Dangerously close to getting upset by South Central in first IHSAA boys volleyball sectional quarterfinal match, Chesterton comes alive in time and rides Nate Mihut’s ‘jump top’ serve to five-set victory, advancing Trojans to Saturday semifinal vs. Kouts

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton saved its most dominant exciting play for the end of a Michigan City sectional quarterfinal match Thursday night against a pesky South Central squad and finally put the Satellites to bed in five sets with a 15-9 finale.
The Trojans were in danger of losing in four sets, but pulled out the fourth set and found itself in danger again in the fifth with the score tied at 7-7 until a front line of seniors Jack Rodriguez and Bryton Oliver and sophomore Zane Westerlund that had its problems earlier in the night put the Satellites on the ropes so that sophomore Nate Mihut could finish them off with serves too hot to handle.
Mihut works at perfecting what he calls his “jump top” serve, a jump serve with topspin that isn’t easily returned when he’s on, and he was on at the most important time of the night. Was he ever.
The Trojans broke from the 7-7 tie with seven consecutive points. The explosion started when Westerlund soared way above the net and put a steep angle on a kill and followed that with a block kill. Then Bryton Oliver delivered consecutive, excuse-me-while-I-kiss-the-sky steep kills to make it 11-7 and three consecutive Mihut aces put SC down, 14-7. The final point came on a Satellites shot that sailed way past the end line, triggering a quick Chesterton celebration.
The Trojans (24-4) advanced to a semifinal match vs. Kouts (13-8) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Kouts earned the spot by defeating host Michigan City, 3-1, in the match that followed Chesterton’s.
If the Trojans prevail in their Saturday semifinal, they will advance to the championship match, which barring a gigantic upset would be against Washington Township (17-3), unless the Senators suffer a gigantic upset at the hands of 8-17 Westville in Saturday’s first semifinal at 11 a.m.
Washington Township already has defeated Westville twice, both times winning 3-0.
Upsets do happen though, as Chesterton came close to discovering Thursday before prevailing 25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-9.
Chesterton couldn’t hold a 22-18 lead in the third set and took that exact lead again in the fourth, and again the Satellites charged back, this time evening the match, 22-22, before Chesterton closed with the final three points.
Mihut, who shares setting duties with freshman Declan Ringler, showed the value of having an ace in the hole.
“From the beginning, I served with topspin, but I never perfected it,” Mihut said.
Then, Mihut said he watched video of a freshman Division I volleyball player who also plays for his national team. He appeared to be talking about Simeon “Moni” Nikolov, aka “The Bulgarian Prince.” The Long Beach State setter’s serve has been clocked at an NCAA record 84 mph, and he led Long Beach State to a national championship as a freshman. Some have expressed predictions that he will become the greatest volleyball player in history.
“Watching him and the way he serves, his technique, I’ve always had a passion for that type of serve,” Mihut said. “So, I tried it one day and I tried learning it. It took practice but I got it down. I practice it in school before practice and I practice it at home. I have a net in the backyard, and I practice my technique.”
The Satellites struggled mightily against Mihut’s serve in a 3-0 home loss to Chesterton last week, repeatedly popping up shots onto the court’s low ceiling.
“Against some teams it doesn’t work and against some teams it does,” Mihut said. “And with them having a low ceiling, that obviously was a disadvantage for them.”
A cannon would have trouble shooting a volleyball to the ceiling at Michigan City, but the 6-foot-3 Mihut didn’t need any advantages to lead the Trojans to putting away the smaller school later than they had anticipated.