Eastport-South Manor boys volleyball team reaches state semifinals
Eastport-South Manor players celebrate a point during a match against Croton/Briarcliff/Hen Hud at the state boys volleyball championships in Canandaigua on Saturday. Credit: Lauren Petracca/Lauren Petracca
CANANDAIGUA — The Eastport-South Manor boys volleyball team is no stranger to the playoff stage.
In the hunt to repeat the Division II state title, the Sharks advanced out of pool play in the NYSPHSAA tournament on Saturday at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua. Eastport-South Manor went 5-1 on the day to earn the top seed, dropping only one set to Section III’s Jamesville-DeWitt.
“Jamesville-DeWitt is a really excellent team and they played very well,” coach Bill Kropp said. “My guys looked a little down, but then they rallied. We made it to Sunday, which was the goal.”
Eastport-South Manor, now 17-0, will next face Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (Section II) in the semifinals at noon Sunday at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester.
Jack Cain and Andrew Dragos were the driving forces behind the Sharks’ offense, tallying 29 and 18 kills, respectively. Memphis Lanier added 64 assists and Tyler Bottcher had 25 digs.
“Those guys lead our team not just through their level of play, but also their encouragement and motivation to get the guys going,” Kropp said.
Eastport-South Manor earned its first state title since 2021 last season, and Kropp said this team has the potential to do it again. But it won’t be easy.
After the Sharks claimed the title in 2021, Jamesville-DeWitt won back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023. Kropp said the Section III team will be Eastport-South Manor’s toughest competition.
“We know that we have to play our best,” Kropp said. “Every time we step on the court, we have to bring our A-game. We have to out hustle them, we have to play better defense. We don’t have the height that some of these other teams do, but I feel that we can bring more effort, especially on defense.”
After winning its second-straight Nassau Division II title, Roslyn also made its first appearance in the state tournament. The Bulldogs went 4-3 on the day, but ultimately fell to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in a tiebreaker for the second seed. Roslyn finished 21-2.
Coach Mark Steinmuller said his team was led by Joseph Kim, Benjy Rubin and Tomer Gilady.
“It was an incredible experience for us to be up here,” Steinmuller said. “Our school hasn't been up to states for many events, so we’re happy to show everybody proud and we did a great job. We competed and we played really well. It didn't go the way we wanted it to go in the end, but we're proud of how we performed.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
