Senior volleyball star Tenley Davis leads team on a big road win at Penn, the school that dealt the Trojans a devastating fall-from-ahead loss in the regional last year

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The ghosts of October past came knock, knock, knockin’ on Penn’s gymnasium door Thursday night, completing their 10-month journey from LaPorte, with where they haunted Chesterton’s volleyball team in the regional.
The Trojans barred the door and stuffed a towel in the crack just to be safe this time, so as to keep the ghosts, the ones that took a recent detour to Crown Point, out of the gym and their heads.
Now you can take that badge off the Trojans They can’t use it anymore. You know the badge, the one that said they couldn’t finish what they started. That reputation deepened its roots when Chesterton was on the verge of a sweep, only to fall from ahead and lose to Penn in the regional Oct. 26. Then on the first day of this season, in the title match of the best-of-three Crown Point tournament, the hosts scored the final eight points of the decisive set. Another crushing blow.
After that, the shadow hanging over the Trojans made it dark, too dark to see, but all that changed with a 3-1 road victory over Penn. The Trojans finished what they started, did it with such a confident flare, and they slay the ghosts.
““I’m happy it’s over. I’m happy we did it,” fourth-year head coach Lindsay Nibert said. “I feel like now we kind of can wash our hands of it and we can focus on the rest of the season, finishing the season all the way to state. We’re going to definitely prepare for them, not take them lightly at all when it comes to the postseason, but we’re going to have to keep our eyes forward now, no longer behind us.”
Well said.
The night was spiced with several clutch performances, most notably from senior Tenley Davis, who will attend Loyola of Chicago on a volleyball scholarship next year.
Showcasing her ever-expanding versatility from start to finish, Davis mixed her usual dose of heat and mixed in a occasional changeup to just the right spot to find the floor. She played exceptional defense, digging ball after ball under control. On a night the Trojans had so much trouble keeping their serves within the boundaries, every one of Davis’ stayed in play.
Teammates always have fed off her outbursts of joy during matches and that was especially noticeable in this one.
“Pretty special, especially being my last year and it being on their home court,” Davis said. “I’ve never been here before.”
She looked right at home playing in front of a big crowd.
Junior middle blocker Maddie Gilliam played a big role in the final set, blocking shots and scoring points with a more confident swing than she had shown in previous years. She called defeating the team that ended their season so abruptly a year ago, “awesome, very satisfying. I feel happy to have that happen.”
And everyone was happy to see Gilliam come on late Thursday.
“Woo! She put some holes in the floor over there,” Davis said. “It was pretty fun to watch. It’s nice that we have a middle because once the other team starts keying on us (Davis and Luca Bombacino), outside, the middle’s wide open.”
Bombacino, her confidence boosted by the maize and blue love shown for her game in the form of an athletic scholarship to Michigan, delivered especially lethal shots and hit the ball so hard that she knocked over the Penn player who attempted to receive it, knocked her right to the floor. Bombacino struggled with her serve on the night but made huge contributions to compensate.
Davis knows what a relief it is to have a school choice out of the way before the season and said she thinks Bombacino can only benefit from that.
“For everyone, it’s a really stressful time, so it’s good to get that cleared and locked down,” Davis said of the recruiting process. “And it also boosts your confidence because it makes you feel part of something bigger. You have a job to fulfill and you’re working harder than you ever have before.”
Bombacino had plenty of company in working hard for the victory.
Setting in motion the first point of the final set, senior Ryliegh Connor somehow executed a pass even though there was so little space between the floor and the ball you would be hard-pressed to fit a modern Monday morning newspaper in the gap.
Setters Reese Dilbeck and Abby Parrish defended well and brought out the best in the power hitters. Dilbeck, one of the team’s best servers and defensive players, as usual kept her mistakes to a minimum. Picking her spots expertly, when Penn players looked for hints as to which one of her sky walkers she would set for a kill, Parrish executed the sleight of hand that would make a triple-option quarterback proud and steered the ball to the vacated middle of the floor.
Senior Brooke Williams, aka The Academic Weapon, scored a key point in the final set to stymie a comeback effort and give the Trojans a 17-14 lead on the way to a 25-19 win.
Sophomore Delaney Barrett didn’t get every serve in play but the ones she did had a spin that made them difficult to handle. Her quickness always boosts the back line.
Freshman Audrey Roach had some big blocks and started to show signs that she is more confident that she belongs in varsity games.
The ghosts knocked loudest in the first set, when the visitors built a 21-15 lead and Penn peeled off six consecutive points to create the 11th tie score of the set.
Chesterton closed it out and won 25-22. Parrish and Dilbeck stayed discipline in letting balls drop out of play and Bombacino scored the final two points, the first on a blistering shot, the second on a tap.
Even in the set they lost, the second one, the Trojans showed something. Penn took a 9-1 lead and Chesterton tied the score 12-12, 13-13 and 15-15, and still was within 20-19 before fading at the end.
At one point, a teammate fell on Davis’ ankle, which hasn’t completely stabilized yet since suffering an injury playing basketball last winter, an injury that turned her into a one-sport athlete.
“Tenley lets the adrenaline block out whatever pain she’s feeling,” Nibert said. “It kind of terrifies me, but she says it works for her.”
Everything worked for Davis and the Trojans on a late Thursday night in Mishawaka, a perfect night for an exorcism.
Two nights after winning at Munster in straight sets, the Trojans improved to 5-1. They next play Monday at home vs. Andrean.