They did it, again.

The Barrington High School boys tennis team won its second straight state championship on Sunday, June 1, defeating East Greenwich 4-2 at Slater Park in Pawtucket. 

The victory capped a perfect season for the Eagles — undefeated in regular season matches and through the postseason. 

In fact, the title win extended Barrington’s undefeated streak to two full seasons, highlighted by the back-to-back championships. Barrington High School Coach Story Salit said one of the team members looked up the Eagles’ record over the past three seasons.

“We’ve won like 49 of our last 50 matches,” said Salit, who was named the 2024 Coach of the Year. (Salit said that despite leading the Eagles to their second perfect season, he expects the league will extend that award to a different coach this year.)

Barrington handled Moses Brown in the Division I semifinals last week, 4-0. The Eagles made quick work of the Quakers. 

“Luke was the first one off the court,” Salit said, referring to the Eagles’ number one singles player, Luke Sapolsky. The senior standout also won his match in the state championship finals against East Greenwich. Gabe Anderson won his match at number three singles, while Justin Kuo won at number four singles, and the number two doubles team of Merritt Birbiglia and Carlo Flores won its match for the 4-0 final. The Eagles’ number one doubles team was leading 5-1 in the third set when the Eagles locked up the team victory and championship trophy. 

Salit said his team was focused as they arrived for the Division I finals on Sunday — the match had been pushed back a day because of wet weather on Saturday. 

“It was kind of like business as usual,” Salit said. “They’re a reserved bunch.”

They are also a superstitious bunch, said the coach. As they exited the bus on Sunday, the players recalled that last year they had warmed up in a field off to the side of the courts. Despite there being plenty of room on the courts for warm-ups on Sunday, the team headed off to repeat its prematch prep. 

Salit said this year’s team also had to play some “Around the World” before the postseason final. The popular tennis game allowed the Eagles to focus on fun before facing off against their league competition. 

“It was cool, because it was kind of like that childhood joy,” Salit said, adding that there was often a different player winning the pre-match “Around the World.”

Once they stepped onto the court for the D-1 finals, Barrington was focused on winning. 

“The veteran core of the group, especially Luke and Bryce (Kupperman), they’re more reserved. When they’re on the court, they’re there to do business,” Salit said. “They are there to have fun, but they have a very serious expectation for what they are to do.

“I’m happy that the seniors got to go out the right way,” Salit said, of the Eagles’ championship. “For them, it’s kind of a legacy thing.”

Salit said this year’s team may not have been quite as dominant as last year’s undefeated squad, but praised the players’ ability to achieve the same perfect results. 

Barrington High School will graduate five players from the back-to-back title winners: Sapolsky, Kupperman, Henry Birbiglia, Ian Davis, and Sam Powell. Salit said this year’s seniors were a great group. He said it will be particularly difficult to fill the gap left by Sapolsky’s upcoming graduation. Sapolsky was the number one singles player for three straight years.

“No one’s going to fill those shoes. He’s obviously one of the best players in the state,” Salit said. “And we’ve taken him for granted too much.”

Too quiet

Salit said the team seemed subdued on the bus ride home, following the state championship victory. They were so quiet that Salit decided to keep them at the school a bit longer after they returned from the match. He and the team then walked all around the school campus taking photos with the state championship trophy. 

“We had a lot of fun,” he said.