Howell’s Brent Romano ends historic season

When Howell’s Brent Romano steps on the floor, he brings a tremendous blend of strength, athleticism and leadership.

The amazing thing is that there was a time when Romano wasn’t sure his future was playing volleyball.

“I had a little bit of volleyball in my blood,” Romano said. “I thought I’d give it a try, why not?”

Romano grew up playing baseball and soccer, but decided to give volleyball a shot after watching her cousins ​​play at the collegiate level. It was a journey that began during the pandemic when Romano decided to try out as a freshman and started playing club.

Fast forward four years and if you didn’t know better, you’d think this was a sport he focused on full-time.

Romano finished with 485 kills as a senior, which is the ninth most in a single season in state history. He also became Howell’s all-time kills leader with 756. Romano helped lead Howell to a 23-5 season and back to the Shore Conference finals.

“I went from not knowing if I wanted to play volleyball at first to three straight Shore Conference finals and a sectional semifinal,” Romano said.

Romano considers his sophomore year the first time he had a chance to play real volleyball. This is when he learned from older batsmen Chris Mitchell and Patrick Mullen.

“I’m just learning simple passing and hitting work,” Romano said. “They taught me footwork and kicking and passing.”

After getting his feet wet as a sophomore, Romano moved seats with Mitchell on the way out. He totaled 217 kills as a junior, which was second on the team. The 2023 season was over and Romano knew it was his turn to take over that No. 1 role.

“This year, at the beginning of the season, he wanted to be that guy for the younger players and he kind of understood that he had to do whatever it took to be the best and take our team to new heights. And he did that,” Howell head coach Maggie Preston said.

Before the first game started, Howell had to deal with various obstacles to clear. Players were switching positions, including Shane Ferrara, who turned in an All-State caliber year after switching from libero to setter.

Certain issues needed to be resolved and this did not stop with the start of the season.

“We’ve been working on that chemistry during practices,” Romano said. “We’d focus on the little things, see what we need to work on for certain games and watch practice to see what we need to fix.”

The season began against Freehold Borough, and Romano finished with 22 kills during a three-set win. It would be the first of 10 games for Romano with 20 or more kills, including a season-high 33 on May 13 against Marlboro.

Romano didn’t fly under the radar early in the year and had to deal with whatever opposing defenses threw his way.

“A lot of times, teams would triple block him from the back row, from the front row, and he pretty much just spun around every block and still got great swings on the ball,” Preston said. “And he was smart enough to recognize the triple block as well and then flip the ball to the four or three wherever the block came.”

The Rebels put together a stretch where they won 14 of 15 games before the Shore Conference Championship. They were preparing to face familiar foe Southern, who had game planned for Romano.

“It makes you work harder,” South head coach Eric Maxwell said after the game. “It makes you practice harder. We won’t stop him. We just want to get as many touches on the ball as possible. This gives us some chances. He’s going to get his and we have to live with that.”

Howell didn’t shy away from tough competition in a loaded Coast Conference. This helped set up the battle-tested Rebels for the South Group 4 tournament where they would reach the semi-finals.

“Resilience is a perfect word,” Preston said. “We scheduled, I think, the second-toughest schedule in the Shore Conference, and we took a lot of tough games. Every time he says, “Coach, who are we playing? Are we playing a top 10 team? He wanted to beat the best teams.”

Romano helped lead Howell to one of the best seasons in program history. Now, the standard is set. Romano will end his career with a historic season on the field, but he made sure to also help set the program up going forward.

“Leaving a legacy and one that we will truly miss,” Preston said. “I think he continues because we’ve had such great players in the past, he wants our program to succeed even after he’s gone.”

“What I’ve tried to do is mentor the younger kids and show them what it’s like to be a leader on and off the court,” Romano said. “I honestly think they will do well going forward. I feel like I left a good legacy. Even when the other seniors and I leave, there’s a good group of guys waiting to step up.”

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Greg Patuto can be reached at [email protected].