The Boys Varsity Volleyball Team’s regular season has been very exciting as it wraps up before the post season.  Finishing with a record of 6-8 last season, they seem to be on pace for a similar record as they are 4-6.  With this being said, they still have a few weeks left in the regular season with a lot of hope for improvement and a run in the playoffs.  They have a great deal of talent from amongst their players, which is why they have high aspirations of making it far into the playoffs, and even winning a county championship.  The team is mostly juniors, but have a strong lineup of talent in younger and older players. For example, they have sophomores Charlie Byers, Joab Tan, and Sam Bersin as well as Seniors, Addison Chromy, Nico Scott, and Zach Tessler.  The team is currently coming off a tough loss in their most recent game against Massapequa on Wed Oct. 9, “We did not have the best game, but we are looking to further improve our record by practicing and getting stronger together as we move closer to the playoffs,” 11 Russell Schwartz. Russell, discussed how this concept has already been put into action the day after the tough loss because of the extra intensity in practice.  They did a lot of cardio to condition themselves as there is a great deal of mobility required and need to avoid fatigue if they want to do well.  The team also completed new drills created by their coach to improve their fundamentals and skills at many aspects of the game.  Some of the most important drills focus on covering off the block to continue a play going, and making smarter hits to not get blocked as often. This should lead to getting more kills by finding the holes in the opposing team’s defense.  Unfortunately, in the game against Massapequa, one of the star players, Alex Milner, got injured while going for a block on a hard spike, “I have a concussion, so I will be out for 1-2 weeks, but I should be back to take a big role in the playoffs” 11 Alex Milner.  The concussion was unfortunate for both Alex and the team as Alex plays a very prominent role playing outside, and the team was already dealing with a previous injury from Jacob Aponte earlier in the season.  Hopefully, Jacob should be healthy and back to playing soon, “I sprained my ankle in practice before a game 3 weeks ago, but I am back now to take an active role playing outside or middle if necessary due to others injuries” 11 Jacob Aponte.  Jacob mentions how he may have to play middle even though he primarily plays outside.  This is because Alex is not the only injured member of the team. Izais Clemmons is dealing with a bruised meniscus so Jacob may need to play Izais’s position, if Izais can not play in the next game.  The team’s next game is on Thursday October  17, at Schreiber and its against a familiar opponent, Great Neck South.  The team hopes to improve their record against them, “This is a team we have beaten before and one that we can do serious damage to again” said 11 Brandon Lam.  The team seems to remain optimistic after losing to Massapequa, which is likely due to their prior wins against East Meadow where they swept them. The boys played hard to win three straight sets out of five and did not permit East Meadow to keep any of the games close.  “We did not take our foot off the gas the whole game, we played very well and got the job done” said 10 Charlie Byers.  Prior to the East Meadow game, they another very close loss against one of the best teams, Syosset.  They were tied 2-2 after the first 4 sets and were tied 15-15 at the end of the 5th set, but lost by 2 in overtime.  Everyone played well that game including Russell, who was helpful in his near perfect serving with 2 aces.  They were just slightly out matched, but used that momentum to pummel East Meadow.  The team continues to keep it close against these good teams and beat the weaker ones, so improvement through their determination in practices should make them a post season threat.  They should have no problem going deep into the payoffs, especially if they can keep their active players healthy, and the injured ones recover in time for the playoffs.