Picture it: Papillion, Nebraska, August 1994. Mark and Teresa Rolfzen had known each other since high school. Both played basketball, graduated from Nebraska-Kearney, had a young son. Late that month, their golden girls -- Kadie and Amber -- would be born to complete the family.We really didnt read any books about raising twins, but we knew we wanted to go out of our way to treat them as two different individuals, Mark Rolfzen said. Not force them to do things together. But that part worked itself out, because they always wanted to play whatever sport was in season. And they always have gotten along really well, and been each others best friend.Eventually, volleyball became the twins primary passion. Which was just perfect in a state where that sport is wildly popular.Kadie and I have talked about that, Amber said of how meant to be it all seems. It is really cool to think you were born into the Nebraska volleyball spirit.They are seniors at Nebraska now, playing in their second consecutive final four. They helped the Huskers win the national championship last season in Omaha, close to where they grew up in the suburb of Papillion. You cant help but mention to them that their lives could be a Disney movie.They already made one like that, Amber said.Shes referring to Double-Teamed, a 2002 film about basketball-playing twins Heather and Heidi Burge, who went to three final fours while at Virginia in the early 1990s.Oh, they were real? Amber said. I didnt know that.Indeed, Heather and Heidi are as flesh-and-blood as Amber and Kadie, just a couple of decades older. There have been several other twin sisters whove competed at a high level in Division I athletics, including Minnesotas Hannah and Paige Tapp, who also are playing in volleyballs final four for the second year in a row.Part of what makes the Rolfzens particularly compelling, though, is just how thoroughly and completely Nebraska they are; they committed to the Huskers before they were even in high school.Whats it going to be like when we come back in January, and theyre not here? Nebraska coach John Cook said, dreading the spring semester when the Rolfzens -- who graduate this month -- are likely to be playing professionally somewhere far from Lincoln. Its like theyve been part of this program forever.Theyre not gone yet, though. They have at least one match left -- theyll face Texas in Thursdays semifinals in Columbus, Ohio -- and Teresa probably wont eat anything. She typically battles anxiety on game days. She jokes with her friends, You want to know what a diet is for me? Its August to December.But some nerve-induced nausea has been a small price to pay for watching two dreams come true, side-by-side.***Picture it: Grand Island, Nebraska, November 2010. Amber and Kadie lead Papillion-La Vista South High School to the Class A championship in a 41-0 season. Its one of three state titles they would win. As 6-foot-3 teens, they were dominating the prep volleyball court.Practically every kid in the state wants to be a Husker, and Kadie and Amber, at age 16, already had been committed to Nebraska for two years. How easy would it be for their egos to swell? Impossible, as it turns out.Their parents always reminded them to stay grounded: Just do your thing and dont crow about it.But the twins had no desire to show up anybody. They competed in other sports in high school, including basketball and track, did their homework, and got to bed on time. They remain good eggs. After a recent match, Kadie told Amber to call Grandma.Their attitude was, This is what God gave me, and what Im going to work with. And this is how Im going to handle it, Teresa said.It actually took a while for their parents to even believe Kadie and Amber were that good at volleyball. Mark and Teresa were athletes, too. But if you ask which one may have passed on the most ability to their daughters, rather than playfully brag, they stress they never competed at the twins level.Both of us are kind of perplexed about where exactly they got it, Mark said.Which is why the parents were quite surprised when their 14-year-olds returned from a volleyball camp at Nebraska and matter-of-factly mentioned they had scholarships to become Huskers. Surely, Mark and Teresa thought, theyre confused.Quite honestly, their mother and I didnt really believe it, Mark said. I actually had to call Coach Cook the next day to find out what happened, and sure enough he did offer them scholarships.Cook knew, even when they were that young, that he wanted them at Nebraska as much as they knew they wanted to be there. The twins were in total agreement that there was no sense looking around when Nirvana was right up the road and had already opened the gates.That said, Kadie and Amber do not agree on everything; each is very clearly her own person. They banter over what they both call stupid stuff. On those rare occasions when a squabble does happen, whos the first to ease the tension?Both of us, Kadie said. Its like we might argue or whatever, and five minutes later, Ill walk into her room and say, Hey, you want to go to dinner? Shell say, Sure, OK! and its like nothing happened.Of course, theyve rarely been apart, and have shared almost everything, including their SUV. But who is usually in the drivers seat? In perfect twin logic, I usually drive to places, Kadie said, And she usually drives from them. Although sometimes its different.