Big test for 8-0 CHS boys volleyball team at Lake Central today, one day after a sweep of Portage

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Most of the time, Chesterton can afford to be at less than its best for a set and still execute a sweep of its DAC opponent.
Monday night at home against Portage was one such instance. The Trojans survived a second-set swoon and still swept the visitors 25-12, 25-20, 25-11 to improve to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in DAC matches.
Chesterton continues its DAC schedule today on the road, mindful that the opponent is far more equipped to exploit letdowns than was Portage. Lake Central has a 4-1 record and a 2-0 mark in DAC play.
The Indians’ only loss, by a 2-1 margin, came in its season-opening invitational against Chesterton. The Trojans won that March 22 match 25-20, 21-25, 15-8 and saw enough to know that they will face a different caliber opponent in St. John.
“They’re really powerful hitters,” Chesterton coach Kevin Labaj said. “If we’re not executing the block correctly, they’ll hit through us every single time. So, I think we’ll have to focus on that and then focus on executing our plays and what we’re supposed to be doing, as a setter, as a passer, as a hitter, and as long as we execute to near perfection, it should be our game.”
This wasn’t the first night that Chesterton opened on fire, only to fade in the second set. In their four DAC matches, which do not count the best-of-three matches vs. LC and Michigan City in LC’s invitation, the Trojans have outscored the opposition by an average of 12.5 points, compared to a seven-point edge in the second set.
“The first set went great. The second set we broke down a lot,” Labaj said. “We made a lot of mistakes that let Portage get back in, a lot of mental mistakes, easy things that should be correctable, if not corrected already, so if we can focus going into tomorrow and play up to Lake Central and play with them, we should be fine.”
In seniors Robert Williams and Bryton Oliver, Chesterton has a pair of 6-foot-7 middle blockers. They know the importance of their role in today’s first-place showdown.
“For teams like that, it’s all about sticking your arms on the other side of the net because they’re going to be hitting hard,” Williams said. “If the hands are on your side of the net the ball is just coming straight down. As long as we do that, we should beat them by a decent amount.”
Oliver noted that, “Blocks are huge for momentum. You block their best hitter you take the wind out of them and then it gives us momentum to keep going.”
Williams recalled that on March 22, the Indians “hit the ball hard, but we did a great job of adjusting to what they were doing.”
The players are aware this is a different caliber opponent than most the Trojans have faced.
“We can’t give them any free points, not tomorrow,” Oliver said Monday night.