Valparaiso faced a stiff challenge in the opener of Tuesday night’s Class 4A LaPorte Volleyball Sectional, but righted things on the way to a four-game victory over Duneland Conference foe Crown Point (17-14).

The Vikings improved to 30-3, winning 25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 25-13. They advance to face Chesterton, which defeated Merrillville in three games. The two will face off in the semifinals on Saturday.

“We just got down on ourselves in that second game,” Valparaiso coach Katie Lenard said. “We made so many mistakes.”

Lenard told her players to focus on the task ahead of them.

“They did exactly that,” she said. “They went out fresh. I think they were just connecting better. Everyone was doing their jobs.”

“They had excellent serving, excellent serving,” Lenard said of the Bulldogs. “They played a great game.”

Sectional favorite Valparaiso hopes for a more consistent performance this week.

“I told the players, we had a great season, but none of that necessarily matters now,” Lenard said.

Among the standout performers for the Vikings were Sara Clark (10 kills, four block assists), Carrie Clark (two aces), and Brigid Scannell (17 kills).

Lenard said Tarrah Lasky made some adjustments that helped the Vikings to get on track.

“That made a difference in Games 3 and 4,” Lenard said.

In another matchup of Duneland Conference teams, Chesterton beat Merrillville in the second game 25-20, 25-18 and 30-28.

Consistency was also an issue for the Trojans, who improved to 23-11 on the year.

“We have times where mentally, we just check out,” Chesterton coach T.R. Harlan said. “Mentally, we’re going to have to be a lot stronger if we want to compete Saturday morning.”

Lydia Gill paced Chesterton with 17 kills, and Katie Urycki had nine kills and two aces.

“We’re going to try to get on a roll and see what happens,” Harlan said of Chesterton’s matchup with Valparaiso. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

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