BREESE • Right in the middle of Clinton County, in this town of 4,221, sits two of the more celebrated high school volleyball programs in Illinois.
Breese Central and Mater Dei have been to the state volleyball tournament a total of 31 times. Central will be appearing for the 10th time and second in succession when it meets defending state champion Chicago Christian (22-18) in the Class 2A semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Redbird Arena in Normal. Mater Dei will be making its 21st appearance and fourth in a row when it plays St. Francis (34-6) in the Class 3A semifinals at 4:30.
This is the third time the two schools will be playing in the state final four the same year. Mater Dei, the defending 3A champion, will take a 37-3 record into the final four, while Central is 32-8.
Central, a public school, has an enrollment of 598. Mater Dei, a private non-boundaried institution, has an enrollment of 487. Mater Dei is assigned to Class 3A because the IHSA uses a 1.67 multiplier to calculate an enrollment for non-boundaried schools.
The fact that two schools separated by a mere two miles in a town surrounded by farms and fields are so successful in one sport raises an obvious question: why?
"To me I think, I think it's the way these kids start in volleyball," said Central coach Jim Cook, in his 17th year with the Cougars. "Our feeder schools are already playing volleyball in fourth, five, sixth, seventh grade, and the coaches that are in these grades schools are great.
"They're ex-high school players, ex-collegiate players, who have played at a high, high level and know how to teach. These kids are taught good fundamentals."
The schools draw kids from the same communities surrounding Breese -- Aviston, Albers, St. Rose, Germantown, Bartelso and Beckemeyer.
"I think these kids come in so well prepared when they are freshmen, we just have to speed up their game," Cook said. "We just have to get them bigger and stronger. As far as knowing skills, they know 'em."
Former Mater Dei coach and current assistant Fred Rakers thinks tradition is the reason for the Knights' success. His first team went 9-8 in 1976. From there, win totals and tradition grew.
"It became a big thing to play here and make the starting lineup," he said. "Then the kids at Central had to either get good or get hammered each time they played. Then we both got good.
"Once the competition got going, it just took off on its own."
Rakers, who retired after winning the state title last season, left the head coaching ranks with a 1,046-200-7 record in 35 seasons. He said Central can't and won't get all the athletes, which consequently makes both schools good.
"We get to draw kids from Central's district, and by the time we get done we should have some pretty good kids," he said. "I contend we should never have a down year. We've got enough kids (to draw from)."
Central principal B. Kent Jones thinks talent, tradition and the athletes being better prepared are the reasons for the Breese volleyball superiority.
"You get to the point where you say a lot of it has to be tradition," he noted. "But you have to have talent to go along with that tradition. The coaches in fourth, fifth grades are knowledgeable and get those kids started playing. It's not just throw out a volleyball and start playing. What makes it more amazing is, Mater Dei is having as much success as we are and we're having as much success as they are.
"How does that happen when you've got talent that splits? A lot of other communities don't understand that. They don't have half their talent go somewhere else. When that happens ... I can only attribute that to the children at a young age being taught by skilled coaches who know what they're doing. I think the girls just want to be successful, and they don't want to let their predecessors down."