***Picture it: Omaha, Nebraska, December 2015. The Rolfzens had come to the Huskers with the highest of goals. Nebraska was a good team their first two seasons, but fell short of the final four.You go back to 2013, their first year, we were playing Texas here [in the regional final], and they imploded, Cook said. They melted down. Part of that was the expectations they had on them. They were freshmen, and werent able to handle all of it. Their growth since then has been incredible; they worked really hard on it.Nebraska lost again in the elite eight in 2014, this time to BYU. But the next year, the stakes were at their highest: the final four was in Omaha. As 12-year-olds, the Rolfzens had watched the Huskers and one particular hero, Jordan Larson, win the 2006 NCAA title in Omaha. Now was supposed to be their turn.But would the Huskers make it? The twins switched positions at the start of their junior year, with Kadie going to the right side and Amber becoming a middle blocker. The moves benefited both of them -- providing each with a more distinct on-court identity from the other -- and the team.However, in October, the Huskers lost back-to-back matches at home to Big Ten rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin. Stress built up a little more.Until you walk in their shoes, you dont know how much pressure it was about making it to Omaha, Cook said.Indeed, people would come up to the Rolfzens all the time and say, Hey, I got my tickets to Omaha, as if it were a given that Nebraska would be playing there. But a maturity factor kicked in.Youre going to have people say all these things, Amber said, but it gets to the point where you block out all those expectations. You just focus on the team and what you can do to improve yourself.Those losses to the Gophers and Badgers were Nebraskas last of the season. They got on a victory streak that went all the way through the NCAA final. Amber had 10 kills and four blocks in beating Texas, while Kadie had four kills and 10 digs.They just had so much put on them, but they also wanted that, Cook said. That was what was so cool about going to Omaha and winning it.***Picture it: Lincoln, Nebraska, December 2016. The Rolfzens Husker careers looked over on a Friday afternoon, on their home court, at the hands of an archrival having somewhat of a down season.It couldnt actually end like this, could it?Penn State was up 2-0, and the score tied 22-22 in the third set of their regional semifinal. The music that accompanies the end of time outs/return to action at the Devaney Center is off a random set list, yet it seemed ominously appropriate.The chimes of AC/DCs Hells Bells sounded like a signal that time was up for the Huskers.That led into a riff from Metallicas Enter Sandman. Remember, its a song about nightmares.Thats what this felt like to Nebraska fans: A nightmare in the middle of a day when so many took off from work or school to make sure the arena was packed as usual. Among the red-clad faithful, you saw pinched faces, gritted teeth, hands wringing.But Kadie, Amber, and their Nebraska teammates were in their own world, one theyd been trying to maintain all season. Dont look ahead; dont look back. Stay in the moment, point by point.It was going to get worse before it got better, though.Penn State would win the next two points, making it five in a row, and the Huskers were right at the edge of the cliff, one foot in the air. Down two match points against a team they seemingly couldnt stop.It flashed through Ambers mind: This could be it. But the enormity of that didnt paralyze her. The opposite happened, in fact. Be aggressive, she thought. Dont get timid now.And if the Rolfzens story actually were a movie, this is the part that would really have the critics rolling their eyes.Because Nebraska climbed out of that enormous hole, with Amber getting a kill and a block to save the two match points. The twins combined for 29 kills and eight block assists, with Kadie also getting 18 digs.The next day, playing with the lightness of a new life, the Huskers demolished Washington and earned the programs 13th trip to the final four.Kadie and Amber lingered after the regional final, sitting in the stands near their parents, wearing their Huskers jackets and knit caps. Theyve played the last of their matches on their home court, where theyd gone 63-11, losing just once there as seniors. They were headed to Columbus, and could say goodbye to the Devaney Center with smile... if a bit wistfully.Amber was asked about the semifinal escape. As steely-eyed as she was in the moment, she said, I cant watch the last four points in the third set, even though I know the outcome. I get nervous, and its like a What if? thing goes through your head.Whatever happens at the final four, their story is a smashing success. This week, Kadie was named an AVCA first-team All-American for the second year in a row. Amber made the third team, and was second team last season.There have been -- and will continue to be -- many very good players from Nebraska who daydream of playing for the Huskers, and then actually do it. There have been sisters whove done it, too. The state is a volleyball factory.But twins? Who are this talented, this low-maintenance, and this high-character? Who are, as they put it, each others No. 1 fan? It cant get more special than that.I have a very strong connection with both of them, Cook said. There are challenges to coaching twins, and Ive learned a lot about it from them.Theyre two incredible young women. It feels like when my own daughter graduated from here, like theres going to be this big void. But theres two of them to miss, not just one. Titans T-shirts . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Authentic Titans Jerseys . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. http://www.cheaptennesseetitansjerseys.com/ . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. Harold Landry Jersey .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Titans Jerseys Hoodies . