Seniors Abigail Parrish and Tenley Davis play lights out, and Chesterton Volleyball sends Lake Central home quick with sweep

Patrick Mochen
Onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton volleyball took control of the match from the get-go and didn’t hand it over. CHS made a statement win, with a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-12, 25-22), proving that the earlier win in this season at Lake Central, where the Trojans executed a reverse sweep, winning the final three sets out of five, was no accident.
Senior Tenley Davis had a huge night as she hammered down several balls to the Lake Central side of the court. Junior Luca Bombacino also had a big night, which is nothing out of the ordinary. Chesterton has come to expect big things out of both of their outside hitters.
“At one point we told our setters to keep feeding Tenley because she was really hot,” Coach Lindsay Nibert said. “She really went off at the end. Luca made some plays that I felt like she played at the next level for her. She’s always been a great player but there have been things that we have been trying to teach her and she made those adjustments tonight and it was really cool to watch.”
Although both Davis and Bombacino had great games, it would take big plays from more than just those two in order to sweep Lake Central. In their win against LaPorte the previous week, Davis noted that they weren’t doing a good enough job of spreading the ball around, allowing teams to key in on her and Bombacino. Against Lake Central, the team fixed that issue.
“It's something we say before every game,” senior setter Abby Parrish said, “but it kind of is dictated by the passing. If the passing is good, it’s really easy for the setters to get the ball around, but if the passing isn't good, then it’s really hard to get the ball to the middle or right side. I think we always need to go into a game knowing we have a good passing game and we can spread the ball out. Today we all had really scrappy passing and defense.”
Parrish had a huge night, not only setting up her teammates for kills, but also getting some kills of her own.
“It’s always nice to contribute to the team in other ways,” Parrish said. “Im not always a hitter so it’s fun when I get that opportunity.”
Along with Davis and Bombacino, Parrish never stepped off the court during the sweep. The team has depended on her for good sets since her sophomore year, as she has led the team in assists the past two seasons.
The Trojans had very few mistakes defensively. Senior Libero Ryleigh Conner played well, as well as sophomore libero Delaney Barrett.
“Delaney Barrett stepped up in her defensive role,” Nibert said. “Ryleigh did great, and Delaney added an extra presence to the back row that was huge, it was really cool.”
Junior middle hitter Maddie Gilliam got her fair share of kills and blocks. Senior right side hitter Brooke Williams, a rapidly progressing player, provided another great option for the setters, spiking the ball to the hardwood several times.
“Brooke this season is definitely one of the most improved players,” Nibert said. “Even just comparing Brooke at the beginning of the season to now, and comparing her last year to now she is just a completely different player. There is a lot of depth at her position and we told her she can go for it and improve and take it or maybe she could go somewhere else and she’s taken it full force. She's taken advantage of every rep in practice. She even comes in before practice to get extra reps in and she really wants it, because she's looked forward to it.”
Near the end of the third set, Lake Central started to gain momentum back, and tied it, 21-21. However, senior middle hitter Peyton Ello jumped up for a clutch block to win the 22nd point, and from there Davis took over to win the match.
The final set marked six sets in a row that the Trojans have won against Lake Central, after Lake Central had won 24 matches in a row against Chesterton. The Trojans now gear up for conference rival Valparaiso on Thursday at Valpo, and an even tougher opponent next week, Crown Point on Tuesday at Crown Point.
“I'd like to do that there,” Nibert said. “If we play like that at Crown Point, we’ll be in a good spot.”
Parrish added, “I think this is really going to fuel us because now we know it wasn’t a fluke, we know we're good enough to not let any sets drop to a team like that. I'm excited to face Crown Point. I think it's going to be a challenge, since they have the home court advantage.”