Cinderella Time At Mount Carmel High

Mount Carmel High School looked like it was about to close

. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston could no longer afford to keep it open after 52 years.

The Houston school district came in and agreed to partner with Mount Carmel as a charter school and the doors stayed open.

Only about 200 students attend the school, though, and there's no gym.

What there is, however, is a state champion volleyball team.

HISD spokesman Norm Uhl says he isn't quite sure what division the team won, but he seems sure they won something, and he's getting further details. (Update: They won the State Charter School Athletic & Academic League championships, he says.)

The team had to do a whole lot more than just win on the court, Uhl tells Hair Balls.

"I know they had to make arrangements themselves as to places to practice and have home games and to get to Austin," he says. "The parents are really involved, so I bet a lot of it came out of their pockets."

The school almost closes, there's no place to play, a scrappy bunch of Catholic schoolgirls...expect the movie rights to be snapped up immediately.

-- Richard Connelly