Saturday, November 8, 2025
East Meadow boys’ volleyball is going through a bit of an up-and-down cycle according to coach Nick O’Malley.
“We’re just trying to find our groove right now, get in rhythm,” O’Malley said.
East Meadow is coming off a sweep at the hands of Hicksville, now 6-4 on the season, after going step for step in a 24-26, 23-25, 23-25 match Sept. 25. In the effort, Ryan Jacobs contributed 8 kills, 4 digs, a block and an ace. In tandem for offense was Parker Goldstein with 8 kills and 2 digs. Finishing up the front line is Harry Haber with his 29 assists, meaning for over 40 percent of the points scored, Haber literally had a hand in it. Other attacking pieces of the Jets’ puzzle included Austin Zhu with 6 kills and 5 digs and Ben Barbara, who had 4 kills and 3 blocks.
Leading the defensive effort was Joe Augustyn with 14 digs, seconded by Haber with 5. Others got a piece of the defensive action too: Goldstein got a pair of digs, as did Jaden Miravite, Matt Mitringa and Kellen Skoros. Jacobs, Haber, Mitringa and Skoros also all put up a block each.
But that’s just the most recent sample, you’d have to zoom out to get the full picture.
Prior to the Hicksville loss, East Meadow won three matches, 3-2 over Oceanside and 3-0 over Uniondale on Sept. 18, and 3-2 over Oceanside for a second time on Sept. 19. Both wins over Oceanside were reverse sweeps, where East Meadow was down 0-2 before pulling the rug from over Oceanside.
Those wins were sponsored by Jacobs and his career-high 20 kills over Uniondale, hitting .516 in the effort. In the first game against Oceanside in this two-day span, Goldstein put up 27 kills, hitting .392.
Before that were a handful of losses to Long Beach, Levittown District and Herricks, but wins over Westbury, Farmingdale and Freeport to balance.
What does that say about the team?
For starters, they’re hungry continued, sustained success.
“Our last couple of games have been tough in terms of the competition we’ve been facing is very much so scrappy, almost relentless, to get the ball up and keep the ball up,” O’Malley said. “We’re doing a lot of really good things in showing how we’re resilient and not really rolling over in front of a tough situation presented in front of us.”
Part of the driving engine, exemplified by Jacobs and Goldstein, is the offensive power. Goldstein leads the team in hits with 107, trailing closely behind him is Jacobs with 82. Haber makes it expedites the processes by serving up 248 assists for the team in the same time frame.
“We have some guys who are pretty heavy-handed guys and love to hit, so that’s one thing we have going for us,” O’Malley said.
If there’s anything O’Malley is okay with, it’s the team’s defense. After 10 games, the team has 261 digs, split between Augustyn and Haber, who have 48 and 38 digs respectively thus far into the season.
