Local women take gold at Senior Olympics

They came, they played and they conquered.

A group of senior volleyball players, between the ages of 50 and 54 from the Northwest and West suburbs, proved they still had game. At the Senior Olympics last week in Louisville, Ky., the team went undefeated to defend its gold medal.

As the team mounted the medal stand during the ceremony, appropriately enough on July 4, fans from the crowd, cheered: "Fifty is the new 30," and the team took up their chant.

The games are sponsored by the National Senior Games Association, which is the U.S. Olympic Committee's official arm to seniors, and they wrapped up last week.

"We're still on a high," said player and coach Laverne Nagel of Roselle. "All our aches and pains are forgotten."

Her team members include Carol Hawes of Arlington Heights, Karen Hoppel of Grayslake, Janeen Kusch of Des Plaines, Edie Rooks of Wheaton and Linda Waltz of Wood Dale.

All winter long and through the spring, team members met on Monday nights inside the gym at Frontier Park in Arlington Heights to practice their plays and defensive schemes.

Typically, they competed against two other squads compiled from the area, who competed in the 55 and over division, and the over 60 team.

Apparently, all of their training paid off. During the three days of grueling matches, they went 16-0, winning every match in two games and not having to play the third.

When they advanced to the championship game, they faced the same team from St. Louis they defeated two years ago to win the gold medal.

"It was much tougher than in '05," Nagel said. "The games were very, very competitive, and very close."

In the opening game of the championship match, they narrowly won, 26-24, before going on to win the second game and the gold medal.

"We're so excited. We figured it was going to be tough to retain our medal, but we rose to the occasion," Nagel said. "We played like a team, everyone was on."

Most of the women had played in high school and college, and some had coached locally, but winning an Olympic gold medal -- in such a decisive manner -- was a highlight of their careers, they said.

"It's funny, we play in leagues all the time and the competition doesn't faze us," Hawes said, "but this, this is the Olympics."

And now they can't wait to go back. With the next Senior Olympics slated for the summer of 2009 in San Francisco, they already are talking three-peat.

"We're there," Nagel said. "Barring any unforeseen problems, we'll be back."