Howell Central Boys Volleyball Spikes Rival Howell In Key GAC Matchup

Francis Howell Central boys varsity volleyball coach Mark McAfee admits that he never really knows which version of his team will show up until they actually take the floor for whatever match they have on a particular evening.

And last night was no different.

Never mind that the Spartans were 10-5-2 on the season, and came into Thursday’s showdown with rival Francis Howell High in a three-way tie for first place in the always stacked Gateway Athletic Conference, McAfee just didn’t know what his team would be like until the match actually started.

Once it did though, there was little doubt that the championship-winning version of the Howell Central Spartans had showed up, as they dismantled their rivals 27-25 and 25-18, in an easy, breezy, straight-set win.

“That was a lot of fun,” McAfee said. “We passed the ball well. We served well. And we controlled the net. When we play like that, we’re certainly capable of beating anyone.”

And on Thursday night, the Spartans would’ve beaten anyone. Especially with its imposing duo of frontline hitters, junior Jack Gamache and senior Logan Jarus, leading the way.

The duo absolutely controlled the net for Howell Central, winning nearly every ball at the net, and combining for 16 kills and six blocks.

“Those two, Jack and Logan, are fantastic players,” McAfee said. “But we’re trying to get to the point where we don’t have to rely on them so much. We thought we had a mismatch with another player tonight, and in that second set, we sort of challenged that player to step up for us, and he did.”

That player was junior hitter Zac Van Booven. And in the second set, the Spartans went away from setting up stars Gamache and Jarus, and instead started setting the table for Van Booven, who delivered with a string of kills and powerful smashes that helped Howell Central turn an early 6-4 deficit into a 12-9 lead.

 “He really did the job we asked him too,” McAfee said. “That was fun to see a player step up when we needed him to like that.”

 Francis Howell rallied a bit, and pulled to within 14-13 midway through the second set.

But that’s when Howell Central, led by Gamache and Jarus, turned on the afterburners, and reeled off an 8-0 run that made the score 22-13, and left Francis Howell with virtually no room to make a comeback.

 “That’s about as good as we’ve played all season,” McAfee said. “We lost a real tough three-set match to these guys back at the Fort Zumwalt South Tournament. And I think we we’re a little fired up for this one, here in front of our home fans. It was a fun night for us definitely.”

 The victory lifted Howell Central to 11-5-2 on the season, where they remained tied with Francis Howell North for first place in the GAC, with a 4-1 league mark.

 Francis Howell fell to third place in the conference with its 10-8-1 overall and 5-2 GAC records.

This weekend, both schools will compete in a new, local volleyball showcase event called the Conference Clash, which will feature teams from the GAC, Suburban South, and Suburban West conferences competing at different schools throughout the area, in round-robin matches on Friday, before possibly advancing to a championship match on Saturday.

Howell Central will serve as one of the host schools, and will be home to a number of matches on Friday evening, before possibly serving as the home base for the championship matches on Saturday.

The Spartans’ next regular season match will be on Monday, May 2, when they’ll host top-ranked SLUH, at the Spartan Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m.