By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent
After almost 70 years of existence as a high school, Evergreen Park finally has a boys volleyball team.
The Mustangs are playing their inaugural season with a junior varsity squad, with some matches being played at the varsity level.
Head coach Brian Zofkie is leading this group with assistant coach Tom Eisenbaum. Zofkie and Eisenbaum have both coached the Mustangs girls team and are ecstatic to be doing the same for the boys.
“It’s been talked about for 20 years,” Zofkie said of starting a boys team. “I was really happy. The boys have embraced it and we are off to a pretty good start.”
A challenge for smaller schools such as Evergreen Park is not having enough interest in a sport — or simply not having enough athletes available — to field a competitive varsity team. In an area that boasts state power Marist and a traditionally strong program in Brother Rice, not many boys are attending Evergreen Park specifically to play volleyball. But there are kids who want to play.
“There are other good programs around obviously, especially at the private schools,” Zofkie said. “There was a demand for it.”
The Mustangs (6-4, 4-0) downed T.F. United in two sets, 25-16, 25-6, on April 25. Sophomore outside hitter Fionn Doherty had a team-high seven kills and four aces in the win.
“He’s quite the athlete out there,” Zofkie said.Freshman setter James Lee had a game-high 12 assists and tallied three aces against T.F. United. Also with three aces was junior outside hitter Justin Villagomez. Freshman outside hitter Cole Nardo had three kills in the win.
The current roster has nine freshmen, four sophomores and one junior. Zofkie is hoping the youthfulness of the team pays off as the program develops.
“We are playing a lot of freshmen — we are starting four,” Zofkie said. “It is going to be huge for the development of the program long term. A lot of these guys getting this valuable experience now will step up next year.”
Players such as sophomore Patrick Maroney are finding themselves taking on new roles early.
“He’s been an unbelievable leader out of us,” Zofkie said of Maroney. “He’s a kid that didn’t have a ton of experience but has been super coachable and has been a great culture piece.”
Evergreen Park plans to field a junior varsity and an official varsity team nest season.
“I am honored, to be honest,” Zofkie said of leading the program in its inaugural year. “I was on one of the first teams at Brother Rice 20-something years ago, so I know what it is like. Now, to come full circle starting this year, I am honored to have that opportunity to lay the groundwork and build the culture for what it’s going to be moving forward.”