When will the nation's top high school volleyball win streaks end?

Winning streaks are made to be broken.

But don't tell that to members of the Sherwood (Sandy Spring, Md.) girls volleyball team. No one on this year's team has ever lost wearing a Warriors uniform.

The last time Sherwood lost was Sept. 11, 2010, when Magruder (Rockville, Md.) beat the Warriors, 2-0 (25-18, 25-21). Magruder has yet to win a game against Sherwood since, and hosts Sherwood on Wednesday.

The loss was the only blemish on the Warriors' 2010 record as they won every match (and game) following. They finished the season winning 67 of 69 games.

Since that loss more than three years ago, Sherwood has won three-straight 4A Maryland championships and has recorded two unbeaten seasons (19-0 in both 2011 and 2012) and won the final 17 games of the 2010 season. They are unbeaten in eight matches this season.

Sherwood's streak currently sits at 63 matches, during which the Warriors have won 189 games while losing just eight.

Though it dates back more than three years and is the longest in the country, extending "The Streak" isn't Sherwood's ultimate goal.

"We talked about it once, early in the season," said Sherwood coach Brian McCarty. "But the streak isn't what motivates us. It's about working hard and improving our level of play and doing well in our region and, hopefully, at state. It's really about working hard, getting better and having fun.

"The team is more focused on what they can do than what the streak represents. The streak is important. It's tradition and this year's group has seen the hard work put in by those before them. It's a tradition to carry on. But what's more important is the success of this year's team."

McCarty noted that he has outstanding assistant coaches, a junior varsity team that has lost only once in the last three seasons and outstanding club programs in the area.

"The keys are hard work and continuing to make it fun," said McCarty, who also doubles as Sherwood's junior varsity boys basketball coach. "The kids understand what they need to do and many play high level, year-round club volleyball."

Winning also attracts college coaches. The top player on last year's team, Alex Holsten, is now playing for the University of Florida.

McCarty said Sherwood's top player this year is senior captain Makayla Roy, a 5-9 outside hitter.

"We've been fortunate to have girls who have a passion for the game, work hard and don't let anything get in stand in their way," said McCarty. "But this is about their success."

While Sherwood's streak is making headlines this season, it was MaxPreps' 2011 mythical volleyball champion Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion, Neb.) making headlines during its streak a year ago.

Papillion-LaVista South went almost three seasons without losing until it lost to national power Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) last September, snapping a 97-match winning streak. The Titans finished 2012 with a 42-1 record after posting back-to-back 41-0 seasons in 2010 and 2011. All three seasons ended with state titles.

Where does LaVista's 97-match streak rank on the all-time list? It doesn't make the top 10 and is far from the Sweet Home (Amherst, N.Y.) national record of 292 matches without a loss from 1978 to 1987. Columbia (Maplewood, N.J.) is No. 2 with 247 wins from 1977 to 1988.

With its top three players from the "streak" era now playing in college, LaVista is 6-3 in 2013.

Streaks end.

It didn't take long for many of the teams that went unbeaten in 2012 to see their winning streaks end. Most noticeable were Dike-New Hartford (Dike, Iowa) and Coventry (Conn.). Each lost in the first week of their season.

Coventry's streak reached 76 before losing in five to Granby Memorial (Granby, Conn.) and Dike-New Hartford's streak reached 72 before being blanked by St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.), the No. 3 ranked team in the latest Xcellent 25 Rankings.

"We were up 2-0 and couldn't put them away," said Coventry coach Ryan Gilbertson. "We're a young team and I do think that losing that match was a wake up call for us."

Coventry, winners of seven straight state titles, has started another streak by winning six matches since losing.

Prior the recently-ended 76-game streak, Coventry won 84 in a row over three seasons from 2006-2008. While winning more than 230 matches, Coventry has lost just three times in the last 11 seasons.

Also seeing their 40-plus match win streaks end early this season were Lafayette (Wildwood, Mo.), Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) and Flagstaff (Ariz.).

Other teams that saw impressive win streaks end included Valley (Gilcrest, Colo.), Tatum (N.M.), Elgin (Okla.), Kearney Catholic (Neb.), Lutheran (Parker, Colo.), Lafayette (Mayo, Fla.) and MaxPreps 2012 National Champion Bishop Moore (Orlando, Fla.).

But several teams are still protecting their streaks, including:

- Trinity Christian (Sharpsburg, Ga.) has run its streak to 53 in a row and last lost in 2011.

- Warner (S.D.) was 34-0 in 2012 and has stretched its streak to 50 and Billings (Mo.), which was 38-0 last season, has stretched its streak to 49.

- Darien (Conn.) was 25-0 in 2012 and is 147-3 over the last six seasons — three of those perfect. It recently stretched its streak to 33. Not losing is nothing new to Darien, which won 121 straight from 1993 to 1997. According to the National High School Sports Federation, that ranks No. 9 all-time.

Billings coach Jeff Carroll said there is no mystery to winning.

"There's no secret other than great players and parents who buy in to a seasonal vision each season. Our school record is 65, set from the end of 2006 through the end of 2008, so streaks are not unusual to us."

He added, "We don't talk about the streak, ever."

Despite owning a 198-11 won-loss record dating back to 2007, Warner's first perfect season was in 2012. And we mean perfect — the Monarchs won all 90 of their games last season.

Warner coach Kari Jung echoed Carroll's statement as the key to winning, but added, "You have to have good athletes with a strong mental game to go out and play hard each night and not just go through the motions. We have been very fortunate to have height, quickness and players with strong positive mental attitudes who understand how important their role is on the team."

Jung added that protecting the streak is challenging.

"The hardest part in practice is keeping them playing hard because they sometimes think they don't need to work on anything. So I try to be more creative in my drills to make sure I key in on little things I can tell them we need to fix.  

"I think the girls feel pressure even though they do not want to admit it," said Jung. "We dropped a set in a tournament earlier this season and it was like a big weight was lifted off of their shoulders. Now I am hoping they can just get out there and play and not think about it because we have some very tough matches coming up in the next three weeks."

As for how long the streak will continue, Sherwood's McCarty said he wasn't making any proclamations.

"The season gets tougher from here on out, but I'm not surprised by what this team has accomplished and I'm confident we can do well. But there are a lot of talented teams out there waiting to beat us," he said.

The bottom line is it's just a matter of time as to when the streak will end. They all end — just ask Papillion-LaVista South, Dike-New Hartford, Coventry, Amherst Sweet Home Central and many others.