Saturday, November 8, 2025
Standing at 7-6 with half a dozen matches remaining, Hewlett boys volleyball coach Monique Ciccarelli says the pieces are there, it’s just a matter of using them consistently.
The Bulldogs’ Oct. 6 win was a four-set victory win over Kennedy: 25-10, 27-29, 25-20, 25-22. In it, Aidan Ayala and Orr Mizrachi reached double-digits in hits and Philip Ginsburg had nearly 30 assists up front with three aces. Ryan Ginsburg held the defense steady with 10 blocks.
Take its match the following evening, a 3-0 loss to New Hyde Park as proof: a tough 25-15, 25-22, 27-25 setback. As a match progressed, so did Hewlett’s drive. The offense was evolving as match unfolded, something that Ciccarelli credits the team for, in part because of the cohesive nature of the hitters and middles.
In that effort, for example, Ayala paced the offense with 7 kills, Ethan Harush had 6, and Mizrachi and Zachary Faber had 3 each. Ginsburg helped out with 11 assists to his hitters. Ginsburg anchored the defense with 14 digs, assisted with Mizrachi’s 8 and Harush’s 7 on the defensive side of the ball.
Ciccarelli described the outside hitters “very complete,” naming Mizrachi and Harush as key examples of such qualities, no matter the offensive scheme the team is running. Notably, these two are also captains.
The offense makes a splash regularly, it’s other facets of the game that Ciccarelli wants to see fortified with six matches still remaining.
“I think this team has a lot of talent and a lot of potential and I think once we put the pieces together, they could be unstoppable,” Ciccarelli said, regarding the consistency she wants to see improved. “Sometimes our serve-receive is great, other times it’s not great.”
There’s also the free points the Bulldogs have given to opponents that Ciccarelli wants to see cleaned up. “Making unforced error mistakes, serving the ball out, hitting the ball out, minimizing unforced errors,” she said.
A huge benefit is depth, Ciccarelli saying the roster maxes out at 21, so if she sees that someone is not having a good match, she has a bench to turn to.
“There’s just so much depth that if someone’s not having a good day, I could just switch them [out], which is nice,” she said.
Defense is the latest task.
“We’re working on it,” Ciccarelli said. “We’re trying to be more aggressive on defense, like balls that are like ‘you know I don’t think I’m going to get it but I’m going to try anyway.’”
Someone crucial in the whole process has been Aidan Khan. He’s one of the team’s loudest uplifting voices as a captain. “He leads very well,” Ciccarelli said. “Aidan Khan is like a motivator, just an unbelievable motivator.”
Hewlett has captured five of its last seven matches to get over the .500 mark. This week it faces Elmont on the road Thursday and has a rematch at home Saturday with New Hyde Park at 11:45 a.m.
