Sports Recap: Softball and Volleyball Off to Great Starts

 by Shir Levenson, SSLI '26

The spring sports season is in full swing, and this week, teams have been working hard. Both Girls Varsity Softball and Boys Varsity Volleyball had busy weeks where they practiced and worked on building their skills for this season. Boys Varsity Volleyball also had their first game against Kushner, and the final score was 3-0 with the boys winning all 3 sets.

Girls Varsity Softball

Girls Varsity Softball held practice with the whole team on Monday, and they have continued to train each day. In preparation for their games, each girl has practiced their position, and the team practices their fielding, hitting, and base running skills.

The girls have been practicing hard and cannot wait for their first game. (Y. Pedram)

Madison Hoffman, a sophomore, explained that, “for our practice, we passed to warm up, and then we all went to specific positions in the field, and [Coach] Dylan hit [the ball], and we worked on catching, throwing, and base running.”

As the season starts, Hoffman shared that she is feeling “really excited, and I can’t wait to start having games.”

Girls Softball will play their first game next Tuesday against Portledge.

Boys Varsity Volleyball

Yesterday, Boys Varsity Volleyball won a competitive first game away at Kushner. 

Ephraim Berman, a sophomore, was excited to win the game. He shared that, “The game was very fun. We started off a little slow in the first set, but we got our mojo and came back to win it.” Berman shared that, throughout the game, “we definitely played well as a team, and we adapted, learned, and all-around supported one another.”

During the practices, students worked on perfecting specific skills, and each person had a position in which they played. Josh Jurmann, a junior, said, “As a team, we are trying to work on calling the ball and overall communication. That is the root of the game for us.”

Jurmann continued, “Tonight’s win was a team effort, and everyone was on their A-game. I feel very confident in the win, but it is still early in the season, and we have to keep the ball rolling and keep building momentum.”

Berman explained that in preparing for the game, the team worked on their mindset: “While you can be good, you can always be better, and we definitely try to be better than we were the day before.”

Coach Josh Jurysta, the director of the athletic department and volleyball coach, shared that, “Everyone got to play. While we were a little short-handed with a couple of our upperclassmen being sick or absent, people stepped up to fill those roles, and they did a great job doing that.”

Berman concluded, “I feel really good about this win, and I know everyone feels the same."

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