Trojans boys volleyball moves to 7-0 with win at Crown Point and checks in at No. 6 in the state rankings

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The momentum of the Chesterton boys volleyball team in the first year as a fully sanctioned IHSAA sport continues to snowball with one positive development after another.
The Trojans remained undefeated with a 3-1 road win against Crown Point on Thursday night and on Friday news came to coach Kevin Labaj is ranked sixth in the state.
“It’s still early, so I wasn’t too sure where we were going to end up, but I usually don’t look or factor that in until toward middle, end of the season,” Labaj said. “The number that counts is the one at the end of the season more than anything else. Of course, my parents had to let me know today real quick, texted me. They told me, so I kind of looked at it a little bit more and saw the other teams and how many they’ve won and lost. Fishers is No. 1, and they’re 9-1. Being down in Indy, they’ve got a pretty good game always. I thought we’d be in the top 20, for sure.”
The Trojans (7-0) showed their coach something in defeating Crown Point 25-16, 16-25, 25-23, 25-15.
“Yesterday was one of the first true signs of how good this team can be in adversity,” Labaj said. “We won the first set, and it was pretty easy. We won by nine points. In the second set though, we lost by nine points, and to see them understand what was going on and be able to change and win the third set and win the fourth set easy, it was a true test of how far they’ve come and how far they’re probably going to go this season.”
Labaj cited outside hitter George O’Connor (seven kills), a senior, and junior defensive specialists/liberos Cesar Mendoza (21 digs, four aces) and Adam LeNeave (20 digs) as having had particularly strong nights.
“We had a couple yesterday where our blocking was a little bit off but we changed some things around and after that they couldn’t get a ball past us and they were digging everything,” Labaj said. “George played really well yesterday. Cesar Mendoza and Adam, both played libero two sets yesterday and they both did a phenomenal job on defense.”
Chesterton plays three DAC matches next week: Portage at home Monday, Lake Central away Tuesday, and Michigan City away Thursday.
“Lake Central is going to be tough. We’re playing at their house. It’s always tough on that drive to go play them at their house,” Labaj said. “Lately, City has been scrappy. They just beat Merrillville in five, so they’re scrappy, but we have so much height I think we’ll be fine against them. Portage is not as good as they were last year. They lost a lot of seniors. If we can beat Lake Central, we’ll have a good shot of taking the DAC.”
The conference season consists of home and a way matches against all seven opponents, a 14-match schedule.