Lifelong teammates and friends, decorated Chesterton volleyball players Tenley Davis and Abby Parrish share a scholarship signing ceremony

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Having spent the majority of their lives as teammates in multiple sports, Chesterton seniors Tenley Davis and Abby Parrish had one more moment to share before becoming ex-teammates for life: a college scholarship signing ceremony.
Davis, Chesterton’s career and single-season record holder in kills, is bound for Loyola University of Chicago, an NCAA Division I school. Setter Abby Parrish, the CHS career assists record holder, signed with Wayne State, an NCAA Division II school in Detroit.
“I am super excited for her,” Davis said of Parrish. “I think she deserves everything she’s gotten, and she’s worked really hard, and growing up together and being on almost every sports team together has been a blessing, for sure.”
Neighbors, Davis and Parrish played multiple youth sports together, both pick-up and organized, all the while making each other better, and were varsity volleyball teammates for four years at Chesterton.
Parrish played two years of JV basketball and Davis was a varsity player for two-and-a-half seasons until a serious ankle injury turned her into a volleyball-only athlete. As a sophomore, Davis was named Northwest Indiana Times Girls Athlete of the Year.
A lifelong friendship no doubt played a role in the girls seeming to demonstrate a telepathy playing together on the volleyball court with Parrish setting Davis for so many kills that they both ended their careers with school records, Parrish for assists (1,884), Davis for kills (1,476).
The Trojans’ volleyball record improved in each of the girls’ four years: 16-17, 22-12, 25-10, 30-4. Their final two seasons included winning the second and third sectional championships in school history and a DAC co-championship (with Crown Point, also 13-1) in their senior seasons.
Davis’ hitting percentage also improved each season: .140, .215, .307, .353.
Parrish played the past two seasons in a two-setter system and had a knack as a senior for delivering a big kill at times when the Trojans became too predictable, especially in big wins that ended long series losing streaks at Lake Central (25 matches) and at home vs. Crown Point (35 matches). Parrish had a career-high hitting percentage of .262 as a senior.
“I’m so excited,” Parrish said of signing with Wayne State. “It’s so surreal that my volleyball career hasn’t ended and I get to play for the next four years.”
Chesterton volleyball fans won’t have to travel far to see Parrish, an All-DAC and Academic All-State selection as a senior, play at least once a year. Wayne State and Purdue Northwest, members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, play a home-and-home series every year.
A three-time All-DAC selection and Academic All-State as a senior, Davis has played with and against multiple future Loyola teammates and has seen enough of fellow Class of 2026 recruits to be bullish on the future of Ramblers volleyball.
Despite losing such program pillars, the outlook for Chesterton volleyball remains bright. Division I commitments Luca Bombacino (University of Michigan; three-time All-DAC) and Maddie Gilliam (Butler University; All-DAC as a junior) are back for their senior years and Reese Dilbeck, a setter, and server-extraordinaire Delaney Barrett, have two seasons remaining, making the Trojans legitimate contenders to earn the school’s first regional championship in 2026 after near misses the past two seasons.
“I think we left a good impact on the girls and I hope that the relationship we had with them will carry over into next season,” Parrish said.