Volleyball Team Serves Up a Great One

This past season for the Yeshiva Macabees volleyball team has been one to remember.  The Macs made their first ever playoff appearance, finishing with an 11-14 record, while going 2-6 in the Skyline Conference. In winning eleven games this year, the Macs won nearly three times as many games this year as it has since its inception.

The Macs played their playoff match down the road in Riverdale against conference powerhouse Mount Saint Vincent, losing 3-0 (30-16, 30-16, 30-19). Even without starting middle blocker Rafi Herskovitz (Hamilton, Ontario/Or Chaim) the Macs played extremely hard and were able to make the game a competitive one. David Kahana (Silver Spring, MD/MJHBA) led the Macs with seven kills and six digs, while Dovid Katz (Suffer, NY/MTA) helped out with four kills.
Even though they were knocked out in the first round, the Macs' season was a resounding success.  By winning four of their last six games, they were able to eclipse the ten-win mark and make this season even more remarkable.  However, it was in a losing effort that the Macabees truly showed how much they improved over the course of the year, and how hard they tried to change the image of their squad.
“Last year it was mostly just guys joking around and having fun,” said Libero Nachum Huscalovici (Montreal, Canada/Hebrew Academy). “This year there is a certain focus and determination that I hadn’t seen at any point last year. I am really impressed with what we accomplished by the end of the season.”

Vassar College, which was ranked number one in the NECVA conference at the start of the season, came to the Max Stern Athletic center to play the Yeshiva Macs. In the first game Vassar displayed its superiority by winning 30-14. The next two games are what epitomized the Macabees' season. They held the lead for most of the second game, ultimately falling 30-26. In the third game, however, the Macs fought back and forth with Vassar and won by a score of 30-28. This was an extremely impressive feat for the Macs and was a perfect exclamation point on a historic season. Senior setter Joseph Bajtner (Skokie, IL/ Ida Crown Jewish Academy) described their efforts, “Guys were diving for balls left and right and making a play on balls I didn’t think they could normally get to.”

One of the Macabees was even recognized for his season-long outstanding efforts. Junior David Kahana was voted second-team All-Conference as an outside hitter. Kahana, who won Player of the Week honors twice this season, finished the year with Macs records in numerous categories. With 281 kills, a .220 hitting percentage, 39 serving aces, and 197 digs, Kahana left his mark on his team's impressive season. Kahana looks forward to his senior season as a Macabee: “As well as we played this year, with the guys I know coming back, we can be even better next year and perhaps get out of the first round of the playoffs.”
Next year’s team returns players such as Kahana, Bajtner, Herskovits, and junior Zanvy Grauman (Silver Spring, MD/Berman Hebrew), who also had a phenomenal first season. As they move forward, the Macs will put in countless hours of practice in the offseason, hoping to reproduce what they accomplished this year and breaking even more records next season.