Coach Josh Jurysta and Varsity Volleyball Teams Receive Prestigious Awards

by Talia Herbst, SSLI ‘25

Recently, both Girls and Boys Varsity Volleyball received the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Academic Team Award. The AVCA is a large organization that oversees volleyball at many levels across the country.

Coach Josh Jurysta nominated the teams for this award. This distinguished award is given out to teams whose average Grade Point Average (GPA) was a 3.3 or higher in the 2023-2024 academic school year.

When Coach Jurysta first saw this award, he knew he had to nominate the teams. Jurysta wanted the athletes “to be recognized for all their hard work both in the classroom and on the court.” Jurysta is proud to say the teams’ GPAs “exceeded the threshold by a decent margin.”

Junior and player Micah Bidner stated, “This award really shows that Schechter students can do it all.”

Girls Varsity Volleyball Co-Captain and senior Hannah Fineman is really proud of the volleyball team. She said, “Being on this competitive varsity team, you have to stay after [school] and put in a lot of work, but we are all still managing to prioritize our academics.” She added, “As our coach always says, ‘We are student-athletes, not athlete-students. School always has to come first.’”

Co-Captain of Girls Varsity Volleyball, senior, and Paw Print Now editor Sasha Chernoff agreed with Fineman. She shared, “Sometimes it can be really challenging to balance volleyball and all of the homework and tests we have, so knowing that we finally get the recognition we deserve feels great.”

Congratulations Girls & Boys Varsity Volleyball! (Schechter Instagram) 

Additionally, Coach Josh Jurysta was named Thirty Under 30 by the AVCA organization. This prestigious award is given to thirty different volleyball coaches across twenty-four states. Jurysta was one of two coaches who received this award in the state of New York.

Jurysta explained that he asked the hockey coach, Coach Noah Roth, if he would be willing to write up a description to nominate him. Jurysta shared that Roth was “more than happy to do so.” Jurysta continued, “It's really cool and special to receive this award. I'm very humbled to be recognized.”

Congratulation Coach Jurysta! (Schechter Instagram) 

The Schechter Community is proud of Coach Josh Jurysta for his accomplishment. Fineman would like to thank Coach Jurysta “for motivating the team and keeping our priorities in order to maintain our academic standards and excel in our classes while still being competitive in volleyball and playing the sport that we all love.” 

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