Hall of Fame: Kim Coleman (Corona del Mar)

Richard Dunn

As one of the key players in perhaps the greatest Back Bay girls

volleyball match on record, Corona del Mar High’s Kim Coleman can

envision two distinct episodes that early December evening in 1993 when

the Sea Kings captured their second straight national championship.

One memory is blocking Newport Harbor’s Misty May once; the other goes

a little deeper into the soul.

“I remember going home, and there were a thousand people at the

house,” Coleman said. “I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t enough. There’s

so much more to life.’

“I remember feeling almost sad, because I knew there was more. I can’t

explain it. I think I went and sat in my room alone for awhile. I don’t

know why.”

When all the Corona del Mar volleyball world was celebrating the Sea

Kings’ riveting five-game victory over Newport Harbor in the CIF State

Division I title match, the team’s two-time prep All-American setter was

seeking a higher authority.

And, these days, Coleman’s fulfillment comes not from a volleyball

court, but at a rehabilitation facility for people with severe brain

injuries. Championships in athletics do not compare “to helping someone

live or holding someone who’s dying.”

As a volleyball player, the 6-foot-1 Coleman was the CIF Southern

Section Division I Player of the Year as a junior in 1992, when CdM won

its first mythical national championship, after defeating Laguna Beach in

both the CIF and state Division I title matches.

The Sea Kings repeated their laurels the following autumn under Coach

Lance Stewart, but this time against their rivals from across the Back

Bay.

In ‘93, Newport beat CdM twice in Sea View League play, but the

nation’s top two teams squared off again in the CIF and state Division I

championship matches and Corona del Mar won both encounters to secure its

second straight national crown.

“I don’t remember a single difference in those teams, except losing

Lori Newcomer (who graduated in ’93 and attended Alabama on a volleyball

scholarship),” Coleman said. “I just remember getting in trouble and

giggling a lot and eating a lot at these tournaments. Both teams were

equally fun.”

A two-time first-team All-CIF Division I selection and a second-team

All-CIF choice her sophomore year in ‘91, Coleman was one of the big

stars on a team that included Jennifer Stroffe, Caitlin Pickart and

Kristen Campbell.

“She did all the skills very well,” Stewart said of Coleman, who

achieved 23 kills, 20 assists and 20 digs in CdM’s win over Newport

Harbor, 16-14, 15-8, 16-18, 9-15, 15-10, in the ’93 state Division I

title match -- the only time the Back Bay rivals have met in the state

finals (the schools have faced each other four times in the CIF finals).

“Kim had an inner spirit,” Stewart added. “She didn’t like to lose. I

don’t think she realized how good she was. Maybe it was because she

didn’t have much ego.”

Following her highly decorated prep career, Coleman played at UCLA,

where she finished with over 3,000 career assists and set a Pac-10 record

her senior year in 1997 for highest assists average (14.96 per game).

In ‘97, Coleman was among the elite 12 selected to the NCAA

All-District VIII team and became only the fourth player in UCLA women’s

volleyball history to surpass 3,000 assists.

One of the best blocking setters in the nation, Coleman was second on

the Bruins’ team with 21 solo blocks and third on the squad with 113

total blocks as UCLA finished 17-13 overall and 16th at the NCAA Championships.

Prior to her senior year, Coleman began working as a teacher for

disabled children at a Los Angeles hospital.

“I became stronger both physically and spiritually,” Coleman once said

in the Daily Bruin. “I’d wake up and work out with (the UCLA trainer),

which made me physically stronger, then I’d go to the hospital and work

with kids who only had one leg and one arm, and I would just thank God

every day for what I had, and that has made me stronger.”

Coleman, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

has been away from the game for a few years, but is strongly considering

an attempt to play on the pro beach volleyball circuit this year. She’s

single and turns 26 on Feb. 19.