Zach Thomas comes up aces for West Islip boys volleyball in victory over Bay Shore

Zach Thomas can swing with the best outside hitters on Long Island, but his serve is equally impressive.

The junior racked up 30 kills and nine aces in host West Islip’s 18-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-19, 15-7 win over Bay Shore in Suffolk I boys volleyball Wednesday.

Thomas can place his powerful jump serve wherever he wants, but he knows when to mix it up. When Bay Shore backed up to defend the jump serve in the middle of a 7-0 run in the fourth set, Thomas perfectly floated a serve right in front of the net for one of his three aces during the run.

“The first thing I do is watch the court,” Thomas said. “I looked at their coach and he told them to back up, so I decided I was gonna float it either to a weaker passer or just nice and short in front of the net.”

Thomas’ strong performance came after a five-set win over Half Hollow Hills on Monday, in which he totaled a career-high 46 kills.

“He’s put more time into volleyball than any kid I’ve ever coached,” West Islip coach John Schrank said. “He has a grass court in his backyard and he takes the entire team to his court all offseason.”

Thomas got off to a bit of a slow start in the first set but found his rhythm in the second set, despite sophomore setter Jacob Halpern exiting with a knee injury.

Senior opposite hitter Gannon Klimuszko stepped in to set until Halpern returned in the fourth set.

“Going from a hitter to a setter is a big change, especially in the middle of a set,” Klimuszko said. “I was just running regular sets, four-balls to the outside. When in doubt, just give it to Zach.”

Klimuszko also played a big role at the net, totaling four blocks, including two in the fourth set. Middle blockers Jaden Langhorn and Nick Dempsey had three and two blocks, respectively.

“Our block really came alive in the fourth set,” Klimuszko said. “Even though we’re not as tall as we were last year, we believe that Jaden and Nick are just as good as any blocker we had last year.”

Zareb Gonzalez had 18 kills and a block and Niall Haughney had 11 kills, four blocks and an ace for Bay Shore (4-6).

Klimuszko had six kills and an ace and Gavin Pollock had seven kills. After returning from his injury, Halpern’s setting was stellar and he recorded two straight aces to end the fifth set.

Despite significant turnover from last year’s team that reached the county final, Thomas is ready to lead West Islip (7-3) to another deep playoff run.

“We have a young setter, so I’ll invite him to grass volleyball and I got him into beach volleyball just to try to help him learn,” Thomas said. “Everyone on this team loves volleyball so much, so it’s fun and easy to get everyone together to practice.”