Sisters Big Hit at Laguna Beach : Volleyball: Ashley and Rachel Wacholder have led the Artists to a 16-4 record this season and a No. 3 ranking in the county coaches’ poll.

Ashley and Rachel Wacholder grew up on the beach, so it only makes sense that they spent most of their time surfing and playing volleyball.

But the strand of sand offered a different temptation for the sisters--a soft landing pad for the favorite sport of their youth . . . gymnastics.

“We used to go out on the beach and practice all the time,” Ashley Wacholder said. “We were completely dedicated to gymnastics.”

But that all changed six years ago, when Ashley joined the Orange County volleyball club as a seventh-grader. She quit gymnastics after the summer of her eighth-grade year, devoting most of her time to volleyball and soccer.

“We practiced gymnastics 5 to 9 p.m. four days a week,” Ashley said. “I remember going to soccer practice, then straight to gymnastics. My mom was like a taxi driver, taking us to all the practices.

“We spent so much time in gymnastics, we would only come to the (volleyball) tournaments.”

Rachel said: “Gymnastics was like major commitment. It was taking up so much of our time. That’s why we quit.”

And Laguna Beach High School volleyball fans are glad they did.

The sisters have led the Artists to a 16-4 record this season and a No. 3 ranking in the Orange County coaches’ poll.

Their club coach, Charlie Brande, calls them “the leading hitting combination of sisters in Southern Section history.”

Ashley, a 5-foot-9 senior, averages 16 kills per match. Rachel, a 5-7 sophomore, averages 12.

As a freshman, Rachel was honorable mention all-Pacific Coast League in volleyball. She also finished ninth at the Southern Section diving meet last spring.

But Rachel keeps her diving in perspective. She has been diving competitively since the second grade, but says it takes a back seat to volleyball.

“I’ll miss diving meets to go to volleyball (club) practice,” Rachel said.

Laguna Beach Coach Lance Stewart said the Wacholders’ multiple sports backgrounds have made them better volleyball players.

“They have good hand-eye coordination and they always seem to be in control of what they’re doing,” said Stewart, who played football, basketball and volleyball at Laguna Beach. “They’re never off-balance when they’re going up for the ball. I would just as soon have three three-sport athletes on the court all the time.”

Rachel and Ashley realize volleyball is their future, their ticket to college. Ashley is being recruited by several schools, including Duke, Loyola Marymount and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“She’s a Division I player, no doubt about it,” Stewart said. “She’s really, really solid. She’s not as tall as a lot of college recruiters would like, but hits as hard as any high school girl I’ve seen this year. She can jump and touch 9-feet-11, and I don’t know of any high school girls doing that.”

Ashley played volleyball as a freshman and sophomore at St. Margaret’s before transferring to Laguna Beach. Rachel came along, too.

“It was like I had outgrown St. Margaret’s,” Ashley said of the small Catholic school in San Juan Capistrano. “I had been going there since the third grade.”

Southern Section rules required Ashley to sit out her junior year because of the transfer, so she practiced with the varsity and played with the junior varsity while her sister played with the varsity.

“Ashley was no doubt the best junior varsity player in the state last year,” Brande said.

So Ashley sat on the sidelines and watched her younger sister play.

“That was the toughest thing,” Ashley said. “I cried when he (Stewart) would put her in the game.”

Ashley made a quick impression when she joined the Artists this fall.

She had 40 kills and Rachel added 21 in the Orange County championship final against La Habra. The Artists lost, but Ashley was named to the all-tournament team.

“Ashley came in and did a great job right away,” Stewart said. “Rachel’s improving all the time. She’s only a sophomore, and I sometimes forget that. She’s one of the best left-side attackers in the county. She can put the ball away.”