CHESTERTON | Donning a plastic silver crown, and nestled in the neck brace of injured senior setter Brooke Burczyk, the pink volleyball had a front-row seat -- its very own seat, in fact, at the end of the Lake Central volleyball team's bench -- for a rather dispirited L.C. loss Tuesday.

So much for the debut of The Spirit Ball.

"It might have to go," L.C. coach Amber Alm said following Times No. 3 Chesterton's 26-24, 25-17, 25-19 sweep of her No. 2 Indians.

The Indians (18-9, 9-3 DAC) defeated the Trojans (22-4, 9-3) the first time through the Duneland Athletic Conference schedule, and early on it looked as though L.C. might sweep the season series.

Chesterton coach TR Harlan called his second timeout of Game 1 with L.C. up 16-7. He didn't call another the rest of the match.

"Early in the first game, I think we wanted to play so well that we couldn't relax," Harlan said. "We were just too hyper, but we kinda calmed down."

All it took to settle the Trojans' nerves was a 19-9 deficit. From there, they closed Game 1 out on a stunning 17-5 run, winning the final six points to overcome a 24-20 L.C. advantage.

"I think we got comfortable," Alm said. "We were up big and I think (we) were a bit shocked that they didn't come out stronger. And then we just didn't finish."

The Trojans, who tied the Indians for second place in the DAC, bottled that momentum and carried it through the remainder of the surprisingly lopsided match. They never trailed in Game 2, and by the end of Game 3, Harlan had his reserves on the floor.

"That was a turning point," Chesterton senior MaryBeth Ryan said of the Trojans' Game 1 run, "cause we played like that the next two games."

Abby Skube, Emily Mozwecz and Morgan Palombizio each had eight kills for Chesterton. But it was Ryan, continuing her strong play, who paced the Trojans with 13 kills.

"She's been unbelievable for three weeks," Harlan said of Ryan.

Casey Phillips had 15 digs, and Sarah Anderson added 10 assists for the Indians.