After many years of talking about having a boys volleyball team at Pat-Med, next year at the high school we will have our first junior varsity team and varsity team the following year. Currently our middle schools, Oregon, Saxton, and South Ocean combined to make our first boys volleyball team at the middle school level.

Tryouts were over the course of five days and the final team was made on the last day. There are about twenty kids on the team who have been practicing everyday after school since the team was established.

“I think our game went pretty well for only playing a sport for three weeks. I wanted to try out because I wanted to do something other than baseball and I find volleyball really fun,” said Matteo Martinez, an 8th grader at Saxton Middle School.

After only a few weeks of practice, the boys had their first away game against Sachem on February 12th. The stands were full of supporters who cheered them on during the whole game.

“I was nervous about playing because we are the foundation for our team in the future but was happy with how we played,” said Damiano Scuteri, an 8th grader at Oregon Middle School.

For most of the players, having this experience and playing volleyball is something different for them.

“I was petrified to play our first game. I wanted to try out because volleyball is the only sport I like. I’m glad there is finally a team I get to play on,” said Julian Frey, an 8th grader at Saxton Middle School.

Being a part of the first boys volleyball team was an incredible experience for the players and even more exciting for everyone in the stands as we were able to witness history.

Sachem ended up winning all five games although the score was close at the end of each one. The boys still have a lot to learn but for their first game ever, they played very well thanks to the high schools very own, Coach Cuccinello.

The boys volleyball team not only challenges teams in our area but, they travel as far north as East Setauket and as far east as Westhampton to play their games.

Their next game is against Sayville on Friday, February 14th at 4pm at Saxton Middle School. You won’t want to miss it, come show your raider pride as they play their first home game.