Verrado volleyball star Raechelle Dykstra shaped by parents who found ways to survive

When she spent her sophomore year as a team manager due to being ineligible, and when she spent seven months off the court due to microfracture knee surgery, Buckeye Verrado volleyball star Raechelle Dykstra found wisdom and perspective from her parents.

They had it much harder growing up, neither of them not knowing whether they'd ever come to America, let alone survive childhood trauma.

Roberto Dykstra's mother died when he was 3. He didn't know his father until he saw him for the first time before coming to the United States from the Dominican Republic when he was 11. His mom's friend had taken him in after she died. But, from ages 3 to 9, he said, it was spent in fear.

"I slept outside because I didn't want to get beat," he said.

He said he sometimes slept in trees, and, as he wandered the streets of the Dominican Republic, he would shine shoes, cut sugar canes, and fight underground for money for food to survive. He would find solace at a church, and when he was 9, a church missionary named Peggy, he said, took him in and brought him to the United States at the age of 11.

"We are here now," he says. "My story doesn't make sense, but yet the Lord saved me. I am so grateful for Mama Peggy and her family for accepting me. I try my best not to let her down."

Raechelle's mother Sharon came to America from the Phillippines when she was 12, after being adopted. Her father died when she was 2 and her mother died when she was 9. She had three other siblings. But, when she was adopted, the American family could only adopt two of them, she said. She said she has two siblings who still live in the Phillippines and another who lives in Florida.

Sharon and Roberto met in high school. It was like it was predestined. They now have six children, ranging from 23 to toddlers. Their 20-year-old daughter, Railey, is a beach volleyball player at Arizona Christian.

"God turns it around for good, and my kids are a testimony of it," Sharon said.

'I do it all for them'

When Raechelle went through tough times, she looked to her parents for guidance.

"They make me the way I am," Raechelle said about her parents. "I do it all for them. Truly, for God and them. They worked so hard just to get me and my siblings here. So I feel the least I could do is to make it easy for them."

When she transferred from Glendale Independence to Verrado before her sophomore year, the former Verrado coach was penalized for prior contact, because he had coached Raechelle on her club volleyball team. She said she became ineligible to play her sophomore season due to that infraction with the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

Raechelle had a breakout junior season at Verrado, landing her on The Arizona Republic's All-Arizona team and earning a scholarship to Gonzaga that she accepted. But a freak knee injury that caused her to lose cartilage and led to microfracture surgery made her spend nearly eight months on the sidelines. She missed all of spring and summer club volleyball, before being given medical clearance to return to the court before the start of this season.

"Everything is a blessing," Sharon said. "I just tell her to work hard and to keep her faith. She's very faithful. She's such an obedient child. She does things without being told."

Mike Lopez, a former boys basketball coach who led Goodyear Millennium to a 2008 state championship, took over the Verrado volleyball program before Dykstra's junior season with his daughter, Mykayla, by his side as coach.

While she was rehabbing from the knee injury, Mike Lopez told Raechelle that she didn't need to play with her plans to graduate in December and get to Gonzaga in January, although he knew a huge void would be left on the team.

Gonzaga stays true to its word after surgery

Gonzaga remained faithful to her through her procedure and rehab.

Raechelle's parents wanted her to play, and she never felt sorry for her circumstances. The 5-foot-7 outside hitter has helped the team to a 19-5 record with 317 kills.

"She works hard at everything she does, cooking, cleaning, school, volunteering," Roberto said. "Whatever she does, she goes full go."

Everything that happened to Raechelle, she finds a positive. During her time she was ineligible and had to settle on being a team manager, she bonded with teammates, forming relationships that made her want to stay connected to the school and team and not be anywhere else. After the knee surgery, she knew that God was testing her patience. She passed that test. During that time, she accelerated her course load and in December will be done with her high school requirements to graduate and get to Gonzaga in January to start training there. Her parents will miss her, because Raechelle helps so much with her young siblings, feeing them, helping take care of them.

"I've never been out for that long, ever," she said. "Because of microfracture, it takes a longer time to heal.

"(Gonzaga) knew about the surgery and the process and they weren't worried that I couldn't come back. I don't really have any pain in my knee. I'm glad to be back."

So is Lopez, who credits Dykstra's upbringing for her perspective on life.

"We were contemplating, if she doesn't come back, who are we going to replace her with," Lopez said. "She's got such big shoes.

"She's such a great kid."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Verrado volleyball star shaped by parents' fight to survive