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Picture it: Papillion, Nebraska, August 1994. Mark and Teresa Rolfzen had known each other since high school. Both played basketball, graduated from Nebraska-Kearney, had a young son. Late that month, their golden girls -- Kadie and Amber -- would be born to complete the family.We really didnt read any books about raising twins, but we knew we wanted to go out of our way to treat them as two different individuals, Mark Rolfzen said. Not force them to do things together. But that part worked itself out, because they always wanted to play whatever sport was in season. And they always have gotten along really well, and been each others best friend.Eventually, volleyball became the twins primary passion. Which was just perfect in a state where that sport is wildly popular.Kadie and I have talked about that, Amber said of how meant to be it all seems. It is really cool to think you were born into the Nebraska volleyball spirit.They are seniors at Nebraska now, playing in their second consecutive final four. They helped the Huskers win the national championship last season in Omaha, close to where they grew up in the suburb of Papillion. You cant help but mention to them that their lives could be a Disney movie.They already made one like that, Amber said.Shes referring to Double-Teamed, a 2002 film about basketball-playing twins Heather and Heidi Burge, who went to three final fours while at Virginia in the early 1990s.Oh, they were real? Amber said. I didnt know that.Indeed, Heather and Heidi are as flesh-and-blood as Amber and Kadie, just a couple of decades older. There have been several other twin sisters whove competed at a high level in Division I athletics, including Minnesotas Hannah and Paige Tapp, who also are playing in volleyballs final four for the second year in a row.Part of what makes the Rolfzens particularly compelling, though, is just how thoroughly and completely Nebraska they are; they committed to the Huskers before they were even in high school.Whats it going to be like when we come back in January, and theyre not here? Nebraska coach John Cook said, dreading the spring semester when the Rolfzens -- who graduate this month -- are likely to be playing professionally somewhere far from Lincoln. Its like theyve been part of this program forever.Theyre not gone yet, though. They have at least one match left -- theyll face Texas in Thursdays semifinals in Columbus, Ohio -- and Teresa probably wont eat anything. She typically battles anxiety on game days. She jokes with her friends, You want to know what a diet is for me? Its August to December.But some nerve-induced nausea has been a small price to pay for watching two dreams come true, side-by-side.***Picture it: Grand Island, Nebraska, November 2010. Amber and Kadie lead Papillion-La Vista South High School to the Class A championship in a 41-0 season. Its one of three state titles they would win. As 6-foot-3 teens, they were dominating the prep volleyball court.Practically every kid in the state wants to be a Husker, and Kadie and Amber, at age 16, already had been committed to Nebraska for two years. How easy would it be for their egos to swell? Impossible, as it turns out.Their parents always reminded them to stay grounded: Just do your thing and dont crow about it.But the twins had no desire to show up anybody. They competed in other sports in high school, including basketball and track, did their homework, and got to bed on time. They remain good eggs. After a recent match, Kadie told Amber to call Grandma.Their attitude was, This is what God gave me, and what Im going to work with. And this is how Im going to handle it, Teresa said.It actually took a while for their parents to even believe Kadie and Amber were that good at volleyball. Mark and Teresa were athletes, too. But if you ask which one may have passed on the most ability to their daughters, rather than playfully brag, they stress they never competed at the twins level.Both of us are kind of perplexed about where exactly they got it, Mark said.Which is why the parents were quite surprised when their 14-year-olds returned from a volleyball camp at Nebraska and matter-of-factly mentioned they had scholarships to become Huskers. Surely, Mark and Teresa thought, theyre confused.Quite honestly, their mother and I didnt really believe it, Mark said. I actually had to call Coach Cook the next day to find out what happened, and sure enough he did offer them scholarships.Cook knew, even when they were that young, that he wanted them at Nebraska as much as they knew they wanted to be there. The twins were in total agreement that there was no sense looking around when Nirvana was right up the road and had already opened the gates.That said, Kadie and Amber do not agree on everything; each is very clearly her own person. They banter over what they both call stupid stuff. On those rare occasions when a squabble does happen, whos the first to ease the tension?Both of us, Kadie said. Its like we might argue or whatever, and five minutes later, Ill walk into her room and say, Hey, you want to go to dinner? Shell say, Sure, OK! and its like nothing happened.Of course, theyve rarely been apart, and have shared almost everything, including their SUV. But who is usually in the drivers seat? In perfect twin logic, I usually drive to places, Kadie said, And she usually drives from them. Although sometimes its different.