1 Photo
Wyatt Zeledon, left, is a key returning player for the Bonackers this season, while Cameron Mitchell was one of five players who have since graduated. RON ESPOSITO
The East Hampton boys volleyball team graduated five of its starters after its first-round playoff loss at East Islip last season. They included some big names in Judah D’Andrea, Aydin Kastrati, Cameron Mitchell, Cashus Muse and Isaac Rodriguez.
When going over his lineup this past Sunday, head coach Josh Brussell said he could very well start a freshman, four sophomores, a junior or a senior. For some teams, that might be a little scary. But he’s not worried. Not one bit.
“We’re real young, but I don’t want to go one way and say we’re going to be really good this year, and I don’t want to say it’s going to be a bad year, and I also don’t want to say it’s a rebuilding year because those four sophomores started as freshmen last year,” he explained. “I think we’re going to be a very fun team to watch. We’re going to be scrappy, we’re going to have some big hits, some big blocks. And these guys just seem to be enjoying the game more than the average team. They’re more together, and what’s really cool about all of it is that it’s such a diverse group. And I think that just makes it really, really cool to see the boys working together the way they are.”
A pair of returning sophomores, Wyatt Zeledon and Marcus Oransky, lead the team coming into this season. Both were setters last season but have grown a bit in the offseason and will play the front row now. Freshman Adrian Bello will play middle or outside hitter this season, but Brussell said he could also play a third setter role in what will mainly be a 6-2 format for the Bonackers this season.
Brussell said something clicked in Aaron Torres over the offseason, and he expects a huge leap from him this season.
“He went from backup middle to now he’s our go-to guy,” he said. “He’ll be our outside hitter. He’s been unbelievable in summer workouts.”
Alan Rodriguez will be ditching the libero shirt he wore all last season, but will be staying on the back row where he’ll continue to help out on defense, but will also be relied upon for his hitting. Brussell said what he lacks in power behind his hits he more than makes up for in his hands and smarts.
C.J. Baumrind will be taking over as libero, and he’ll be used mainly for his serving and playing good defense. Another senior who didn’t play last year — but has in the past — and is returning this season is Nick Serrano. He’ll be another libero.
“We have so many options this season,” Brussell said. “We’re not as tall as we were last year, so it’ll be a different kind of year for us. I’ve changed our serve/receive.
“Again, I have no idea exactly how we’re going to do, but it’s a nice change,” he added. “Normally, everything is all about winning. But with all the young kids coming up, it’s more like we’ll see what happens and we’re building toward our junior and senior years. But they’re coming in as workhorses, which has given them this whole new perspective on things, which is really cool.”
Brussell said there are some interesting things going on in the boys volleyball landscape across Suffolk County. The sport is continuing to grow. Schools like Hampton Bays and Smithtown Christian are adding junior varsity and middle school programs that will eventually lead to varsity teams. Central Islip is back this year. And while Center Moriches recently dropped its varsity team, that was due to having almost exclusively freshmen and sophomores.
While the sport is growing, the bad news is that a shortage of officials has seemed to hit the sport harder than some of its fall season counterparts, to the point where the county has had to change the schedule multiple times in the lead up to the season. Because of that, the schedule is a bit funky. The Bonackers, a Division II school come playoff time, will play more Division I schools during the regular season. And because of where they were ranked in the preseason, they won’t play any of the top three DII schools, such as East Islip, Eastport-South Manor or Westhampton Beach during the regular season. Brussell also said the county advised against programs scheduling nonleague matches and having matches on Saturdays with the official shortage reaching what seems to be a fever pitch.
Because of all of that, East Hampton will play a straight up 14-match schedule, with the first half of the season, the entire month of September, solely against DI opponents, starting at Northport this Thursday, September 5, at 5 p.m. The home opener is set for Tuesday, September 10, against Central Islip at 4:30 p.m. It won’t play its first DII opponent until October 7 at home against Hauppauge.
