JEFFERSON TWP — If you don't know who they are by now, just wait.

You will.

The secret is out.

Teams in Western Pennsylvania have known about them for the last two years.

They were once looked at with curious stares because they don't dress like other teams and have an odd way of playing as if telepathically linked on the volleyball court.

Now, they are looked at only with admiration.

Teams from Indiana to Illinois, from Kansas and Kentucky and from Missouri to Michigan know who they are now, too.

Even airline pilots know this group.

They are members the Calvary Academy girls volleyball team and they might be the best in the country.

"Yeah," said junior hitter Emma Kile, "it's kind of weird. It's also nice."

Success always has been a part of the Calvary Academy volleyball experience.

Since 2000, the Minutemen are 135-5 with one National Association of Christian Athletics national title trophy displayed proudly in a glass case in the school.

They won that trophy in 2004. They want another in 2006.

"We're confident," said Kile, a junior. "We know this team is definitely different than the last time we won it two years ago. We have players who have been in tight situations and have handled the pressure and the ups and downs."

There haven't been many downs, particularly this season.

Calvary Academy is 33-0 as it prepares for the NACA national tournament, which will begin Wednesday in Tennessee.

In a tuneup for the national tournament, it traveled to Chicago and won a 24-team tournament there over Columbus Day weekend.

While in Chicago, Calvary Academy got a matchup in the finals against Calumet Baptist School from Highland, Ill.

Calumet was the last team to defeat the Minutemen, beating them in the finals of the national tournament in 2005.

The Minutemen not only had to battle Calumet, but also the clock.

The team had a to catch a flight back home and was cutting in close.

Calvary Academy won the title over Calumet in straight sets, grabbed their championship hardware and left in a hurry for the airport.

They rushed through the terminal carrying their trophy, took it on the plane and finally had a chance to celebrate.

The pilot took notice.

"The pilot congratulated them over the intercom," said Calvary Academy coach Jodie Osborne. "They got a kick out of that."

Kile was the MVP of the Chicago tournament. When she accepted the MVP trophy, she wept — not because she had earned a personal accolade, but because she wanted to share it with her team.

"It's kind of frustrating," said Kile, who is the tallest player on the team and one of its most imposing hitters and blockers. She already is getting looks from colleges clamoring for her services when she graduates.

"People only see one aspect of the game," Kile continued. "But there's much more. There's the setters and the passers. They are just as important. I can't do what I do without them."

Osborne wasn't surprised by Kile's reaction. It's just the kind of thing she loves to see out of her team.

She spent most of her time after the match consoling Kile, trying to convince her it was OK and the team was happy for her.

"Here's a girl who goes out and gets the MVP of a 24 team tournament with some of the best players in the country," Osborne said. "And she wept because she knew she couldn't have done it without her team. That, for me, sums up Emma Kile."

It also sums up Calvary Academy.

The Minutemen are bound by their Christian beliefs on the court. Their volleyball practices are brutal, but designed to hone the mental part of the game just as much as the physical part.

"We know what we have here is pretty special," Kile said. "We have been working hard for it. I don't think it will sink in until after November, after our last tournament. Hopefully we'll win it."