Rams serve up eighth win

While there’s no doubt lacrosse, baseball, softball, and track and field grab most of the spring high school sports headlines, boys’ volleyball is alive and well at West Hempstead.

With a 25-11, 25-20, 25-16 sweep of Lawrence on April 30, the Rams improved their record to 8-3 overall, 5-3 in Nassau Conference III. Captain Danny Minto had 10 kills to lead the way.

Andrew Wilson, in his 12th season as coach, is happy with the team’s performance. “We’re a very deep and talented team,” Wilson said. “They’re really great kids. I have known most of these boys since middle school. They liked the sense of accomplishment they experienced last season, and would like to do it again. It’s been real good.” The Rams advanced to the county semifinals in 2009.

After solid sophomore and junior seasons, Minto has been dominant at the net as a senior. He leads the team with 154 kills and 50 blocks. Minto had a season-high 28 kills and seven blocks in West Hempstead’s thrilling 25-17, 25-27, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21 win over Jericho. The Jayhawks were also a semifinalist a year ago. 

Senior setter Ben Abelido, one of the team’s captains, has done an outstanding job running the offense for the Rams. Abelido reached a major milestone in the win over Jericho when he recorded the 1,000th assist of his career. He finished the match with a season-high 52 assists. Junior Nick Giovanelli plays opposite Abelido. Giovanelli has been steady on defense and when called upon to set.

Senior captain Danny Boehm is West Hempstead’s most complete player. While he doesn’t always put up huge numbers on the stat sheet, Boehm does everything well. His 14 kills were instrumental in the win over Jericho. Fellow outside hitter Julian Clarke has made great improvements in his first season as a starter. Clarke and Abelido lead the team in service aces.

Senior Joe Criollo, the team’s libero, has been excellent in his role as defensive specialist. Senior Brian Tam, another defensive specialist, has served well all season long. First-year starter Scott Libby has also made nice contributions. Libby’s 11 kills and eight blocks helped the Rams to a five-set opening day win over Herricks.

Also contributing for West Hempstead are seniors Jeremy Giesen, Jeff Goldbeck and Mike Shelley, and juniors Darnel Day, Vinyl Gazer and Chad Macao.

Wilson said he’s hopeful his team can have another playoff run. Finishing among the top four teams in the conference assures the Rams of a bye in the first round, and a home playoff match in the quarterfinals. “We need to play with more consistency,” Wilson said. “We’re very athletic. If we could ever play with the type of consistency it takes to go all the way, we could be real good.”

The Rams host Roslyn on Tuesday at 4:45 p.m.