Former Yellowjacket to enter Yuba College Hall of Fame

Kim (Rollins) Grider almost didn't play volleyball after graduating from Williams High in 1986, but first-year Yuba College volleyball coach Thea Bordsen-Post noticed her name on a list of possible recruits and encouraged her to become a 49er.

Saturday, player and coach reunite on a different kind of roster as part of the 2012 class of the Yuba College Athletic Hall of Fame.

The duo will be honored, along with four other individuals and the 1971 "Yubadettes" Drill Team, during the 14th annual Yuba College Athletic Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony Saturday at Peach Tree Golf & Country Club in Marysville.

Going from somebody who almost didn't play in college to a hall of fame player came as a bit of a surprise to Grider, who was known as Kim Rollins during her playing days.

"It's not something that I'm used to. I did my job, that was my whole mission, I was just trying to do the best I could," she said.

Doing her best made her stand out to both her college coach and her high school coach Sally Pearson, who was a 2001 Chico State Athletic Hall of Fame inductee.

During the 80's and early 90's the Yellowjackets volleyball team won a string of league titles and Girder was instrumental in getting the dynasty started, according to Pearson.

"It was really the beginning of the win streak, we had 11 or 12 consecutive league championships and I think that group of athletes in 1986 started it," Pearson said. "It was a fun run, those athletes in the 1985-86 group started that tradition of winning."

Grider, who played three varsity sports all four years of high school, along her teammates were some of the best athletes to play at Williams while Pearson coached, Pearson said.

The Yellowjacket teams attended volleyball camps during the off-season and helped run volleyball clinics for children in Williams, which helped them improve.

"They put time in in the summer to go to summer camps and it just kind of snowballed into the level of play the next generation, the next class, the next year wanted to play," Pearson said. "They just started passing down the level of play they wanted to see."

What the 5-5 Grider lacked in size, she made up for as an energetic setter with a killer serve, and caught the attention of outgoing Yuba College coach Carol Jean Bordsen, who highlighted Grider on a list of possible players.

As Bordsen's daughter Thea Bordsen-Post prepared to take over as the 49ers' volleyball coach, she saw the list and contacted Grider, who wasn't thinking about playing at the collegiate level.

"Thea came to the school and asked me to come to Yuba. I was going to work, it kind of happened as a surprise," Grider said.

Grider's ability to set, serve and hit fit the 49ers' 6-2 offense perfectly, and she played a hybrid setter and outside hitter position, Bordsen-Post said.

"It was a kind of unique position, we needed her hitting and her setting so she played both. She was a good athlete, very quick and very fast to the ball. She had a huge heart and went after it and never gave up," Bordsen-Post said.

Grider's Yellowjacket teammate Kim Redenbaugh joined her at Yuba College and the 49ers went 8-2 in the Bay Valley Conference in both 1986 and 1987, finishing in second place behind champion Cosumnes River College.

Her stellar performance as the 49ers' captain during her sophomore year earned Grider the team's Most Valuable Player award and a spot on the All-BVC team.

She finished her collegiate career with 46 aces, 216 kills and 314 digs, including 27 digs in one match during the 1987 season. Throughout her career Grider compiled a set percentage of 95 percent and a serving percentage of 95 percent (459-for-482).

After college, Grider followed in the footsteps of her brothers, Michael and Greg Rollins, who both joined the Navy.

Several colleges looked into bringing her on board to play volleyball, but she talked with Michael Rollins and decided to enlist as a way to pay for college.

Another benefit of joining the Navy was being able to see the world, she said.

"It was great, I got to see a lot of other countries. I guess it was like the captain said, it was like a free cruise. It was nice for somebody from Williams who didn't get out anywhere," Grider said.

When her time serving the country was over, Grider enrolled at California State University, San Marcos University - which was a extension of San Diego State University at the time - and graduated with a degree in business administration and a minor in accounting.

She now works as a lease/audit bookkeeper and lives in Cordova, Tennessee, with her husband Jeff Grider.

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.