Despite their overall strong season last year with a 23-7 record, the Cinnaminson High School boys’ volleyball team found themselves ending the season with another tough loss against McNair High School. This was the second year in a row that the Pirates faced defeat, 2-1 against this team in the semi-finals. Currently, the Pirates are running a 6-8 record, having suffered some tough losses against Sterling, Timber Creek, and Pennsauken. The team is seeking a new identity after six of its strongest players graduated at the end of last season.

Moreover, this season presents a new set of challenges for the volleyball team, with head coach Robert Spier citing a NJSIAA group change as the source.

“We got moved up to group 2 and have a whole new group of roadblocks,” Spier said when asked about how they would approach their consistent opponent in McNair. 

With the loss of McNair as a roadblock, Spier now sees their biggest challenge as the mass of sophomores and juniors that need to be molded into shape. 

“The challenges are being able to improve with a lot of sophomores and juniors,” Spier said. “How will you overcome them? I think with time, we will get stronger and play better together.”

Despite this challenge, Spier has strong faith in his team, acknowledging their ability to fill the spots left by seniors, and their ability to do so over the next few years with the loss of six more seniors this year.

“We are very young and will have a lot of growing pains. All of the seniors that we lost were very good and left big holes in the lineup,” Spier said. “Our younger students are going to fill them nicely, and by the end of the season, we should be very good.”

Some of these students that Spier mentions have been stepping up and filling the holes left in their lineup, including senior Josh Luban, who has “been a big middle and a force to be reckoned with.”  

Sophomores Alex McGettigan, who has been cited for his strong serves, and Jayden Shimp, who has been attributed with having a strong set and hit, are contributing strongly to their overall offense.

Shimp has had 28 kills, 13 digs, 14 aces, and 58 assists over 26 sets of play.

Freshman volleyball coach Sara Skvir attributes their success to their outstanding effort in and out of the season.

“Both of them, Alex McGettigan and Jayden Shimp stood out as freshmen last year,” Skvir said. “They’re very well-rounded, they’re pretty good athletes, and both of them also played club, which helped them going into this season.” 

Varsity senior Timmy O’Connor has spoken positively about the future of the program, giving a lot of credit to the team’s younger members.

“I’m pretty confident because we have a lot of young guys that are getting a lot of playing time and that will definitely help for the future of the program just because they have a lot of opportunities to develop and just getting more of this is just good for the younger people,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor specifically compliments McGettigan for his ability to step up when he’s needed, especially for someone only playing in their first year.

“Alex McGettigan, just the way that it’s his first year, he didn’t play varsity in the very beginning of the year. Once I got hurt, he stepped up, and he doesn’t look nervous at all,” O’Connor said when asked about who stands out to him. “He’s able to make plays, and even when he makes mistakes, he just smiles, shakes it off, and then gets right on to the next play.”

As a sophomore, McGettigan currently has a record of 27 digs and 11 aces in 23 sets.

Similarly, junior Chris Leetz gives credit to the JV team and its ability to step up. He said the team knew going into the season it would require them to step up. They also knew it would be a difficult season compared to the previous ones.

Leetz gives praise and sees a lot of potential in Pedro De Sousa for being able to get back into play after not playing for a long time.

“I would say Pedro because he never actually played club like some other people on the team. And he, for some reason, last year, was a great setter,” Leetz said. “And then I expected it this year because he hadn’t touched the ball in a while to be, like, not worse, but, like, rusty, I guess. But as soon as he got on the court and started playing, it was right back to where he was, maybe even better.”

De Sousa has recorded 18 sets this current season with 45 assists and seven aces.

Both O’Connor and Leetz have a similar sense of where problems are on the team, working on these problems throughout practice, and watching film to fix their mistakes and to get better as a whole team.

Despite this season’s struggles, the team appears very ready for the second half of the season, with great hopes placed in their players, new and old. Currently 6-8 after a strong win against Pennsauken Tech (2-1), the Pirates look to face off against Northern Burlington away on Friday, May 2nd.