NOTEBOOK: This volleyball star is poised for a stellar junior year and more from around the Region (2024)

Alex Burr

CROWN POINT — Crown Point's Elle Schara can do it all.

The Purdue commit was seventh in Indiana in kills last season with 558. She led the Bulldogs in digs and tied for the team lead in aces with her sister, Marley. But as was evident Saturday, Schara might not have to do it all this year.

"(It feels like) a weight off my shoulders," Schara, a junior, said. "But also, we have more experience this year."

Schara and Crown Point will be in a new position this year. Last season, the team sported just two seniors — Marley Schara and Anna Marcinek. As a result, Crown Point will be one of the most experienced teams in the Duneland Athletic Conference this season.

Schara, who has been one of the area's best hitters since she was a freshman, feels the experience the whole team has gained the last several seasons will be crucial to their success this season.

"It's just awesome because last year and my freshman year we were the younger team," Schara said.

Crown Point head coach Alison Duncan has coached her fair share of Division I prospects in her time as Crown Point coach. Schara's control and decision-making on the court still stand out.

"I think what most impressed me in that first set (against Munster on Saturday) was she managed odd assist balls really well and got kills," Duncan said. "So that shows her level of control, which as a junior sometimes kids don't have yet."

Duncan believes her star hitter's growth as a passer has made her a six-rotation player this year. Schara credited her club team with helping her improve her passing.

"Honestly, 1st Alliance really helped me with that," Schara said. "They just broke everything down. It was honestly such a great experience for me, it just made me better."

Her experience during club season, where she is teammates with Chesterton's Tenley Davis, the Times 2024 Girls Athlete of the Year, as well as her capabilities led her to June 15, the day Schara said she received the call from Purdue University.

"When June 15 came, I wasn't expecting much, then I got a call," Schara said. "It went great. It ultimately just felt like home already, because I played at Boiler Juniors when I was really young. So I was already kind of familiar with everything, and it was really awesome."

Schara will be the second of her sisters to play Division I volleyball, with her sister Kendall playing for Green Bay. While Marley isn't playing volleyball at the next level, she is attending Purdue, giving Schara a familiar face when she arrives in West Lafayette in 2026.

"I looked up to both of them playing at Crown Point," Schara said of her sisters. "It was amazing to play two years with Marley. It'll be awesome to (be at Purdue with Marley), she'll be able to show me around if I need to know where anything is. It'll be so awesome."

After tying for second in the DAC last season with Lake Central, Crown Point is one of the favorites to win the conference after the Indians graduated many of their seniors and LaPorte graduated their senior class as well. With Schara and a deep supporting class, including Macie Keilman, Alayna Panepinto, Bella Del Real and Elisa Algozine, the Bulldogs are poised for success this season.

Duncan will be sure to appreciate getting to coach her star hitter for the two seasons she has left.

"It's really nice, right?" Duncan said. "It's a gift. It's fun to watch her play. It's great for our program. It's great for the little kids to come and watch her train as hard as she has."

Munster off to rocky start

Munster looked green at the Crown Point Invitational on Saturday.

"It's what I expected a little bit," Mustangs coach Kalin Miller said. "We're still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. We know there's practice after this weekend so it's gonna be good."

Miller, in her second season, knows Munster's reputation as a volleyball program can weigh on players, especially after the success of last year's team.

"I know the girls saw what we did last year, and want to repeat that this year," Miller said.

Munster finished 11-1 last season, tied for first with Andrean in the Northwest Crossroads Conference. The Mustangs beat Lake Central in the sectional semifinal en route to an appearance in the regional round.

On Saturday, the Mustangs dropped all four contests they played. Despite the struggles, Munster's talent still shined through. Junior Gia Iatrides, up after playing junior varsity last season, had some impressive hits throughout the day.

"We expect a lot from (Iatrides) because she's very dynamic — front row and back row," Miller said.

Nina Garner, a basketball and track star for the Mustangs, has taken up volleyball this season. While Garner did not start any of the games in the middle, Miller feels once Garner gets a grip on the new sport she can have a good time with it.

"She's very, very new to volleyball," Miller said. "But she's going to be someone we look to for blocking. When she's on it, she's very on it, and when she's on a hitting streak, she's on a hitting streak."

While the 2023 Mustangs were sectional winners, they did not have a sterling regular season record. They lost six of their first seven matches. By Sept. 19, 2023, Munster had upped its record to 11-13. It would finish the season 17-16. Miller understands that losing matches early can be beneficial to her team in the postseason, especially with a group as green as this.

"We did go to Indy over the summer and (the Crown Point Invitational) gives us a lot of fresh, new faces too," Miller said. "Unfortunately, we're not going to Yorktown this year, but we still have a hard schedule."

Games of the Week

With the season officially underway, here are three games to keep an eye on this week: