Last summer, nine worshippers were gunned down at a Charleston, South Carolina, church— among them, a single mother who left behind four girls. She prepared them to persevere in ways they’re only now starting to understand.

A volleyball scholarship Abby Cheng earned at Arkansas State paved the way to a career as a researcher, community leader and mentor to young girls.

When the California Lutheran University women’s volleyball team became the first in school history to secure an NCAA national championship trophy, the Regals wanted to share their accomplishment with predecessors.

The Wheeling Jesuit University women’s volleyball program had been on the cusp of a championship for nearly half a decade. After reaching the NCAA tournament quarterfinals or semifinals for four consecutive seasons, the Cardinals finally broke through this year.

The University of Nebraska, Lincoln dropped only four matches all season. One came at the hands of the University of Texas at Austin, but the Cornhuskers avenged that loss in the NCAA Championship final, defeating Texas in straight sets on Dec. 19.

Five years ago, best friends and teammates Kacey Deterding and Maddie Johnson sat next to each other in a high school library and signed papers committing themselves to Lubbock Christian University and, essentially, to each other