Chesterton boys volleyball squad not the same but coping better of late without star Zane Westerlund, injured indefinitely

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Pairings for the nine-school Washington Township volleyball sectional that includes Chesterton were released Sunday night, but the Trojans’ chances for a long postseason don’t have as much to do with the opposition as with their own personnel.
Junior Zane Westerlund, the team’s best player, has been sidelined the past 11 matches by a back injury.
Asked if he is gone for the season, first-year head coach Cathy Dilbeck said, “Not necessarily. We're hopeful he makes a quick recovery.”
An X-ray didn’t reveal anything, Dilbeck said, but he will undergo an MRI on Saturday to “make sure no deep issues are going on.”
Westerlund appeared on a track for a spot on the all-state team when his back troubles kept him from being effective in a three-set loss at Valparaiso, where the Trojans also were without setter Keith Ward, who was out of town participating in robotics nationals.
Dilbeck sounded certain of Westerlund’s all-state chances had he not suffered the injury: “Oh, I think so. I think so. He led the conference in kills and just his power alone. He’s definitely one of the best hitters in the state. He’s just so freaking athletic. Defensively, too, he covers so much ground.”
In the first two matches without Westerlund, the Trojans lost, pushing their losing streak to four. Losses at Crown Point and Andrean made it four losses in six matches.
“When he was out originally it took us a minute to kind of get in a rhythm without him,” Dilbeck said.
Initially, the coach stayed with a two-setter lineup, but then decided to go with Ward as the lone setter to enable a move to the outside for Declan Ringler, who has done well there.
“Peyton (Dilbeck) has done an exceptional job stepping up and being kind of our go-to hitter,” the coach said of her son. “Declan, even though he’s one of our best setters, I’ve moved him to the outside and he definitely gives us so much defense and so much serve receive that it’s kind of been helping, so we’re starting to find our groove now without Zane in the lineup, but we need him back.”
At this point, at least until results of the MRI are studied, Westerlund has neither been counted in nor out for the postseason.
A linebacker selected to the junior all-state team, Westerlund is the best college prospect on Coach Mark Peterson’s football team.
“We’re hopeful we have him back for sectionals. But Zane is a football player. His life is going to be football. They don’t want to risk anything where any opportunities to play in college are taken away,” Dilbeck said. “So they are going to play it on the side of caution. But we’re hoping the MRI doesn’t show anything and he feels good and is going to give it a go.”
The team's best performance since losing Westerlund came against in a 25-18, 28-26 win over a Lafayette Harrison squad that has a 21-3 record. The win was especially meaningful considering that the Raiders had defeated an Andrean team that swept Chesterton in the wake of Westerlund being sidelined. He has been on the bench but not in uniform for the matches following the injury.
The Trojans swept outmanned Michigan City on Monday to run their winning streak to five matches, looking to make it six tonight at Merrillville in the finale of the regular season.
Chesterton opens Washington Township sectional play on Thursday, May 14 in a quarterfinal vs. Tri-Township. The winner advances to a 5:30 p.m. semifinal on Saturday, May 16, and the championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. that day.