Gabby Dellacono plays regularly at the United States Tennis Association 16-and-under level, which is a tad more intense, apparently, than high school tennis.

“They’re really calm,” Dellacono said of her opponents this season as a 14-year-old freshman at Stonington High School. “In USTA, everybody’s screaming, slamming balls against the fence. If you call it out, someone says, ‘Really? Are you serious?!’

“… Before I walked into high school tennis, I didn’t know if I would really like high school tennis. But I was close with all my teammates. And I love George (Crouse, longtime Stonington coach); I had lessons with him when I was younger. I was happy to play on his team.”

Dellacono brought a little of the feistiness she credits to her late grandfather Anthony Angelillo, a former member of the 82nd Airborne and a Golden Gloves boxer, to finish undefeated among Eastern Connecticut Conference opponents. She didn’t drop a set on the way to claiming the ECC singles title.

She also enjoyed the team aspect of a Bears program laden with underclassmen, which won the ECC Large Division championship in its first season competing in the division with all the league’s perennial powers.

Dellacono, 5-foot-8, whose serve was 93 mph the last time she was clocked, she said, finished 23-2 overall, the first Stonington freshman ever to earn all-state honors. She was named The Day’s 2016 All-Area Girls’ Tennis Player of the Year.

“She was smiling at the end,” Crouse said of Dellacono. “It’s a different concept than what she’s been doing in the USTA. Here, you beat other teams. You’re a part of it. I think she just enjoyed the team.”

Dellacono, who lost in the final to top-seeded Iris Gallo of Longmeadow, Mass., in her most recent USTA tournament in Springfield, Mass., is ranked sixth in Connecticut in her age group, 13th in New England. She will play in the USTA Zone Team Championships later in the summer in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Stonington was 14-0 in the regular season, falling in the semifinals of the Class S state team tournament to eventual champion Weston. Dellacono’s only two losses this season came to Weston No. 1 Cayla Koch, 6-3, 6-1, and to Trumbull’s Amy Zammarieh in the third round of the State Open, 6-2, 6-3. Dellacono was the 13th seed in the Open.

“I wanted to go farther. I didn’t play my best,” Dellacono said. “It’s still a big accomplishment.”

Despite sweeping through the regular season, Dellacono still found things she could work on, among them consistency. She tried to play her best every match and give up as few games as possible.

She won the ECC final, for instance, over defending champion Michaela Abate of St. Bernard 6-0, 6-2, the first set lasting just 17 minutes.

"Her serve is the hardest serve I've ever faced from a female," was Abate’s comment. "Like, oh my God. Crazy. I almost, like, knocked myself out with my racket five times."

Dellacono is currently working on her forehand.

“Getting more extension, trying to hit a more consistent ball instead of just flat,” said Dellacono, who travels daily to East Providence to work with USTA pro Mario Llano, who experienced the ATP Tour as a player. “… I want to go all the way with it.”

Dellacono comes from a baseball-oriented family. Her brother, Ben, plays at Stonington. Gabby said she golfed with her dad, Frank, at Stonington Country Club a lot when she was little and at one point happened upon the tennis courts there. She began attending clinics and taking lessons from Crouse at the Stonington Community Center.

“She was above the crowd,” Crouse said.

Dellacono thought about not playing high school tennis, but plans to return next year to continue with her teammates.

“It’s a good experience for her,” Crouse said. “I think she found it was.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com

The Day's 2016 All-Area Girls' Tennis Team

Player of the Year - Gabby Dellacono (Stonington)

Singles

Michaela Abate (St. Bernard)

Charlotte Johnstone (Stonington)

Laura Krick (Fitch)

Olivia Lyon (Ledyard)

Alaina Moger (Waterford)

Doubles

Claire Morehouse/Phoebe Townsend (Stonington)

Hannah Middleton-Krancberg/Brielle Fratoni-Jaskiewicz (Stonington)

Marissa Smith/Shannon Nosal (Old Lyme)