Massapequa boys volleyball's Jack Stanley in the middle of team's Nassau Division I championship victory
Massapequa celebrates after winning the Nassau Division I boys volleyball final at Nassau Community College on Friday. Credit: David Meisenholder
Dethroning the Massapequa boys volleyball team is a tall task.
It’s even taller with Jack Stanley patrolling the middle.
The 6-6 senior had 10 kills and eight blocks to lead top-seeded Massapequa to a 25-18, 25-14, 25-17 win over No. 2 Great Neck South in the Nassau Division I championship match Friday at Nassau CC.
“Jack Stanley has been on varsity for four years and has learned from some really great middles… I’ve never seen growth in a player and in a person the way I have with Jack,” coach Elissa DiSalvo said. “He’s one of those people that everyone gravitates towards and because he’s got that personality, he lifts everyone else to want to play to his level.”
It’s Massapequa’s second straight county title and sixth in the last seven years.
Massapequa (18-0) advances to the pool play round of the Division I state tournament, which begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Roberts Wesleyan University. It’s Massapequa’s first appearance in the state tournament since 2022.
Returning much of last year’s team that went 17-2, Massapequa was confident it would make its way back to the final. With reigning Newsday Nassau Player of the Year Logan Coady still serving as the main option, Stanley’s development into a force in the middle has added an extra dimension to Massapequa’s dominance.
“I’m just playing with more confidence, playing smarter and being more efficient,” Stanley said.
“Every day in the gym, we work together, we work hard and we get better together,” Coady said. “He just gets better through straight competition with us.”
Coady had 10 kills and three blocks, Alex Fischetti had five kills and Vincent Averso added four kills.
Andrew Lee had 14 kills for Great Neck South, which finished 12-7. The Rebels made their first county final appearance on Friday.
It was the fourth matchup between the two teams this season. Massapequa won each of the first three, 3-1.
“They’re a very scrappy defensive team,” Coady said. “You can rip a ball and they’ll somehow manage to get back.”
Massapequa has all the tools to make a run at its first state title.
“They’re unlike any team I’ve ever had and I’ve had some really great teams,” DiSalvo said. “They’re special. They’re confident, but not cocky. They just know when to turn it on.”
“We’ll see who we play when we get up there,” Coady said. “If we play like that, who’s stopping us?”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