***Picture it: Omaha, Nebraska, December 2015. The Rolfzens had come to the Huskers with the highest of goals. Nebraska was a good team their first two seasons, but fell short of the final four.You go back to 2013, their first year, we were playing Texas here [in the regional final], and they imploded, Cook said. They melted down. Part of that was the expectations they had on them. They were freshmen, and werent able to handle all of it. Their growth since then has been incredible; they worked really hard on it.Nebraska lost again in the elite eight in 2014, this time to BYU. But the next year, the stakes were at their highest: the final four was in Omaha. As 12-year-olds, the Rolfzens had watched the Huskers and one particular hero, Jordan Larson, win the 2006 NCAA title in Omaha. Now was supposed to be their turn.But would the Huskers make it? The twins switched positions at the start of their junior year, with Kadie going to the right side and Amber becoming a middle blocker. The moves benefited both of them -- providing each with a more distinct on-court identity from the other -- and the team.However, in October, the Huskers lost back-to-back matches at home to Big Ten rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin. Stress built up a little more.Until you walk in their shoes, you dont know how much pressure it was about making it to Omaha, Cook said.Indeed, people would come up to the Rolfzens all the time and say, Hey, I got my tickets to Omaha, as if it were a given that Nebraska would be playing there. But a maturity factor kicked in.Youre going to have people say all these things, Amber said, but it gets to the point where you block out all those expectations. You just focus on the team and what you can do to improve yourself.Those losses to the Gophers and Badgers were Nebraskas last of the season. They got on a victory streak that went all the way through the NCAA final. Amber had 10 kills and four blocks in beating Texas, while Kadie had four kills and 10 digs.They just had so much put on them, but they also wanted that, Cook said. That was what was so cool about going to Omaha and winning it.***Picture it: Lincoln, Nebraska, December 2016. The Rolfzens Husker careers looked over on a Friday afternoon, on their home court, at the hands of an archrival having somewhat of a down season.It couldnt actually end like this, could it?Penn State was up 2-0, and the score tied 22-22 in the third set of their regional semifinal. The music that accompanies the end of time outs/return to action at the Devaney Center is off a random set list, yet it seemed ominously appropriate.The chimes of AC/DCs Hells Bells sounded like a signal that time was up for the Huskers.That led into a riff from Metallicas Enter Sandman. Remember, its a song about nightmares.Thats what this felt like to Nebraska fans: A nightmare in the middle of a day when so many took off from work or school to make sure the arena was packed as usual. Among the red-clad faithful, you saw pinched faces, gritted teeth, hands wringing.But Kadie, Amber, and their Nebraska teammates were in their own world, one theyd been trying to maintain all season. Dont look ahead; dont look back. Stay in the moment, point by point.It was going to get worse before it got better, though.Penn State would win the next two points, making it five in a row, and the Huskers were right at the edge of the cliff, one foot in the air. Down two match points against a team they seemingly couldnt stop.It flashed through Ambers mind: This could be it. But the enormity of that didnt paralyze her. The opposite happened, in fact. Be aggressive, she thought. Dont get timid now.And if the Rolfzens story actually were a movie, this is the part that would really have the critics rolling their eyes.Because Nebraska climbed out of that enormous hole, with Amber getting a kill and a block to save the two match points. The twins combined for 29 kills and eight block assists, with Kadie also getting 18 digs.The next day, playing with the lightness of a new life, the Huskers demolished Washington and earned the programs 13th trip to the final four.Kadie and Amber lingered after the regional final, sitting in the stands near their parents, wearing their Huskers jackets and knit caps. Theyve played the last of their matches on their home court, where theyd gone 63-11, losing just once there as seniors. They were headed to Columbus, and could say goodbye to the Devaney Center with smile... if a bit wistfully.Amber was asked about the semifinal escape. As steely-eyed as she was in the moment, she said, I cant watch the last four points in the third set, even though I know the outcome. I get nervous, and its like a What if? thing goes through your head.Whatever happens at the final four, their story is a smashing success. This week, Kadie was named an AVCA first-team All-American for the second year in a row. Amber made the third team, and was second team last season.There have been -- and will continue to be -- many very good players from Nebraska who daydream of playing for the Huskers, and then actually do it. There have been sisters whove done it, too. The state is a volleyball factory.But twins? Who are this talented, this low-maintenance, and this high-character? Who are, as they put it, each others No. 1 fan? It cant get more special than that.I have a very strong connection with both of them, Cook said. There are challenges to coaching twins, and Ive learned a lot about it from them.Theyre two incredible young women. 