Thursday, October 1, 2026
Long Beach’s boys’ volleyball team has gotten off to quite the start, with a 6-2 mark and in third place in Nassau Conference B. The Marines took care of business last Friday on the road with a sweep of Uniondale.
“These kids have a love for the game,” Marines coach Stew Ratzken said. “They play all year round both on the beach as well as club. Their volleyball IQ’s are getting stronger and wider as well as their strength, physical strength and maturity. All of these things are coming into play and you could see the results on the court.”
Ratzken relies plenty on three captains. Senior setter Jackson McGahan, senior right side setter Logan Puzack and senior right side outside hitter Shea Eichin have played a huge role in the fast start and the camaraderie within the rest of the team.
“They have different types of skillsets that I’m looking for,” Ratzken said. “Logan is the type of person where his volleyball IQ is very high. He’s already moved up to AA beach volleyball tournaments. He comes from a volleyball family, both indoor and beach, so he’s one of those people that’s on the court the whole time. He’s a great captain because he’s my floor captain, too. He understands the game at a high level and can speak to the refs on behalf of the team.
“Then you have Shea, who is just extremely responsible, and is a hero in his own right,” he added. “He doesn’t ask for anything in return with zero ego and just gets things done and to me that’s a natural leader.
“Then we have Jackson, who is definitely extremely passionate about the game,” Ratzken said. “[He] understands his team and has the maturity to direct them appropriately.”
In the six matches Long Beach has won, it only lost one set to Herricks on Sept. 5, and it was the opening set of the match. McGahan had 40 assists that evening, while Puzack and Gavin Corrigan had 10 kills apiece. The Marines have five 3-0 victories but battled back more than once to win sets in those matches.
“I think being down in some of the sets that we’ve played and watching them get out of that hole tells me how mental this game is and how mentally strong you have to be,” Ratzken said regarding what he’s learned and noticed about his team. “I think they see it and feel it and know what it feels like to be down and how to get out of it.”
Junior middle blocker Sean O’Malley has taken on a larger role. “He’s been taking on a leadership role as well as getting better,” Ratzken said. “He’s taller, stronger, smarter with the game and he’s really clapping on blocks and working on adjustments with footwork and being explosive and powerful.”
Junior libero Kasper Yanowitch, junior setter Cameron Straub and freshman defensive specialist Ryan Reinhart have all impressed Ratzken and are vital pieces to the team’s success. Reinhart comes from the beach community and is from a volleyball family, like many of these kids, as the freshman spent his seventh and eighth grade years on JV.
