Take it from a pair of people named Davis, Seth and Tenley, Sister Jean of Loyola March Madness fame, on a roll at 106, and so is future Rambler Tenley Davis’ high school volleyball team

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

In today’s 24-hour news cycle, not many stay hot for long. Even celebrities come and go.
And then there is Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who became America’s Darling in March of 2018 when her school, Loyola University of Chicago, made its underdog run to the Final Four as No. 11 seed. She has been the team chaplain since 1994.
Five years after the Ramblers Final Four run, Sister Jean still tugged at America’s heartstrings, as evidenced by her book “Wake Up with Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years,” written with estimable sports journalist Seth Davis, stayed on the New York Times best seller list for four weeks in February of 2023.
Sister Jean turned 106 on Aug. 21. Writing about her recently for hoopshq.com, Davis shared that when he talked with her on the phone on her birthday, “she sounded sharp, energetic and full of pep.”
The inspirational Sister Jean was credited with bringing good karma to the Ramblers on their March Madness run. She won’t be attending Chesterton’s volleyball matches, but the talented Trojans do have a connection to America’s most beloved nun.
Senior Tenley Davis is headed to Loyola next year on a volleyball scholarship.
“When I was on my tour during my official visit, we stopped at her room,” said Tenley, no relation to Seth. “She was completely coherent.”
Tenley said that Sister Jean explained the application process to her. Completely coherent at 106. What’s her secret?
“I think she’s got God on her side,” Tenley said.
Even if Sister Jean’s magic didn’t make the trip back to Indiana with the outside hitter who owns Chesterton’s single-season and career kills records, the Trojans are showing signs they have what it takes to make their deepest run ever, a year after earning their sectional sectional title in school history and first since 1977.
No. 9 Davis and explosive junior Luca Bombacino, No. 7, bring the Trojans sort of intimidating twin powers that the Yankees of 1961 had in their Nos. 9 and 7 combination, Maris and Mantle. Skilled setters Abby Parrish, a senior, and sophomore Reese Dilbeck, and emerging junior middle blocker Maddie Gilliam add important dimensions.
This is a big week for the Trojans, who have a pair of DAC home matches. Chief rival Valparaiso visits on Tuesday and perennial power Crown Point comes to town Thursday.
Chesterton hit the road last Thursday and ended a 25-match losing streak in its series with Lake Central by executing a reverse sweep, winning the fifth set, 15-13.
The Trojans went 3-1 at New Prairie’s tournament over the weekend, defeating NP, Penn and Morgan Township, 2-0, and losing 2-0 to Warsaw. They take an 11-2 overall record and 2-0 DAC mark into the week and aim to end an even longer futility streak than the LC one that ended last week. Crown Point has defeated Chesterton 34 matches in a row, including an opening day, 2-1 win at home. The Bulldogs scored the final eight points of that one to win the third set, 15-13.
Chesterton last defeated Crown Point on Sep. 25, 2012, at home the same year that the Trojans last beat Lake Central before last Thursday.
The win at LC gives Chesterton reason to be armed with more confidence than it brought into the opening day match vs. Crown Point. Confidence with depth, not the flimsy kind.
On the topic of confidence, Trojans head coach Lindsay Nibert shared how she talked about it with her players early in the season.
“I asked them, ‘Where do you get your confidence from? Do you get it from other people telling you you’re so good, or do you get it from knowing you’re doing the little things right?’ They told me that it was from outside factors. People telling us that ‘I’m great,’” Nibert said. “But does that last? Does that stick? It doesn’t stick. You have to build your own confidence. You have to know that you’re doing your training and doing your things right. That’s where true confidence comes from because people can take it away just as much as they can give it to you. You shouldn’t take your own confidence away.”
The Trojans can’t rely on the karma that Sister Jean brought Loyola in 2018. Then again, they do have a future Rambler leading the team. So it pays to remember what former major league pitcher Joaquin Andujar said about baseball because it can apply to any sport: “You can sum up the game of baseball in one word: ‘You never know.’”