The Strongsville Athletic Department welcomes a new team formed: Boys Volleyball. The newly created group were created by a select number of seniors who wanted the chance to play men’s volleyball for fun. Currently, the team is entering its second year of playing. However, due to technicalities, the sport can not be a school sanctioned sport until its third year. Despite this, the team operates like any other sport with daily practices and competitive matches.

To account for the previous lack of experience playing volleyball, the group had started with the fundamentals. Last year, the team’s record was 4-9, due to the large learning curve that the players had to go through. Head Coach Robert Vitale spoke in an interview that he was “…very happy with the growth [he] saw last year. No one on our team had played volleyball before last year and by the end of the year we were playing with everyone else.” Now that the players have a year of volleyball under their belt, the team will build on their skill level by hosting open gyms throughout the winter, in addition to the regular season in the spring. The head coach “anticipate[s] that they are going to jump their way into the playoffs” this coming season.

In order for another amazing season of boys volleyball, our coaching team works tirelessly to improve the players’ skill. The 2022-2023 coaching staff consists of: Robert Vitale, Jenna Naymik, and Alexis Fillar. Head Coach Vitale teaches business at Strongsville High School and has played volleyball for Bowling Green. Ms. Naymik coaches for both the girls and boys volleyball teams at high school and has played for over fifteen years. Additionally, she is an OHSAA certified official. Furthermore, Ms. Fillar has played volleyball for eight years and coaches the boys Strongsville Middle and High School volleyball teams. Thus, with the support from these spectacular leaders, boys volleyball will be in very good hands this upcoming season. 

The Strongsville High School boys volleyball team was an opportunity to play a typically recreational sport for men, competitively. Gibson Painter, a middle blocker on the team, said in an interview that he encourages other people to join since they will “have a ton of fun and won’t feel the pressure to be super competitive.” All SHS students are encouraged to support the volleyball team by attending games.

If volleyball sounds like something you would be interested in, contact Robert Vitale at [email protected] for more information.