Sports Recap: Volleyball, Basketball, and Hockey

 by Shir Levenson, SSLI '26

This week was full and exciting for the Schechter community as sports games were won one after another. After Girls Varsity Volleyball's success last week, Boys Junior Varsity (JV) Basketball, Girls Varsity Basketball, and Boys Varsity Hockey celebrated wins this week.

Girls Varsity Volleyball

Coach and Head of the Athletics Department Josh Jurysta shared that Girls Varsity Volleyball was off this week after winning three games last week. He then explained that they will “get back to games the week we get back from [winter] break.”

Coach Jurysta shared his feelings on the team's successes: “I’m excited about it, I think they [the team members] are excited about it. I'm glad that their hard work is translating into success on the court…and into wins. There's just something about coming into school the next morning as a winner that is irreplaceable in many ways…I want them to experience that more.”

Boys Junior Varsity Basketball 

Boys JV Basketball won their game on Tuesday against Kew Forest 50-31.

Boys Varsity Basketball beat Kew Forest. (E. Herbst)

Zach Staiman, a junior, felt that the game “was very productive…. I’m proud. The teamwork was on point that day, passing was good, and shooting was good. I know Harrison [Kolin] had a couple of points, [and] Issac [Aldad] put up a good fight.”

Staiman hopes “to continue working together, practicing efficiently, passing the ball around, keeping our heads up, and [having] good motivation…and teamwork.”

Girls Varsity Basketball 

Girls Varsity Basketball won their game on Tuesday against Kew Forest 35-10.

The girls worked hard for their first win of the season. (R. Marcus)

Talia Herbst, a senior, shared that in preparation for the game, “one of the things we did was sit in a circle and come up with goals we want to accomplish for our game. One of the goals was communicating with each other better, and I think we definitely checked that box off.”

Herbst is proud of the team’s accomplishments and feels that as “a team we [should] continue to keep our hopes up, continue to smile through the game, continue to accomplish all of our goals, and get results similar to what we got on Tuesday.”

Boys Varsity Hockey 

On Wednesday, the Boys Varsity Hockey Team played an exciting game, winning 5-4 over Hillel. Since this was their last home game, the team celebrated Senior Night, where team members made posters for seniors Noah Schor, Ariel Duftler, Sam Palter, and Liam Golan to honor their commitment and dedication to the team.

The boys not only celebrated their first win, but also Senior Night. (Paw Print Live Instagram)

Jonah Resnick, a junior, shared that, “It was a great win. The game-sealing score [at the end] was able to propel us forward to win the game and get our first win of the season.”

Resnick is proud to be a member of the Storm and shared that his favorite part is “the camaraderie of it all. We’re not just a team, we're like a family. We’re all there to support each other no matter what. If someone makes a mistake, we help them grow and help them get better.”

Shir Levenson is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2022. Shir is currently a junior at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: slevenson26@schechterli.org