The girls varsity tennis team faced a tough opponent in its home opener, playing up a division against Kings Park in a mandatory nonleague match at East Hampton High School on Sept. 8.
The Bonackers gave the Kingsmen — or Kingswomen, if you will — a run for their money. With the teams tied at three matches apiece, the overall match came down to the results of first doubles. East Hampton’s Ava Mintz, a team captain, and Gila Minkow lost to a pair of Sofias — Keaton and Russo — of Kings Park. The match was perfectly tied at 6-3, 3-6, 3-3 before heading into a 10-point third-set tiebreak, called because of the setting sun. Mintz and Minkow would eventually lose that tiebreaker 10-7.
“They totally stepped up their game. They communicated well. They talked. They really worked as a team,” said Krista Brooks, the new varsity head coach. “I wish it came out the other way, but that’s still a win. They did good!”
And they weren’t the only doubles team to compete in a sunset tiebreaker. Klara Murphy and Rafaela DeMartis, at third doubles, beat Sam Katz and yet another Sofia — this time Paola — in a match that included two tiebreakers. The first set, which was tied 6-6, went to Kings Park 7-5 in a tiebreak. East Hampton would win the second set 7-5 and a tiebreak-only third set 11-9.
Despite the difference in divisions, Coach Brooks thought the girls held their own.
“Rafa and Klara coming up playing third doubles, going into a tiebreak, played really equal,” she said.
The other victories for Bonac came at second doubles and third singles. In doubles, Dylan Centalonza and Ella Field defeated Kaitlyn Baratini and another Sam — Scaduto — in straight sets 6-1, 6-0, leaving this reporter wondering whether one of the requirements to play for Kings Park is having the name Sofia or Sam.
In singles play, Molly Stillman defeated Danika Herkel in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, putting the question to rest.
Stillman’s former teammate Stella Brecker, who graduated in June, came by the tennis courts with colorful posters of Stillman and Ella Menu, a team captain and first-singles player, to show her love and support. Brecker will take part in a program in Italy later this fall before attending New York University in January.
Menu lost to Sarah Zaniel in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, but Brooks said there were plenty of positives she could take from the matchup.
“At the end of it we were talking about trying to focus on the good things she did, not the bad things that she did. Remember the serve that felt good. Remember that you realize that your feet weren’t moving as much as you thought they should and that was definitely part of the game and you’re going to try to adjust that,” Brooks said. “It’s the first time she’s been in first singles on the first court. That’s a lot. You just take the good pieces from the first match and bring them to the next one.”
In all, Brooks was pleased with the girls’ performance in the first real test of their abilities.
“I thought they played really well. They really stepped up their game. They played hard. They had a lot of nice shots. The points, the playing, they stepped it up in the end,” she said. “We have a few things to work on like foot movement and serves, definitely serves, and keeping our racquet up at the net. . . . But they worked hard. They fought for every point.”
