How Louisville’s Tori Dilfer willed — and worked — her way to the brink of history-making perfection

A FEW HOURS before their final game of the regular season, the Louisville volleyball team files into its gym. The players are fearless because they have earned the right to be — Louisville clinched the ACC title two nights before — and at ease with their fearlessness because this is the attitude that has kept them undefeated all season. It was never their goal to be undefeated, but it is what happens sometimes, to very good teams. Louisville is a very good team.

Between warm-up serves, players sway to Kanye, then to “No Scrubs” by TLC. Tori Dilfer settles in a few feet away from the net, her shoulders squared up to the bleachers. A member of the Louisville staff tosses the ball, and Dilfer sets it to one precise spot and then another. She does this over and over again. It is boring in the way that greatness is sometimes manifested through repetition. Read More