Sports Recap: Hockey, Volleyball, and Basketball

by Talia Herbst, SSLI '25

This week, students returned to sports after a week of midterms. It was a busy week for all the Schechter athletes. Girls Varsity Basketball and Boys Varsity Hockey held their senior nights, honoring Rachel Sedaghat, Aaron Bazini, Jordan Rudsky, David Pearlman, and Jared Pitzer.

Girls Varsity Volleyball

On Tuesday night, the girls had a big victory. They won all three sets against North Shore Hebrew Academy, which then advanced them into the quarter finals that will be played next week. Today, the girls played against SKA (Stella K. Abraham), winning 3-1 with strong plays in the first and last set.

The team worked hard for their victory. (A. Duftler)

The girls on the team have been dedicated all year long. Captain Lily Weissberg explained, “With all our hard work, we really deserve this. We have fought game after game and set after set.” Coach Josh Jurysta is very proud of the team. He shared that the win on Tuesday, which is now moving them to the quarter finals, “is just a testament of their hard work and dedication as to what we've been working on for the past few months.”

Weissberg shared, “I can’t even express how much I appreciate and am proud of all of our players and our wonderful Coach Jurysta.” Jurysta added, “Nothing about this was easy; [the girls] winning and being successful is a result of their hard work and the time and effort they put in.”

Weissberg concluded, “I’m so proud of how far we have come, and I’m so glad that during my last season as a Schechter Lion, I’ve been part of such an amazing season!”

Girls and Boys Varsity Basketball

Both Girls Varsity Basketball and Boys Varsity Basketball played against Kew Forest this week. Yesterday, the girls won 54-15. Unfortunately, the boys lost their game on Tuesday 71-31, but they still held their heads high.

In the first half of the game, the team started off weak. Junior Jared Greenfeld stated, “Once we entered the second half, we started passing, cutting, and getting open more, so we started to get some more shots up.”

Freshman Yoni Pedram agreed with Greenfeld, saying, “I feel that we could have done better in the game. We really need to up our effort, and we should put more work in on [building] our stamina.”

The girls celebrated their senior captain! (H. Sedaghat)

Coach Dylan Stephenson described yesterday's Girls game as “terrific.” He continued, “We were able to come out and set the tone by getting a lead early. Our team was focused offensively and defensively, which led to us staying in control for the duration of the game, leading to a victory.”

This game was Captain Rachel Sedaghat’s last home game with the team. She expressed that she felt “sad, but happy to go out with a win.” Everyone on the team scored multiple times. Sedaghat shared, “It’s very monumental to me that in the first game I went from scoring all the points, to my last game at home everyone scored.” She continued, “It shows a lot about our team and our growth, resilience, and determination. We've faced a lot of adversity, but knowing that we can push through and have pushed through means everything to me.”

After many years of playing with Schechter, Sedaghat shared that her favorite part of the team is the bond that they all have: “All the girls have become my family, and I feel very close to all of them, knowing they have my back and I have theirs.”

The team continues to put a lot of effort and determination into helping them make it to the playoffs. Coach Stephenson added, “I am so proud of how far they have come, and it’s a credit to all the hard work they put in and continue to put in.”

Hockey

On Monday night, the boys had their last home game of the season. They unfortunately lost 11-1 against HANC (Hebrew Academy of Nassau County). Last night, the boys lost 10-2 against Flatbush.

The team continues to stay positive and to put up a fight despite the end results. Captain Noah Schor stated, “We played a good team and held our own nicely.” He continued, “To our seniors who have one game left [of the season], these games are really meaningful. We are all cherishing the time we have left together.”

Junior Liam Golan said, “We played a good game, and we definitely all tried our best.”

Schor added that he is “very excited for Ariel Duftler’s debut as goalie next week.”

Talia Herbst is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2021. Talia is currently a junior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: therbst25@schechterli.org.