They Go the Extra Mile

The trips, according to the players on the Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World girls’ volleyball team, contribute to their success.

They say bus rides offer an opportunity to bond, help clear their heads and allow them to focus on the match ahead, but, still, there has to be a limit.

Heads can only be so clear. Focus can only be so sharp. A bond can only be so tight.

During its recent run to the Division III final of the state tournament, Rim of the World has spent approximately 28 hours traveling nearly 1,500 miles to play five matches in 15 days. The reward? Another trip.

Rim of the World will make a 170-mile, 3 1/2 -hour round trip to Cypress College, where the Fighting Scots will play San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral for the championship at 2 p.m. today.

Rim of the World (28-1) has not had a home match since Nov. 13 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section playoffs. Since then it has been to Lakewood, Cypress, Yosemite, Rancho Santa Margarita and San Diego. And these were no fancy busses with comfortable seats and video screens. Rim of the World traveled by good old-fashioned yellow school bus.

Such is life for the Fighting Scots, who must leave their perch in the San Bernardino Mountains and travel at least an hour even for Mojave River League matches. Still, the well-traveled have become weary.

“It’s been a grind, there’s no doubt,” Coach Linda Pattison said. “But so far it’s been worth it, and if we win state, then there’s no doubt it was worth it.”

Had Rim of the World defeated Santa Margarita Nov. 20 in the Southern Section Division III-AA final, much of this travel would have been avoided. Rim of the World would have been awarded a higher seeding for the state tournament and probably would have had two home matches.

But the Fighting Scots, undefeated before then, lost and were sent on the road.

“Usually on bus rides we’re goofing around talking or whatever,” said Sonja Newcombe, a junior middle blocker. “But that trip our focus was on how much we wanted to avenge that loss.”

They did, and then defeated University of San Diego in the Southern California Regional final to earn a trip to the state final.

Rim of the World has been a volleyball power since the early 1980s when Wendy Rush and her family moved to town. Club volleyball was in its infancy then, but Charlie Brande, now the coach at UC Irvine, built the Mile High Volleyball Club around Rush, who went on to star at Stanford.

Rush and Rim of the World won three consecutive state titles beginning in 1981, but this is the school’s first trip to the state finals since.

The club has thrived, feeding Rim of the World with top-level players and producing numerous Division I scholarship athletes. The Fighting Scots have won 29 league titles and six Southern Section titles.

“We’re kind of known as a volleyball school,” Pattison said. “It’s a real tradition here. The town is behind us. We even had about 20 fans drive to Yosemite. The girls say that kids they don’t know are stopping them in the hallways and that they get stopped at gas stations and in restaurants in town.”

This wasn’t supposed to be the year for a return to the state final. Pattison had a talented team that lacked experience and a regular rotation consisting mostly of developing juniors.

But when 5-foot-11 middle blocker Cassie Ells, 5-9 outsider hitter Cassie Engelgau, 5-11 outside hitter Shannon Moody and 5-9 setter Nique Fradella jelled with Newcombe and two seniors, the Fighting Scots became a Division III force.

“We’re not really surprised we made it this far,” Newcombe said. “This was one of our goals from the beginning of the season.

“When we first came in, we were like, ‘let’s take this as far as we can.’ ”

They just didn’t know it would be more than 1,600 miles.

*

Today’ State Finals

State championship volleyball matches at Cypress College:

* Division I: Mira Costa (28-3) vs. Grass Valley Nevada Union (37-2), 5 p.m.

* Division II: Mater Dei (28-4) vs. San Jose Mitty (35-2), 7 p.m.

* Division III: Rim of the World (28-1) vs. San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral (38-6), 2 p.m.

* Division IV: San Diego Parker (28-2) vs. Garden Valley Golden Sierra (34-7), noon.

* Division V: Solana Beach Santa Fe Christian (31-6) vs. San Rafael Marin Academy (34-7), 10 a.m.