Lane Builds Himself a Solid Foundation on Sand

Scott Lane saw plenty of sand while growing up near Las Vegas but never considered its recreational value.

When he moved to Huntington Beach nearly two years ago, he started to view sand in a different way.

There, it became the playing surface for his new favorite sport--beach volleyball. Last summer, he and partner Casey Jennings won the highest amateur divisions at the Laguna Beach and Capistrano Beach opens.

But a few miles inland, Lane is having a great deal of success as an outside hitter at Golden West College.

In two seasons, Lane has gone from an unproven player who moved to Southern California but wasn’t sure if he was good enough to play, to one of the best community college players in Southern California.

Lane helped Golden West win its third consecutive state title last season and was the co-most valuable player in the Orange Empire Conference.

“As far as me being able to compete on this level,” Lane said, “I had no idea. All I could do was work my tail off just to be prepared.”

This season, the Rustlers finished second in conference and need to beat visiting Santa Monica at 7 tonight to join Orange Coast in the state tournament, which starts Friday at Irvine Valley.

“This has been the best thing that has happened to me,” Lane said. “Coach [Mike] D’Alessandro is by far one of the top coaches in the nation on any level. He brought me from nothing to being able to play. He’s made the difference.”

Until he arrived at Golden West, volleyball had been a minor part of Lane’s life. He had already been to two four-year colleges and had a full-time job.

Lane, 24, played basketball, tennis and ran track at Henderson (Nev.) Basic High, where he graduated in 1992. He got his first taste of volleyball in the spring of his senior year when he started working out with a club team at school.

“I was terrible,” he said. “I was pretty discouraged. All I could really do was one thing and that was hit.”

He left for Nevada in the fall with hopes of making the basketball team as a walk-on. But he got interested in volleyball when he was asked to join the college’s club team.

He improved in volleyball and put aside basketball aspirations. But Lane returned home after two years and took classes at Las Vegas and worked for United Parcel Service. But volleyball had worked its way deep into his mind.

He played on more club teams and finally decided he was going to try to play in college.

He chose a community college because Jennings, whom he met in Las Vegas, had played a season at Orange Coast.

Lane moved to Huntington Beach in the summer of 1996 but decided to go to Golden West after Jennings transferred from Orange Coast to Golden West.

Since moving here, Lane has been supporting himself by working as a waiter. He works as much as possible in the off-season and about 20 hours a week during the season.

But he will leave that job as well as the beach life late this summer when he starts school at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, a Division II school where he has accepted a scholarship.

“It’s only two years,” he said, “Actually, it’s 16 months. But I will be able to finish up my degree and hopefully play for a national championship.”