Championship athletes don’t just happen by chance. They are created through a combination of natural talent and work ethic.

 When Chicago Christian forced Freeburg into a third game during the Illinois Class 2A state volleyball championship Saturday afternoon at Redbird Arena, Midgets outside hitter Colleen Yarber was a little shaken.

Try as she did, Mater Dei outside hitter Brooke Schulte couldn’t help her team win the school’s sixth state volleyball championship Saturday night.

Freeburg was supposed to easily win its Class 2A girls volleyball semifinal match Friday afternoon with Carlinville at Redbird Arena.

Mater Dei coach Fred Rakers doesn’t care how his volleyball team gets to 25 points, just as long as the Knights get there first.

A lot of third-place contests at state tournaments are uneventful and lacking in the intensity department.

KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Villa Duchesne volleyball team gladly embraced its moniker as the Cinderella of this year’s Class 3 state tournament.
Unfortunately for the Saints, a new moniker of giant killer proved to be out of reach.

KIRKWOOD — Saturday’s Class 4 quarterfinal turned into more of a matter of survival than winning mode for the St. Joseph’s Academy volleyball team.

Mater Dei girls volleyball coach Fred Rakers has a simple formula for winning volleyball matches — spikes in, serves in equals wins.

Momentum is unexplainable. No one knows when it will show up. No one knows how long it will last. What we do know is there are a few things you can do to coax momentum out of its shell.