Andrew Tsororos propels Hauppauge to Suffolk 'B' championship
Hauppauge's Andrew Tsororos (18) spikes for the kill against Sayville's Daniel Perun (12) during the Suffolk Class B boys volleyball final at Suffolk CC-Brentwood on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Andrew Tsororos said he and his teammates never again wanted to experience the pain they felt after losing in last season's county tournament.
A big performance from Tsororos and the Eagles on Tuesday ensured they wouldn't have to.
Tsororos had 22 kills and four aces, Bryan Seltenreich had 63 assists, and Jackson Wahl had 11 kills to lead No. 1 Hauppauge over No. 2 Sayville in the Suffolk Class B championship at Suffolk CC-Brentwood. Hauppauge won, 25-22, 25-21, 26-28, 25-22, to win its first boys volleyball county title since 2007, and will play for the Long Island championship at noon on Saturday at SUNY-Old Westbury.
"We lost in the semifinals last year and to come back and win it all this year, I love it. It's awesome," Tsororos said. "We didn't want to feel like we did after last year."
"In my opinion, we can't get the ball to him enough," Eagles coach Chris Varthalamis said. "When the opening occurs, there's nothing sweeter than Andrew getting that ball and putting it down. This was his year."
It was not a one-man show, though, as Wahl, Frank Cioffi and Adam Gorgone were also scoring threats, and Seltenreich set a single-match school record for assists, Varthalamis said.
"I can go anywhere with my passes," Seltenreich said. "Andrew's always there, and I have Jackson, Cioffi and Adam."
"We've been waiting and working so hard for this," Cioffi said. "We knew we had to come back out here and finish what we started last year."
The first two sets were both tied at 20, before Hauppauge pulled away late, while in a back-and-forth third, Sayville (9-7) fought off match point four times before taking the set.
"Sayville played an amazing match and showed a lot of heart," Varthalamis said.
In the fourth, Tsororos, Gorgone and Nick Crociata keyed a strong start to the set, as Hauppauge closed out the match.
"This is something I've never felt before. It's incredible and we're county champs now," Wahl said. "Most of us have been playing together for three years, so to finally accomplish something great like this is just incredible."
Said Tsororos: "This is the most fun I've had on a team. I love these guys."
