Eastport-South Manor boys volleyball captures state Division II championship

ALBANY — Throughout the postseason, Eastport-South Manor boys volleyball coach Bill Kropp has said, “If we do what we do, we’ll be fine.”

On the biggest stage, his team showed the volleyball community what it can do.

Ayden DesLauriers had 17 kills, an ace and a block as Eastport-South Manor defeated Clarence (Section VI), 25-21, 25-22, 25-16, in the state Division II boys volleyball championship match on Saturday at Albany Capital Center.

It’s the Sharks’ third state title and first since 2021, when DesLauriers was a freshman libero.

“Ever since that last ball dropped when we won the last state championship, I knew I wanted to go back and have that feeling again,” DesLauriers said. “You see that ball go in the net and all the guys start running on the court, it felt just like it did three years ago. I felt like it was the same, with the other team being super solid all around but we just played an overall better game.”

So, what is it that DesLauriers and his teammates do?

“If we play hard and play smart, the rest will take care of itself,” Kropp said. “Obviously, we have a special player in Ayden. But if everyone else can support him, we’re set. Mason Gatchalian stepped up in that last match. Tyler Bottcher took a big shot to the face, but he came up big.”

ESM advanced to the final by defeating two-time reigning state champion Jamesville-DeWitt (Section III), 25-18, 25-19, in pool play. The Sharks took a 25-18 win in their first pool play set against Clarence before resting their starters in the second set, which they lost 25-13.

The Sharks came out flat early in the first set of the championship match, trailing 11-7 after making several uncharacteristic errors. After a timeout, ESM got back to playing clean volleyball. DesLauriers had an ace in a 5-0 service run, in which Logan DeLumen had two momentous kills to give the Sharks a 16-15 lead. From that point forward, the Sharks did what they do.

After closing out the first set, they jumped out to a 13-10 lead in the second. DesLauriers had eight kills and Jack Cain had two blocks in the set.

“In the first five minutes, we were playing sloppy, lazy,” Cain said. “Getting smacked in the face like that, we realized this isn’t a team that’s gonna just roll over because we beat them earlier and that they’re gonna fight. We like having a challenge.”

Cain had four kills, four blocks and an ace, Andrew Dragos had eight kills, DeLumen had six kills and Gatchalian had four kills.

The Sharks finish the season 18-0, having lost two total sets all year — one to Clarence in pool play and one to Half Hollow Hills on Sept. 12.

DesLauriers, a Loyola Chicago commit, is one of four graduating seniors on the team, which will be left in the hands of a strong junior class, led by Cain, Dragos and Bottcher.

“We’ve been talking about this for three years,” Bottcher said. “Ever since we were in eighth grade, we knew this group was coming here. Especially since it’s Ayden’s senior year. After last year, we were like, ‘We’re all coming back and winning the state championship.’ It’s an awesome feeling.”