Long Beach gaining confidence

Its record might not reflect it, but the Long Beach boys’ volleyball team seems to have finally put its struggles behind.
Long Beach (1-4, 1-4 Conference B) snapped a 23-match losing streak with a four-set win over Valley Stream Central on Sept. 12, ending a drought that dated to Oct. 5, 2021. That victory pushed the Marines’ record to 6-2 at the time, but they went on to lose the final six matches of that season, including a postseason contest, all 16 matches in 2022 and the season opener on Sept. 7.
Long Beach did not even win a single set last year. That slump ended when it won the second stanza 28-26 at Levittown District before dropping the last two to lose the opener.
“It wasn’t something that we brought up too much in practice,” coach Nick Smith said. “We tried to put last year completely in the rearview and only examine it for a positive learning experience. But that feeling of, ‘when are we going to get that first win,’ was definitely there and getting over that big hill definitely led to a confidence boost for our kids as well.”
The Marines almost won a second time, but surrendered a 2-0 lead to Hicksville on Sept. 22. They continued to hang tough in a straight sets loss at East Meadow five days later, falling 25-23 and 26-24 that finished the Jets’ sweep.

But a tournament at Port Washington last Saturday assured Smith that his team would be fine moving forward. The Marines swept a powerful Syosset team and split a pair of sets against Hauppauge and Port to earn the top spot in their pool before losing in the semifinals.
“[Saturday], more so than any other day, the team felt that relief of pressure of feeling like they can’t play with the best kids, feeling like they can’t compete with the top teams,” Smith said.
Offensively, All-Conference player Kieran Sandmeier leads the team with 40 kills. He has been switching between outside hitter and the right side this season, but is a threat anywhere on the court.
“Kieran is a dynamic athlete who has an extremely high contact point,” Smith said. “He can hit over and around almost any block in the county and he can hit from the back row, he can hit from outside, he can hit from the right side. He’s definitely our most versatile hitter.”
Fellow senior and tri-captain Shane Ferrante has 20 kills, All-Conference junior Brody Schuh is also off to a solid start with a 39 percent hitting percentage, and senior tri-captain Sean Sarmuksnis has also been a “consistent hitter”, Smith said. Setting up the offense is junior Hayden Lipinski with 83 assists.
The Marines also have a promising young nucleus in sophomores Logan Puzack, Jackson McGahan and Jack Feerick, who all had solid performances during the tournament, according to Smith. Athletic junior Brian Cash has been known for his highlight-reel kills when in the lineup.
Senior Troy DeFrancesco is a tenacious defender with 28 digs and the 6-foot-2 Schuh has used his tall frame to block 13 shots.