It all started when the girls were little and they would tag along with their mom, a volleyball coach, to JV practice at West Bend East High School.

Much has changed since those early days in the gym, and now the little girls, once hitting a ball around on the sidelines, have all grown up and have or are making their mark on Big Ten volleyball.

Those girls are the four Gardner sisters: Jamie, 23, Laurie, 22, Korie, 20, and Christie, 18.

Jamie, Laurie and Korie all started playing organized volleyball in 1991 when Jamie was in eighth grade, Laurie seventh and Korie fifth. Two years later, when Christie was in fifth grade, she was allowed to join her sisters and start playing competitively.

All four sisters played with the Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Club, one of the strongest club programs in the country.

In high school, the girls all got to play with at least one sister every year with the exception of Jamie her freshman year and Christie her junior and senior years. Each Gardner graduated from West Bend East High School with two state championships, some earned with another sister, some earned individually.

After high school, the Big Ten tradition started with the oldest Gardner sister, Jamie. As a defensive specialist, she played all four years at UW, including the 2000 season, during which the Badgers made it to the finals for the NCAA championship.

According to her younger sister Korie, Jamie always had her eyes set on playing for the Badgers.

“Jamie was a really solid defensive player, not as lively and outgoing as Korie, but she was very steady for us,” UW head coach Pete Waite said.

One year after Jamie set out for UW, it was time for Laurie to decide where her volleyball career would take her.

In the beginning, she was recruited by both Indiana and Arizona. After weighing her options, Arizona told Laurie that one scholarship was up for grabs between her and another recruit. Whoever called first would get the scholarship; Laurie called three minutes too late.

In the end, she would end up earning a full scholarship to set for Indiana University.

“The opportunity there for her was pretty amazing,” Korie said. “She was going to get the opportunity to start and set all four years there. She was walking into a program that was on its way up.”

Four years later, this past summer, Laurie reached a crossroad. She was no longer happy at Indiana and was no longer going to continue playing volleyball. Arizona contacted her and asked her to come set for them, and in the end, Laurie decided to accept their offer.

As Laurie is entering her last year of collegiate volleyball, it is hard to imagine that she thought she would end up back at Arizona, a place she had wanted to play from the beginning.

“We always hated playing against Laurie because she was so athletic,” Waite said. “I actually recruited Laurie when I was a coach at Northern Illinois. We knew every time we went to Indiana we would have to deal with Laurie.”

Next in line to choose a college was Korie, who obviously chose to play at UW.

“Robby Pulliza was a huge factor in my decision,” Korie said. “His personality and mine really got along. He was here when I was comparing Wisconsin to Maryland, and when it came down to it, he really made a difference. Of course, having Jamie here helped a lot. It helped the transition; it made freshman year so much easier.”

Now a full-scholarship player, Korie has seen her numbers steadily increase along with her playing time. As a defensive specialist, Korie averaged 0.64 digs her freshman year, 1.91 her sophomore year and this year she is currently averaging 2.24 digs per game.

“Korie brings a lot of different things to the court for us,” Waite said. “She is one of the most versatile servers for us. Defensively, she has been able to play a lot of different positions for us, and she brings a lot of enthusiasm to the team. She is the kind of player and person that has a lot of fun with volleyball and life.”

The last Gardner girl to decide upon her volleyball path was Christie.

“Christie had some pretty awesome options and with that Northwestern is an amazing, amazing school, and it is pretty close to home, which is important to her,” Korie said. “The opportunity to hit front row there is also huge.”

With the exception of Laurie, each Gardner girl played outside hitter in high school. Jamie and Korie changed their position to defensive specialist when they reached college, but the youngest in the family was able to continue to play at outside hitter.

At Northwestern, Christie is averaging 2.55 digs and 2.08 kills per game and is only one of two players to have played in all 66 games for the Wildcats this year.

While it is amazing to have one child from a family play for a Big Ten athletic team, it is almost unthinkable to have all four daughters play in the one of the toughest volleyball conferences in the nation.

As most parents juggle some weekends here and there, Jim and Deb Gardner have had to spend their weekends traveling to different parts of the country and state for over 10 years now.

“They don’t get to sit home and watch TV much,” Korie joked. “This year they are going somewhere every weekend. They are definitely supportive parents. They are never going to take time for themselves if they can give it to us. We are very lucky.”

As Korie talked about her parents, she emphasized they had always taught their daughters to make their own decisions and to be very independent.

And very independent they are.

Korie told of how Jamie is the artsy one and how Laurie has always been more concerned with the business world and is majoring in business. Korie herself is a communications major, and she explained with a smile that Christie is just Christie. She went on to say that Christie is the dramatic sister and very into fashion.

In fact, almost everything Korie said about her sisters was said with a smile.

“They are my three best friends,” Korie said.

“My family is the most important thing in my life. My value system has been building from them since I was little. I definitely looked up to Jamie and Laurie and Christie, even though she is younger. They all do things that amaze me.”

Even though the Gardner girls are all each other’s biggest fans, Korie admitted that they do have their laughs poking fun at each other too.

“We are very sarcastic, especially with one another,” Korie said. “We do not let each other get away with anything. If something stupid is said, we are going to let the other one know.”

Coach Waite confirmed this comment from Korie, as his smile grew wide and he laughed when asked to describe Korie off the court.

“Korie does funny things and also tells funny stories about the things she does,” Waite said. “She has a story she tells that leaves everybody crying in the isles about riding her bike around campus. She is just constantly entertaining, and we are really glad she is with us.”

Although each of the sisters have unique personalities and have chosen to go their separate paths during college, they will continue to have that special volleyball bond all their life. As they grow older, each girl will be able to fondly remember the days when the Gardner name dominated the Big Ten volleyball scene.