It might seem like the reality of the situation hasn’t hit Elle Schara yet.
Just a couple of months into high school, the Crown Point freshman already is a varsity fixture at outside hitter.
It’s a massive change considering that, just one year ago, she was watching her two older sisters from the crowd.
“I had a feeling that I was going to be on JV,” Elle Schara said. “I never expected to be moved right away to varsity during tryouts.”
A growth spurt certainly helped the 5-foot-9 Elle Schara, who grew 6 inches since last year, giving her enough height to be a force at the net at the high school level. She leads Crown Point (15-16) with 273 kills this season.
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Perhaps even more important was her immersion in volleyball at a young age as she followed her two older sisters into the sport.
Kendall Schara, who went through Crown Point’s program first, graduated earlier this year and plays for Green Bay. Marley Schara is a junior defensive specialist who has 25 aces and 96 digs for the Bulldogs this season.
The age gaps meant they were rarely teammates, but Elle Schara said her older sisters’ success on the court pulled her into the sport.
“I started wanting to play because my sisters were playing it and they were both really good,” she said. “And it was really fun for me, so I just kept playing.”
There’s a competitive spirit among them too — Marley Schara pointed out she has bragging rights as the best softball player — but it wasn’t a source of hostility. It provided motivation.
“It definitely made me work harder to get better,” Marley Schara said. “Being in different age groups, it was hard to compare ourselves. But I feel like we’re all very competitive because we all played the same sports growing up.”
Elle and Kendall Schara transitioned to outside hitter during their careers. Elle Schara said she picked up plenty of pointers.
“Whenever I’d watch Kendall play, I saw her presence on the court,” she said. “She showed me that making mistakes doesn’t have to keep you down all the time. Even when she made mistakes, she was still happy on the court.”
But no advice could prepare Elle Schara for her first varsity match against Brownsburg, one of the state’s powerhouse programs. Schara was one of several young players who received their “welcome to high school” moment during Crown Point’s 25-19, 25-11 loss on Aug. 13.
“That was very rough for all of my young kids,” Crown Point coach Alison Duncan said. “Brownsburg is a big, physical, senior-laden team.”
Although Crown Point’s schedule is packed with other top programs, Elle Schara said that challenging start helped her acclimate to the varsity level.
“After that match, I was thinking that — compared to eighth grade — the game was so fast,” she said. “The balls that were being hit, some of them almost went straight down. And in eighth grade there was no block.”
Elle Schara proved to be a quick study, helping her secure a varsity spot. Duncan said it wasn’t given away freely.
“I knew there was an opportunity for her to be on varsity because we had so many spots available,” Duncan said. “But every kid has to earn that spot. They have to make the plays. The ball was in her court.”
Elle Schara ran with it, becoming Crown Point’s primary offensive weapon. She posted a season-high 21 kills twice this season, most recently during a dramatic five-set win against Valparaiso on Sept. 29. The teams will meet again in the first round of the Class 4A Valparaiso Sectional on Oct. 13.
“I know how to mix up my shots now instead of always hitting the same one, and I feel like I’m a lot more confident,” she said.
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.