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Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

By Sam Morris

A new school often suffers years of indignity on the field of play as its athletic program slowly builds and establishes itself and a tradition of excellence, but Shadow Ridge High School - which opened in August 2003 - is not taking the slow route.

During a homecoming pep rally traditionally reserved for glorifying the football team, a different group of ballplayers took center stage. To the raucous cheering of the student body, current and former members of the school's boys volleyball team gathered at one end of the gym to hoist the school's first championship banner.

"Raising that banner felt like years of hard work finally paying off," said Zach Hexamer, a senior middle blocker on the winning team.

"It definitely represents a great accomplishment. It took us four years, but we finally did it," senior Brian Wendt added with a proud smile. "We set the standard and now we have to see if people carry that forward."

Regardless of whether that was a challenge to the current group of players who gathered to bask in adulation of their classmates, senior outside hitter Colton Wardell said it is " an opportunity I'd been looking for ever since stepping on the floor as a freshman."