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But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. MIAMI -- Andrew Cashner was hardly the only Marlins pitcher who couldnt get Brandon Crawford out.Working in relief for the first time in three years, Cashner allowed Crawfords record-tying seventh hit Monday night, a go-ahead single in the 14th inning that sent the San Francisco Giants to an 8-7 victory over the Marlins.Out of other options in the bullpen, Miami turned to Fridays scheduled starter with the game on the line.I just have to be ready when my numbers called, Cashner said. My role is to pitch. It doesnt matter if you start or relieve.Crawford became the first major leaguer in 41 years to get seven hits in a game. His hits came off six different pitchers.What do you have to do to get that guy out? I dont know, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. We didnt figure it out today. Hes a tough out right now and obviously, when youre getting seven hits, youre feeling pretty good about yourself. So Im sure this whole series, its not going to be fun trying to get him out.The previous player to get seven hits was Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Rennie Stennett on Sept. 16, 1975, at the Chicago Cubs. He did it in nine innings, the only big leaguer to accomplish that feat since before 1900.Crawford, who entered in a 6-for-36 slide, raised his batting average 13 points to .278. The shortstop tripled, doubled and had five singles in eight at-bats, tying the NL record for hits in one game.A great performance, said Giants bench coach Ron Wotus, who filled in as manager after Bruce Bochy was hospitalized with an illness.Bochy picked a heck of a day to take off.The only major league player besides Stennett to get seven hits in a nine-inning game was Wilbert Robinson for the old Baltimore Orioles of the National League in 1892.Johnny Burnett holds the major league mark for an extra-inning game with nine hits for Cleveland in a 1932 contest that lasted 18 innings.It doesnt happen very often that you get eight at-bats in a game so I figured it didnt happen a whole lot, but you dont think about stuff like that when youre playing, Crawford said.His seven hits set a franchise mark.Pretty crazy, Crawford said.Christian Yelich homered and tied a career high with four RBI for the Marlins. Martin Prado also went deep and drove in two runs. They hit back-to-back homers in the fifth.Cashner, still slated to start Friday, entered in the 14th to face Crawford with two on and he lined a single to center field that scored Brandon Belt for an 8-7 lead.George Kontoos (3-2) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory.dddddddddddd.The Marlins took a 5-1 lead into the seventh behind a solid outing from Jose Fernandez, who allowed one run and six hits in six innings. He struck out six and threw 106 pitches.I would have liked to do a couple of things differently and make some adjustments and not throw that many pitches, Fernandez said. I feel healthy and I gave my team a chance to win. Thats all I can ask for.The Giants were without Bochy, admitted to a Miami hospital in the morning after feeling ill. He was to be monitored overnight and is expected back on the bench Tuesday night.San Francisco went 6 for 21 with runners in scoring position and left 18 on base in a game that took 5 hours, 34 minutes -- the longest of the season for both teams.Exhausting, Crawford said. Im tired right now.The Giants threatened in the 13th when Crawford hit a one-out triple off Dustin McGowan (1-3). After the second out, Mattingly intentionally walked two batters to get to the pitchers spot in the order.The Giants were out of position players, leaving ace pitcher Madison Bumgarner, a .183 hitter with legitimate power, to pinch-hit with the bases loaded. He struck out to end the inning.San Francisco scored five times in the seventh off three relievers and started the inning with six consecutive hits on its way to a 6-5 lead.Miami responded with Yelichs two-run single. Crawfords single in the eighth tied it at 7.We bounced back, Mattingly said. They bounced back and from there it was crazy after that.Giants starter Johnny Cueto allowed five runs in five innings.WAY TO GO, ICHIROMarlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki received a standing ovation before his pinch-hit appearance in the sixth after getting his 3,000th career hit Sunday in Colorado. Suzuki tipped his helmet in appreciation before grounding out in his only at-bat.TRAINERS ROOMMarlins 1B Justin Bour (ankle) has taken a break from his rehab stint, citing soreness, but could return to the big league club on this homestand, which ends Sunday. Were hopeful, but its probably a 50-50 thing, Mattingly said.UP NEXTGiants: LHP Matt Moore (7-7, 4.04 ERA overall) makes his second start with San Francisco on Tuesday after being acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay.Marlins: RHP Tom Koehler (8-8, 4.05) is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his last three starts. ' ' '