An Unfortunate Event Brings a Team Closer Than Ever

As Highlands Performance Volleyball geared up for two long weekends at the Mideast Qualifier, first in St. Louis and then in Indianapolis, they had no clue that an unfortunate event was about to take place.

After 15 Rox teammates took the stage and captured 1st Place on day one of the MEQ, they gathered their items and geared up to leave, just like any other day on the volleyball courts, or so they thought… While packing backpack after backpack, the team realized one of their parent’s backpacks was missing and that they had a backpack from another volleyball club. Hoping the two backpacks were just accidently swapped, Highland parents returned the volleyball bag to its rightful owner. After realizing that the rental car keys (shared between 3 players/parents), wallet, cash, cards and I.D. was missing along with the bag, the parents searched frantically all around the convention center hoping to get a glimpse of the missing bag, but came up empty handed. (Talk about frustrating!) The parent of the missing bag noticed that several charges from the stolen credit card were run just minutes before, right across the street from the convention center, and immediately reported the robbing to security and to Indianapolis police.

This tight-knit group didn’t let this unfortunate event get them down as they all came together and provided this parent with not only some cash to get by, but also a whole lot of comfort. Thankful for a recent purchase of an ID Lock Program and a helpful rental car center, everyone was able to get back to Kansas City safely.

Once home, the Highland coaches settled in to watch the game tape when something caught their eye in the lower left corner of the screen. Could it be? Yes it could!  They saw the backpack thief! A clear image of the backpack bandit’s face was perfectly captured just off the end of their volleyball court. How lucky! The video has since been transferred to Indianapolis police in hopes of catching the crook. 

Highlands 15 ROX ended up taking home 37th place among 124 teams proving that they can face anything as long as they face it as a team. We are so proud to be able to call Highlands Performance Volleyball a ROX team and as Highlands Club Director, Randy Condit says, “Just a day in the life of club volleyball. We wouldn’t have it any other way!”

We also want to congratulate all of our other ROX teams on the great outcomes at the Mideast Qualifier, especially these teams with top 10 finishes in their divisions! Way to go girls!

MEQ Results
Epic United 15 Elite Rox – 15 American – 1st
Highlands 12 Rox – 12 American – 9th
Highlands 17 Rox – 17 American – 3rd
Tribe 14 Rox Ashton – 14 USA – 9th
Tribe 14 Rox Sebastian – 14 Open – 1st
Audubon Volleyball Academy - 17 Rox –17 American – 9th
Axis Elite 16 Rox – 16 Open – 5th
Mintonette m.51 – 15 open – 5th
Mintonette m.61 - 16 open – 3rd
Mintonette m.62 - 16 USA – 9th
Mintonette m.81 - 18 Open – 9th