Inductees

As Diamond High School chased a 1983 state volleyball championship, then-senior hitter Whitney Beckett Weakley remembers thinking, “We weren’t going to let anybody deny us.”

As then-sophomore setter Beth Greer put it, “We thought we were going to go up there and meet some powerhouse and get destroyed. And we ended up being the powerhouse.”

What an apt description. Those Lady Wildcats kick-started one of the most impressive stretches in state volleyball history, and it is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the Diamond High School Volleyball Program with the Class of 2018.

The 1983 and 1985 teams won Class 2 state championships and were part of a run in which Diamond reached the state Final Four a whopping eight times between 1983 and 1996. The Lady Wildcats finished as state runners-up five times (1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1996) and placed third in 1988. Between 1983 and 1985, they lost only once.

To reach such heights, the program put in the necessary work following passage of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that opened athletic opportunities for women in public schools and universities.

As former coach Dale Shrum described the Lady Wildcats, “They were the word ‘team’ – and they’re what you’d want to write about.”

Doris Greer coached the program in its first six seasons, a time when the Lady Wildcats faced the same challenges of many other girls teams in all sports. For instance, players shared jerseys with the basketball team. Plus, it was difficult finding gym time, as practices could be scheduled only at the crack of dawn or after 5 p.m. daily.

However, Coach Greer took teams to volleyball clinics and tagging along were her daughters Katy and Beth. Katy eventually was a senior standout with Weakley on the 1983 team, with Beth the setter on both state championship teams.

“The girls,” Beth Greer said of the ’83 team overall, “were very athletic in whatever they did.”

Eventually, Bill Presley coached Diamond from 1980 to 1982 and again from 1987 to 1999. In between, the team was led by Bob Moore (1983) and Shrum (1984-1986).

To Weakley, Presley positioned the 1983 team for a memorable run, although the coach emphasized that the players’ determination “forced you to.” However, he left in the summer of 1983 to coach Crowder College basketball.

“The first high school volleyball game I saw I coached in,” Presley said, downplaying his impact. “Fortunately, (coaches) Betty Weaver at Sarcoxie and Pat Lipira at Missouri Southern really helped me out. Just going to them and picking their brains was about all I could do.”

The 1983 team finished 27-0, with only the quarterfinal match needing the full three sets.

“What made that team so special was we cared for each other and that was taught to us through our coach,” Weakley said.

Said Beth Greer, “There wasn’t a weak link.”

A year later, having graduated five players off the state title team, the Lady Wildcats still reached the state final only to lose its only match of the season. However, Diamond responded in the fall of 1985, winning it all and finishing 25-0. Shrum had challenged the team by scheduling large schools.

“We were going to win – nothing less than that,” Beth Greer said. “I remember we would walk into the gym and we would be wearing our letter jackets with all the patches. People expected you to win. And that season, we didn’t want it to end.”

A Diamond alum, Shrum emphasized that players, far more than anything the coaches attempted, built the tradition.

“I just happened to come in and had these kids who were younger than those on the state championship team,” Shrum said. “But they were extremely hard workers. And they were very sharp. They had some determination to do what that first group did.”

After Shrum’s departure, Presley returned in 1987, but players didn’t take their collective foot off the pedal.

“I remember a lot of kids saying that they had gone to watch that group in ’83 and that’s what really motivated them,” Presley said.

“There was no rebuilding there. It was, ‘Take what was there and continue on,’” Presley added. “Shrum did a heck of a job. And parents spent a lot of time and money getting their girls to campus and open gyms. And the fans and school support was wonderful. We had huge crowds. It was just a really fun time.”