For all of August, Kathy Harris walked around with a right arm so bruised it looked like she was wearing a purple long-sleeved shirt.
Harris, of south 51黑料 County, had torn her triceps, an injury she sustained 鈥 and then ignored 鈥 during a volleyball competition in late July.
鈥淚 felt a twinge, and I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 not going to quit now,鈥欌 said Harris. 鈥淚 just gritted my teeth.鈥
No way she was going to miss out on the first-place battle at the . At 69, she had barely made the 70-and-older Arch Rivals鈥 roster, sneaking in because her birthday comes before the end of this year.
Her effort was worth the pain. The women finished as national champions after a 6-1 run at the biennial Olympic-style contest in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Harris had the most dramatic injury, but on a squad of septuagenarians, Tylenol and ice packs are ever-present. Knee braces are as commonplace as knee pads.
The six Arch Rivals have been playing together for more than 20 years, ever since they reached 鈥渟enior鈥 status at age 50. But they all came to the sport much earlier, when there was less support 鈥 and almost no funding 鈥 for girls athletics.
Now, the Arch Rivals have their own sponsor, an online education platform for seniors called , which pays for their jerseys and tournament entrance fees. They鈥檙e recruited to substitute on other teams. And in their weekly recreational league at the Kirkwood Community Center, they hold their own against women half their age.
Harris learned to play when she was little, during backyard scrimmages with her six siblings. At her all-girls high school, her only option was intramurals. After she got married, she and her husband signed up for coed leagues. When they became parents, they coached their two sons 鈥 and dozens of other kids.
鈥淭here was a lot of volleyball in our life,鈥 said Harris. 鈥淎long the way, we鈥檝e made some wonderful friendships.鈥
And the Arch Rivals have weathered some tough times. Decades of athletic feats 鈥 and aging 鈥 have taken a toll. Harris鈥 teammates have recovered from heart attacks, cancer treatments and reconstructive surgeries.
鈥淲e try to keep each other healthy,鈥 said Virginia Buckles of Glendale, who has had three scope operations on her knees and one on her shoulder. 鈥淲e do it because it鈥檚 fun. That鈥檚 the secret.鈥
Buckles, 73, grew up in Southern California, 鈥渨here volleyball is a big deal.鈥 At California State Polytechnic, she and her teammates had to make their own uniforms.
Buckles married a military man, and the couple moved around a lot. When she鈥檇 settle into a new community, volleyball helped her meet people. It gave her a weekly breather from parenting duties. And it engaged a different part of her brain than her job as an Alzheimer鈥檚 researcher.
Throughout the life changes, her enthusiasm for the game has never wavered. She loves the thud of the ball, the squeak of sneakers on the floor. The soaring serves. The sprawling digs. The last-second, back-to-the-net saves.
鈥淭he coordination,鈥 said Buckles, 鈥渋t鈥檚 such a beauty to behold.鈥
Virginia Buckles, a member of the Arch Rivals senior womens volleyball team, hits the ball during a rec league game on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, at the Kirkwood Community Center.
One thing in common
Terri Durand, 71, of Bel-Nor, dominated the court as an Incarnate Word Academy high school student.
鈥淚 could have gotten a full ride as a boy,鈥 she said of her college prospects. 鈥淭here were no scholarships for girls.鈥
That was in the early 1970s. The final version of Title IX, the federal law that mandates equal opportunities in education and sports, was not signed until 1975.
Durand worked at her family鈥檚 insurance company and continued playing. She met her husband 鈥 鈥渁 volleyball stud from Rhode Island鈥 鈥 at an out-of-town tournament.
At 5-feet, 2-inches, Durand is often the shortest player on the court. But what she lacks in height, she makes up for in agility, directing the offense as a setter.
As she鈥檚 gotten older, she鈥檚 tried to lessen her intensity. It hasn鈥檛 quite worked.
Durand has earned the nickname 鈥淭itanium Terri鈥 on the Arch Rivals after having a knee and both of her hips replaced.
鈥淚 really lucked out,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 can still dive on the ground.鈥
At a recent game in Kirkwood, her teammate Pat Dittmeier marveled at the acrobatic maneuvers happening on a neighboring court.
鈥淚 watch over there, and I remember being able to do that,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 miss being able to do that.鈥
But if Dittmeier has lost a step, no one else can tell. Dittmeier, of west 51黑料 County, spent decades coaching and teaching PE. She encouraged hundreds, maybe thousands, of youngsters to be fit and active.
She doesn鈥檛 remember exactly when it was, but at some point, she realized she missed being on a team herself.
鈥淚 said, 鈥業t鈥檚 time for Pat to play again,鈥欌 she recalls.
The outside hitter competes once a week on a coed squad. Wednesdays are her Arch Rivals nights.
When Dittmeier, 73, travels to tournaments, she feels like she鈥檚 in college again, bunking in the same hotel as her teammates and opponents and meeting folks from all over the country.
鈥淲e all have the same thing in common,鈥 she said.
Linda McClanahan-Baron, a player on the Arch Rivals senior womens volleyball team, delivers a serve during a rec league game on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, at the Kirkwood Community Center.
Savoring the experience
Before they headed to Des Moines this summer, the Arch Rivals knew they鈥檇 have to tap some of their contacts from beyond 51黑料. One of their key players missed the birthday cutoff by 12 days. They would need one more person to start, plus a couple of subs.
That鈥檚 how it goes on the senior circuit.
鈥淭he older you get, the player pool gets smaller,鈥 said Dittmeier.
But the cobbled-together team gelled quickly and knocked off the No. 1 seed early.
Each match consists of three sets, played to 21. The Arch Rivals bumped and spiked their way through seven matches in three days. Their adrenaline kept fatigue 鈥 mostly 鈥 at bay. And the aches and pains? Those could be iced, wrapped or ignored.
鈥淵ou get to the point where you tie your shoes as tight as you can so that you don鈥檛 feel your feet,鈥 said Linda McClanahan-Baron of Chesterfield.
Part of getting older, she said, is savoring every experience 鈥 and the exhaustion that accompanies it 鈥 as though it might be the 鈥渓ast hurrah.鈥
In Des Moines, after the Arch Rivals had triumphed over the Vintage Volleys in a two-set sweep, they celebrated at dinner, their Iowa-shaped gold medals heavy around their necks.
Kathy Harris, left, celebrates a dive by Virginia Buckles to end a game on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, at the Kirkwood Community Center. Both are members of the Arch Rivals, a senior womens volleyball team.
鈥淭o do it with the nucleus of girls who have been competing together for so long was sweet,鈥 said McClanahan-Baron, 71.
The next National Senior Games will be held in two years in Oklahoma.
The women of the Arch Rivals have been around long enough to know the futility of predicting the future. But McClanahan-Baron is unequivocal that the team will defend their title in Tulsa.
鈥淎bsolutely,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be back.鈥
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken, or published, in August 2025 here.
