Chesterton boys volleyball closes home portion of the schedule with a sweep of Merrillville, pushing record to 12-2

TOM KEEGAN
onwardtrojans.com

The Chesterton boys volleyball team plays the rest of its schedule on the road, beginning tonight at Illiana Christian, so the Trojans made sure that their final home match was a good one Monday night.
Playing in a steamy Westchester Middle School gymnasium, the Trojans put Merrillville in retreat from the start and never let up, sweeping the Pirates 25-10, 25-14, 25-14.
“They were pretty hot from the start and they didn’t let Merrillville hang around,” head coach Cathy Dilbeck said.
Playing a less skilled opponent can put a drag on the more talented team, but it didn’t happen on this night.
“They can slow you up, really easily, but I thought we did a good job of executing all three sets with power,” Dilbeck said.
That’s how senior libero Adam LeNeave saw it as well.
“We’re doing a lot better at not playing down to the level of other teams that are worse than us,” LeNeave said. “So, against slower teams we’ll play faster, when in the past we would have played down to their level, and we’re not doing that.”
LeNeave is performing far better against all caliber teams, slow and fast, than when he split time with another libero last season. He’s developed a nice knack for digging balls before they hit the floor and turning them into productive passes.
“I think that I’m being trusted to cover a lot more ground than I was last year,” LeNeave said. “And I’m doing a lot more than what I was supposed to do last year that I wasn’t doing. I’m taking a lot more responsibility, I guess.”
He figures life experience, not just volleyball reps, has enabled him to make that step.
“I feel like I’m more confident now than I was in the past few years, so I trust myself to do it more,” he said. “I don’t think it’s experience as much as just growing as a person maybe.”
In her first year as head coach of the boys program, Dilbeck spoke to the progress LeNeave has made as a full-time libero.
“His IQ is really coming along and he’s starting to read hitters’ tendencies so much better,” Dilbeck said. “And he’s covering so much more ground than when I watched him his first three years of playing.”
Led by juniors Zane Westerlund and Peyton Dilbeck and senior middle blocker Randy Deutscher making big plays at the net, the Trojans entertained the home crowds with consistently exciting play. Now, with the gymnasium floor being refinished, the Trojans pack a 12-2 overall record and 5-2 mark in DAC play onto the road.
“We’re road warriors from here on out,” Cathy Dilbeck said. “We’ll see what we’re made of.”