Central boys volleyball makes history in Northwest Missouri; falls to St. Michael

By Calvin Silvers

On Tuesday, Central High School made history, playing its first boys volleyball contest under the Indians’ name against Grain Valley. While it was a 3-0 sweep of the Indians, the team was thankful for the opportunity to host a boys team.

On Thursday, more history was made for Central as its volleyball team hosted its first-ever home contest, playing St. Michael the Archangel. The first set was hard fought, but the Guardians were able to pull the 3-0 sweep by set scores of 25-17, 25-9 and 25-12.

“I love the energy that we’re bringing to the court right now. I mean, we’re all a bunch of first-year players on our side, and we’ve got a lot of Kansas City schools that have been around the game a little bit longer than us,” Central head coach Dan McCamy said. “So we’re going to run into teams that have players that have been playing the game for a few years.”

They didn’t seem like a bunch of first-year players to begin the contest, though, as the Indians jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and even kept in pace with St. Michael as it was tied at 7. The Guardians put together a run that started with a hard spike from St. Michael’s Ben Salanski.

The spike sparked a run that propelled the Guardians to a 13-8 lead, forcing a Central timeout. One positive from the Indians was their presence at the net, as Tanner Ledford was able to leave a mark, especially with a nice spike in the first set.

Central was able to close the gap to 18-15, but St. Michael once again found a run, and used its second wind to tally a first-set victory. The Indians had trouble returning a spiked ball from the Guardians, which resulted in the inability to put together runs.

“At different levels, the growth is going to be experienced at different levels,” McCamy said. “Just continue to grow in different roles, and I think we’re starting to figure out who we are and what we’re capable of doing.”

As the second set rolled around, Central was unable to find its footing. St. Michael jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, and those four points from Central were all off Guardians errors, The lead extended to 12-5, forcing an Indians’ timeout.

The main source of points for St. Michael in the second set came from senior Arik Quackenbush, who was able to put together multiple spikes at the net that the Indians could not send back over.

As the third set rolled around, Central had a better start, with the set starting tied at two. St. Michael would once again have another run built inside, jumping to a 12-4 lead, forcing Central to call a timeout. The Indians cut it down to 13-7, but the Guardians ran with the third and final set.

Central will be back in action at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Rockhurst.