The Dragons kicking off the new season of volleyball

Spencer Sharp / Sara Louie

The 2013-2014 season is starting soon for the HSMSE boys’ volleyball team, and their success this year is going to be uncertain. This year the PSAL decided to create two divisions for boys’ varsity volleyball. The Dragons were placed in the A division this year for their exceptional play last season; however, senior players who were the leaders of the team have graduated, leaving this year’s team searching for replacements.

The roster is going through big changes and that is going to affect their game play. Seniors Ardit Piroli and Yassine Khaliqui were the leaders in kills and hitting percentage last year. With their departure, this year’s team is going to have to designate new attackers. However, coach Nick Diunte does not seem worried about the changes, but does say that there is a lot to do before their first game of the season against Stuyvesant on March 24th.

“There is going to be a lot of work on the fundamentals of hitting during practice this year so that the new players can learn to be more offensive when they play,” he said.

The new placement into the A division will bring increased competition. Last year, they finished with a 7-5 record, tying High School for Environmental Studies for third place in their division. This year’s A division will contain teams from Louis Brandeis, High School for Environmental Studies, Stuyvesant High School, Fiorello H Guardia, and West 50th Street Campus. These teams were all playoff teams last season, but it is possible that they are going through the same changes that the Dragons are facing.

The new division holds many new challenges and the returning players are getting ready to face this year’s competition. Nicholas Jorquera is a bright spot and the only returning sophomore on the team.

“Now that we are in the A division we have the responsibility to improve,” Jorquera said. “Hopefully playing against more competitive teams continue to help us develop new skills.”

Jorquera played in eight of the twelve matches last season and seeks to gain more playing time.

“I know what the games look like, and what I have to improve to be a better volleyball player,” he said

The future for the Dragons is a mystery waiting to be unraveled. All of the teams that are in the division this year with them had a great showing last year, but Diunte stated that the Dragons have played against the other teams in the division and have been competitive with them. Despite the changes, he has high expectations that the team will be able to make the playoffs for a third straight season.

“I am confident in our ability to compete,” he said.

Written by Allan Lee and Yonatan Pechter

Metamorphosis of the HSMSE volleyball team



HSMSE Volleyball

 The HSMSE volleyball team is exceeding expectations this year. With a 2-0 win on April 30th over Martin Luther King Jr. High, the team clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2007. Under the coaching of Nick Diunte, the team went 7-5 this year.

Everyone contributed to the successful season. One of the key players is senior libero Kevin Chun, who is sixth in the city in digs. He kept many rallies alive and was a big factor in getting the team to the playoffs. Another key player is junior outside hitter Yassine Khaliqui, who is seventh in the league in digs and sixth in the league in kills. “I feel that my hard work becoming a good hitter has helped me become an effective player and allows me to contribute to the team,” said Khaliqui.

Coming into the season the HSMSE volleyball team had reason to doubt themselves. They were 5-7 last year and were 6-6 the year prior. They didn’t look like a playoff bound team.

Although they had reason to doubt themselves, the HSMSE volleyball team came into the season strong, believing that this year would be different. “I think that if we played our hardest, we can make it to a place where no HSMSE team has made it before,” said middle hitter Ben Moosher.

The HSMSE volleyball team went 7-5 this season and now they’re going to the out-of-bracket match up against Christopher Columbus High School. “It’s been five years since we made the playoffs. This is my third year on the team and in my first two years, we were close to making the playoffs. It felt amazing because all of our hard work finally paid off," said senior middle hitter Rudy Outar. Everyone was pleased with the win.

Coach Diunte when asked about the win said, "I was happy that we were able to clinch a spot on the playoffs. It was exciting to see the kids do what they needed to make the playoffs after coming close for the last two years."

No matter how far the team goes, they already have had a successful season. "We can at least win one game in the playoffs, not including the out-of-bracket match. We faced teams of different skills and talents, and we can match up against them," said outside hitter Thomas Kui.

2012 Boys' Volleyball Regular Season Statistics

2011 HSMSE Boys Volleyball Season Recap

2011 HSMSE Boys Varsity Volleyball Team

Although the HSMSE Dragons started out with a win, the passing season was a bumpy ride. HSMSE’s boys volleyball team is a rising club with no senior players. The team had five victories this season; however, this was just the beginning. As the team progresses to next season, they will be able to play better together. According to outside hitter, Yassine Khaliqui, the team was able to work together well, but still can improve. “We worked very well, bonded with each other so that next year we will be able to work better.”

After considerate thinking, players Leon Jon and Xinghai Zhang agreed that Thomas Kui is the team's most valuable player. The team plays considerably well when everyone on the team contributes and Kui greatly adds to the play on the court. Kui leads the team in multiple stats with 15 aces, 65 service points, and 33 kills. He especially provides support through his defense with 41 digs. When he returns spikes and makes plays, the whole team feels comfortable and encouraged.

Although there are no senior players, there are many players who now have a second year of competition under their belts. Everyone who was on the team last year greatly improved over this past season. Kenneth Hungria, a junior on the team, was one of the returning players from last season. His stats increased drastically this year. In the 2010 season, he had only 21 service points and 34 assists, which increased to 33 service points and 66 assists in the 2011 season. Many of the other players had similar increases. This shows how much better the team is getting and their ability to improve.

When asked about a memorable game for the team, coach Diunte reflected on their last of the season against Frederick Douglas Academy. He remembers having called a timeout at a pivotal point in the match and noticed a change in the team's attitude. “You could see after the timeout that they were determined not to lose that match,” said Diunte. The team’s evident determination drove them to push themselves in the game. Diunte remarked about their hustle during the game. “They dived for balls and saved plays [which] made for exciting game play.” This was the extra effort that gave them the 2-1 lead over FDA, which they were able to secure until the games end. The Dragons had encountered the team once before in early April but lost 2-1. This time around, Diunte noted that our own team, “Carried the momentum and easily won the game to avenge the loss against FDA.” In that game, Ardit Piroli made 9 kills while Thomas Kui had 18 service points and Kenneth Hungria led with 10 assists. With 20 assists overall, the boys volleyball team demonstrated that they are capable of working efficiently as a team when the circumstances are pressing.

Many of the players on the team see growth for next season. Freshmen player Spencer Sharp said, "We have a long way to go to reach the top because we are a young team. We are still growing. We can get a lot better over the year.” According to Sharp, the team played better as the season went along. “We got a feel of each person’s ability. Through playing together, we found out each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” Learning these strengths and weaknesses will allow the team to realize this improvement next season.

Contributed by: Marcelo Bravo, Daniel Lee, Haoli Mei and Ankhe Tomer

2011 Boys Varsity Volleyball Stats

Player Name	Matches	Aces	ServicePts	Assists	Blocks	Digs	Kills
Ardit Piroli	11	5	24	1	0	10	44
Benjamin Moosher	10	3	9	0	1	2	15
Benny Yan	7	0	3	0	0	1	3
Dionys Guiterrez	8	0	1	0	0	1	2
Jeremy Wain Hirschberg	12	10	53	68	0	19	17
Joan Lee	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kenneth Hungria	12	9	33	66	0	17	2
Kharizza A. Empedrado	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Leon Jon	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rudy Outar	12	7	42	1	1	12	24
Spencer Sharp	12	0	0	4	0	4	4
Thomas Kui	11	15	65	1	0	41	33
Xinghai Zhang	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yassine Khaliqui	12	9	40	2	0	30	29