This past season was an enormous achievement for the Curtis High School  boys volleyball team. Blowing last year’s record of one and eleven out of the water, the Curtis boys finished the season with seven wins and three losses, making them the second best team on the island, right after Staten Island Tech.

The players were thrilled beyond belief to make it to the playoffs, but no one was more excited than Coach Peter Ottaviano. Having been the coach of the boys volleyball team for the past four years, he had enormous faith for this years lineup. “I had faith in the team, especially the seniors. They really worked together,” said Ottaviano.

With a handful of new additions to the team, Liam Curry, Kevon Greene,  Patrick Juraen Ilagan, Michael Liang, Damian Poniatowski, and Matthew Powell the team was full of energy and talent. Curry, Poniatowski, and Powell all stood over 6’2 and their height was a definitive factor to the Curtis boys victory this season. Along with the leadership and experience of captain Joel Washington, the team was able to make it to the playoffs.  “The team was lead by the will to be better than last year. skill improves with more drills and effort, throughout the season we improved with every game, there were setbacks but we did achieve a playoff spot like we hoped,” said Washington. The third game of the regular season was against the talented Tottenville Pirates, the second best team on Staten Island from the previous year. With all the preseason training the Warriors had undergone, they were motivated to beat Tottenville. The Warriors came in strong and blew Tottenville out of the water from the beginning of the game to the end. “First time we beat them, Curtis High School hasn’t beaten them in 20 something years,” said Coach Ottaviano. After the Warriors won against Tottenville, three year player Joel Washington remembers the past meet ups with Tottenville. “Tottenville is a team that we haven’t beaten in 20 years for volleyball and we beat them mission accomplished,” said Washington.

“Because I only got into volleyball recently, and i wanted to play a sport where i could win as a team. Although this was my only year playing I feel very humble to spend my last year playing with this team,” said Michael Liang, “I played outside of school so I’ve tried to contribute what I’ve learned to teach the team how to get better.”