Crown Point’s Macie Keilman dispels doubts

Crown Point’s Macie Keilman (9) sends the ball over the net during a Duneland Athletic Conference match against Lake Central in Crown Point on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune)
It’s a family joke these days, but Crown Point’s Macie Keilman hasn’t forgotten the words.
When Keilman was about 10 years old, a well-meaning family member tried steering her toward a different activity. “Sports aren’t for everyone,” she recalls being told.
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Keilman laughs about it now, but those words ignited the competitive fire within her.
“I had to prove myself,” she said.
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Keilman is doing that in her second varsity season, flourishing in the middle. The 5-foot-10 junior middle hitter led the Bulldogs with three blocks in their 25-27, 25-20, 25-20, 25-20 Duneland Athletic Conference win against Lake Central at home on Tuesday.
Crown Point’s Elle Schara serves during a Duneland Athletic Conference match against Lake Central in Crown Point on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune)
Sophomore outside hitter Elle Schara paced Crown Point (6-6, 2-1) with a match-high 26 kills, and Keilman added five kills and three digs. Sophomore outside hitter Alexa Iwema led Lake Central (3-5, 1-1) with 11 kills.
Crown Point coach Alison Duncan raved about Keilman’s contributions to the program both on the court and off it, citing her willingness to play different positions during a match and her tendency to be the first one to set up or take down nets at practice.
“She’s always doing what she’s supposed to be doing, and she’s always going to put the work in,” Duncan said. “She’s never missed any workouts, never missed anything in the preseason, and she does the same thing in the classroom.”
Keilman said she has found a greater comfort level after being one of several underclassmen who were key contributors last season.
“It felt like last year we were trying to find our way, just grasping in the dark,” she said. “But this year we’re all pretty set in our confidence.”
Lake Central’s Milica Tomic, left, and Alexa Iwema go up to block during a Duneland Athletic Conference match at Crown Point on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune)
That confidence has allowed a new part of Keilman’s game to emerge, according to her close friend Elisa Algozine, a junior outside hitter.
“She’s really come out of her shell,” Algozine said. “She was kind of quiet before, but now she’s the one who’s showing me around the court and yelling in my face — in a nice way.”
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Keilman is one of the more experienced players on the team and has embraced the added responsibility associated with that.
“I’m trying to be a leader for the younger girls now,” she said. “If I make a mistake, I have to brush it off and move past it. I can’t wallow in those mistakes.”
Crown Point’s Macie Keilman, left, and Alayna Panepinto go up to block during a Duneland Athletic Conference match against Lake Central in Crown Point on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune)
Keilman said she was more reserved earlier in her high school career because she didn’t have a lot of experience in volleyball. She played basketball and volleyball casually through grade school before she decided in eighth grade that she wanted to pursue volleyball more seriously.
“I’m a big competitor,” she said. “I like to strive to be the best at everything I do.”
As the third child in a family with six girls, Keilman’s negotiations with her parents for permission to try out for a local club team took a few months due to the time commitment that would be involved, her father, Larry, recalled.
“The problem was getting her there,” he said.
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But Macie Keilman made that club team, and Larry Keilman believes those words she heard years ago helped launch her career.
“Macie turned those words around,” he said. “She was thinking, ‘Let me show you something.’”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.