

The boys volleyball team, after having its three-game streak snapped by Sachem North last Tuesday, bounced back with a 3-0 sweep of Center Moriches September 15.

Alex Lombardo had 15 assists to lead East Hampton (4-1) in a 25-9, 25-18, 25-9 win. Hunter Eberbart had seven kills for the Bonanckers.

On the girls side, East Hampton had its three-game skid stopped by East Islip, which swept the Bonackers 3-0 — 12-25, 23-25, 18-25 — on Monday. East Hampton (3-3) outlasted Comsewogue in four sets Saturday to extend that streak to three. Katie Kuneth had 10 kills, six digs, four blocks and an ace and Emma Terry added eight kills, 13 digs, one block and two aces in the 25-16, 25-19, 21-25, 25-12 victory.

The boys golf team has won both its matchups this season, taking a meet over Pierson/Bridgehampton most recently, 9-0. The Bonackers also bested Center Moriches 7.5-1.5 back on September 8.

The girls cross country team is 2-0 in League V after a 24-41 win over Half Hollow Hills West and 15-40 victory over Rocky Point. The boys cross country also took home a victory in its first meet of the season Saturday. The Bonackers grabbed a 25-36 win over Half Hollow Hills West.

The East Hampton/Bridgehampton/Pierson girls swimming team is 1-0-1 with a nonleague win over Sachem East and tie with Connetquot/East Islip.

The Bonackers beat the Flaming Arrows, 90-72, last Wednesday after Ashley Leon won the 50-meter freestyle in 28.15 seconds and the 500 free in 6:16.39. In the tie against Connetquot/East Islip, Ava Castillo grabbed first in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:27.23 and 100 butterfly in 1:05.29.