San Diego College Notebook : Rump Has New Challenge After a Short Retirement

Talk about your short retirements.

Bob Rump, who spent 24 years as men’s tennis coach at Grossmont College in La Mesa, retired after the 1986 season when the Griffins won their first-ever state title. But Rump, 56, will be back on the courts this fall as head coach of UC San Diego men’s team.

“I wasn’t really tired of coaching; I loved it,” said Rump. “It just got to the point where it got routine.”

Under Rump the Griffins routinely dominated community college tennis in San Diego County and Southern California. Rump-coached teams at Grossmont won 13 conference championships, four Southern California team championships and finished as the runner-up in the state tournament three times before finally winning the title last season.

Rump is the third coach in four years for the Tritons, an NCAA Division III school. Jim Schanback took over the Tritons last season on an interim basis after Steve Mott quit for personal reasons after two seasons.

UCSD was 11-12 in 1986, ranked 11th among Division III teams in the nation. But the Tritons are used to better. Before 1985, UCSD was among the top five teams in the country for seven straight years, including a third-place finish in 1982.

And Rump, who established at Grossmont a reputation as a disciplinarian, wants the Tritons back on top. To do so, he expects his players to treat tennis the way he does--very seriously.

“To ever become a Division III champion, the players are going to have to establish their priorities--after classes,” said Rump. “It takes a certain kind of kid to do that. I’m sure some kids will look me in the eye and say ‘the hell with you.’ That’s all right, I expect that.”

When Rump retired at Grossmont it was as tennis coach only. He still teaches full time, teaching nine physical education classes. Rump said the adjustment to commuting from his classes at Grossmont to UCSD in La Jolla (about a 45-minute drive) will be tough.

But probably not as tough as adjusting to a new tennis program.

“It’s going to be difficult for a while, until I find players who want to follow my philosophy and put in the time for tennis,” said Rump. “I’m sure I’m going to take my lumps for a while.

“I don’t know, I may go buggy,” he said. “I’m not used to losing. And I don’t want to start now.”

The San Diego State women’s volleyball team, ranked No. 10 in the country by Volleyball Monthly, will open its 1986 season Wednesday playing host to Eastern Illinois at 7:30 p.m. in Peterson Gym. The Aztecs will be on the road for a tournament at the University of Oregon before returning to defend their 10th Coors Collegiate Classic title Sept. 11-13. Among the teams competing are No. 13 Western Michigan and No. 9 Brigham Young.

Setter Liane Sato returns after leading the Aztecs to the NCAA playoffs last season. SDSU has advanced to postseason play the last eight years. Also returning is junior outside hitter Angelica Jackson, who led the team in hitting last year at .315.

The Aztecs will have one of the tallest front lines in SDSU history. Leading the trio is 6-foot 4-inch Kris Morton, who was fifth in the nation in blocking last year as a freshman. Amy Erben, 6-2, is a freshman from Seattle who redshirted last season because of a knee injury. And senior Renee Pankopf, 6-1, led the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. in serving last season.

Once again, the PCAA is regarded as one of the nation’s toughest conferences. Five PCAA teams are ranked in the top 12 in the Volleyball Monthly poll. Joining the Aztecs are top-ranked University of Pacific, No. 2 Hawaii, No. 5 San Jose State and No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. UCLA is ranked third.

A couple of Torrey Pines High graduates are on the Aztec roster--outside hitter Salley Larsen, who had 403 kills last season, and 5-6 freshman Michelle Gardner, who made the roster as a walk-on. Another local freshman is setter Melissa Stokes from Granite Hills High.

The UC San Diego men’s water polo team is ranked No. 11 in the country in the NCAA preseason poll. UCSD, a Division III school, competes in water polo primarily against Division I programs. Because of the relatively few number of teams competing in water polo, there is only one division in the sport.

Just as last season, UCSD is the highest ranked non-Division I program in the preseason poll. The Tritons finished last season at No. 14 after winning the National Invitation Tournament (which includes the top non-Division I program not invited to the NCAA championships). The Tritons will host this year’s NIT on Nov. 21-22.