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. Mankad gets India off the markIndia v England, Madras, 1952India had played 24 Tests before February 1952, drawing 12 of them and losing the rest. The first win arrived at Chepauk, in Indias 20th year as a Test side, and it came courtesy Vinoo Mankad, whose 8 for 55 in Englands first innings had, according to Wisden, seldom been bettered in Test cricket when it is considered that the pitch gave him little assistance. Five months previously, at Lords, Mankad had scored 72 and 184 and taken five wickets, only for India to lose by eight wickets.This performance, though, would not go in vain, as India took a first-innings lead of 191 courtesy centuries from Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar, and 61 from Dattu Phadkar. They did not have to bat again, as Mankad and Ghulam Ahmed bowled India to a win by an innings and 8 runs, and gave England a taste of the trials by spin they would go on to endure on future tours of the country.By Karthik KrishnaswamyPataudis men break overseas duckNew Zealand v India, Dunedin, 1968Of all the Test grounds in all the towns in all the world, the southern-most Test venue, in a place cricketers consider the coldest, Dunedins Carisbrook, was to warm Indian crickets hearts because it had taken their team 36 years and 43 attempts to bring up its first overseas Test victory.After a rough tour of Australia, MAK Pataudis Indians found the pitches slower and friendlier and the opposition gentler. On their first tour to New Zealand, India were a team packed with versatile allrounders and led by an imaginative and ambitious captain.They took a narrow first-innings lead courtesy half-centuries from Ajit Wadekar -- he would make another in the second innings -- and Farokh Engineer, and a tenth-wicket partnership of 57 between Bishan Bedi and Ramakant Desai. New Zealand lent them a helping hand by dropping eight catches.In what turned into a second-innings shootout on a soft, wearing pitch, Indias spinners came into their own, Erapalli Prasanna leading the way with 6 for 94 in 40 overs. India needed 200 to win and Chandu Borde and ML Jaisimha took them home just after lunch on the final day. India went on to win the series 3-1, with Prasanna taking 24 wickets at 18.79. Three years later came the heady summer of 1971, but for generations to follow, Dunedin 1968 was the first sighting of Indian crickets holy grail.By Sharda UgraSunny days in TrinidadWest Indies v India, Port of Spain, 1971There was little expectation from the India side that travelled to the Caribbean in 1971, until Dilip Sardesai made a double-century in the first Test at Kingston. At 31, many believed his career was dead, that he was lucky to have even been picked, only for him to play the innings of his life. In the same way,, India werent given a chance against West Indies, and they ended up winning the series 1-0.dddddddddddd No wonder Sardesai was called the Renaissance Man. Along the way, Indian cricket gained a new batting mainstay, Sunil Gavaskar. He made his debut in the second Test, in Port-of-Spain, and played a key role in Indias seven-wicket win with half-centuries in both innings.It was the spinners, though, who started it all -- Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan toppling West Indies for 214 after they had chosen to bat first. Sardesai helped himself to a hundred and later said, I was scoring runs at will. I had figured out how to get on top of their bowling. A time comes when you feel nobody can get you out, and I had that feeling all through that Caribbean tour. India gained a lead of 138. Venkat worked his way through West Indies line-up in the second innings to pick up 5 for 95, while Salim Durani chipped in with the crucial wickets of Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd. Indias target was 124 -- eminently gettable, especially with Gavaskar at the helm. He would go on to score 774 runs in the series, still a record for a debutant.By Alagappan MuthuChandra works his magicEngland v India, The Oval, 1971Having just beaten West Indies on their turf, Ajit Wadekars upbeat bunch arrived in the UK. The first two Tests were drawn, and England, who had just won the Ashes 2-0 in Australia, took a 71-run first-innings lead at the Oval. They were unofficially the worlds best team at that point, but India had in their ranks the unorthodox skills of Bhagwath Chandrasekhar. Brought on early, Chandras whirring legbreaks and googlies had England three down for 24. With the steady S Venkataraghavan keeping the pressure on at the other end, and a predatory close-in cordon surrounding them, England had nowhere to hide. Chandra ripped through with figures of 6 for 38, and England were bowled out for 101. India needed 173 to complete their first win on English soil, and got there slowly -- taking 101 overs to do so -- but surely, with Wadekar and Dilip Sardesai rebuilding after the early loss of both openers, and Gundappa Viswanath and Farokh Engineer steering them towards the finish.As Abid Ali struck the winning boundary and ecstatic crowds poured into the ground, the man who had led India to their triumphs here and in the West Indies was fast asleep. I went to sleep when I came back to the dressing room after being dismissed, Wadekar said. I was nudged awake by Ken Barrington, the England manager, who told me that we had won. I said to him that I always knew wed win.By Gaurav Kalra Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap Jerseys Online China Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Hoodies Wholesale NFL T-shirts Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 ' ' '