Girls volleyball 2025-26 season preview: Coming off first sectional title since 1977, Trojans aim to use explosive lineup to take this season even deeper

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The Chesterton girls volleyball team, coming off a 25-10 overall record and the school’s first sectional title since 1977, kicks off what on paper looks like it should be a strong season Saturday at the Crown Point Tournament.
The Trojans bring back star power, experience and depth.
But senior Tenley Davis, who has grown as a player and helped the team get better every year, knows that the game isn’t played on paper. It’s played on hardwood, and in her case, above the net.
Davis knows names don’t win games, so when asked if this has a chance to be the best team on which she has played at Chesterton, she gave a qualified response.
“Probably. I think we have the potential to be the best team that I’ve played on here, but it’s all about how much we’re willing to put in and how much we’re willing to work for it,” said Davis, who led the team in kilss and digs last season. “We have a lot of talent, but talent can only go so far. I think we’re all on the same page with what we want to accomplish.”
Winning a regional is unfinished business that was on the brink of being finished when the Trojans took a 2-0 lead on Penn and went up in the third set, only to lose the match, 3-2.
That disappointment doesn’t seem to have dented anyone’s confidence, from the players to the coaching staff.
“The talent level that they’re going bring this year, I mean, they should be doing some big things,” fourth-year head coach Lindsay Nibert said. “We’re hoping to go for some titles, obviously get sectional back. Regionals are the first milestone, and then obviously get that semi-state appearance.”
The Trojans lost All-DAC middle blocker Marissa Roe and libero Cassie Lange to graduation but also return explosive experience that revs the sizable home crowds.
Davis and similarly springy junior Luca Bombacino, both Division I recruits, make Chesterton one of the region’s most exciting teams to watch.
“Teams are going to know about Luca and Tenley and plan around them,” Nibert predicted. “They’ll camp on those girls. They’re going to set up their defense around those girls. That’s fine, our goal is to outrun them and still hit over them.”
Davis committed to Loyola University of Chicago last year and Bombacino recently committed to Michigan in June.
Sophomore Reese Dilbeck and senior Abby Parrish know how to bring out the best in the talented power hitters in the Trojans’ two-setter system.
“Abby, this being her senior year, is hoping to hit some big milestones with her assist numbers. She made a thousand already and wants to keep going and get as many as she can her last year,” Nibert said. “Reese is going to be a big threat right away. I’m excited because I think now that she’s comfortable, not being a freshman anymore, it’s nice to see how she starts out the season being ready to go. She’s a phenomenal setter.”
The Trojans also bring depth at libero, where senior Ryliegh Connor and sophomore Delaney Barrett stand out on the back row.
Junior middle blocker Madison Gilliam, the tallest player on the roster, started last season playing for the JV squad and has improved steadily ever since.
“She’s the best middle in the DAC, in my opinion,” Nibert said. “She’s really taking her reps very seriously at practice and it’s paying off. She just keeps getting better and better.”
Playing club at the 18U level at the age of 16 helped to accelerate her improvement rate, Nibert said, because “she gets good competition, gets to see a faster speed, which is good for us.”
The Trojans have enough depth that cracking the roster as a freshman would not be easy, but Audrey Roach made the cut and is listed on the roster as a middle blocker/outside hitter.
Seniors Peyton Ello, Elaina Markwart and Brooke Williams lend depth to a team that follows the Crown Point tourney with a couple of tough road matches (at Munster, Aug. 19; at Penn, Aug. 21) and plays its home opener in front of what promises to be a large, spirited crowd Monday, Aug. 25.
“We look forward to season all year round,” Nibert said. “As soon as season unfortunately ends the year before, we’re already looking forward to the next time we get to get back together with each other. I think there is something special about high school season, but when you put this group of girls together, it’s something extra special. They’re such a great group to be with that it really feels like a home.”