YUBA COLLEGE HALL OF FAME: Post is head of the class

Once upon a time, in a quiet farming town at the foot of the Sutter Buttes, there lived a young girl.

This young girl grew up playing volleyball and basketball and softball, and as fairy tales go, met her prince charming, they got married, and have lived happily ever after.

The story is nearly just that enchanting.

But Thea Bordsen-Post is no princess — she is a volleyball coach.

And now, after witnessing her mother's induction in 1999 and escorting eight of her former players into the Yuba College Athletic Hall of Fame, the most successful woman coach in the school's history is taking her place among the honored.

"I was hoping this day would come, and I could follow my mom in this too," Post said.

"The Hall of Fame has been a wonderful thing for this institution, and for our Athletic Department. It is an honor to go in."

Joining Post at the 14th annual induction ceremony on Saturday will be her former player Kim Rollins-Grider (1986-88), who played at Williams High, a trio of muilti-sport standouts in Marysville High's Robert "Bob" Dempsey (1955-56), Marlin "Skip" Davies (1958-60) and East Nicolaus High's Ben Terry (1961-63), longtime athletics maintenance worker Larry Pool (1979-2009) and the 1971 "Yubadettes" drill team.

The event begins with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. at Peach Tree Golf & Country Club, followed by dinner and the induction ceremony.

Post is not sure what she will say in her speech, but knows it will ultimately come down to relationships.

"To me, coaching is relationships. I'm a people person, and I love my relationships," said Post, saying that starts with her Christian faith and builds up from there. "I love the relationships I had with my players, and I love my relationships I had with my assistant coaches and I loved the coaches I coached against," Post said.

Post's journey to the Hall of Fame started at Sutter High School, where she played volleyball, basketball and softball for four years, and one year each of field hockey and tennis.

She went on to play volleyball at UC Davis (1980-83), where she helped the Aggies to a co-championship in the Northern California Athletic Conference in 1983.

A four-year letterman, Post was captain, team MVP and an all-conference selection during the championship season.

"I'm an Aggie at heart. I loved playing volleyball at Davis," she said.

At that point, Post began giving serious thought to coaching, something her mother, Carol Jean Bordsen, had been successfully doing at Yuba College since 1960, and as a full-time staff member since 1962.

"She started women's athletics here, at least teams," Post said. "She took them from the playday days to intercollegiate competition."

But in order to follow that path, Post knew she would need a master's degree, so she spent the next year earning that degree at Cal Poly — San Luis Obispo.

As fortunes turned, Post's mother was looking to retire, so she applied for the position.

"I was very excited when Dr. Annette Lambson called me up and said I had the job," Post said. Joe McCarron was the athletic director at the time.

Post said her mother has always been a big influence in her life, and certainly the competitive spirit that burns in her is due in large part to her mother's own competitive nature.

Not only did Post go on to play collegiate athletics, but her sister, Kari-Lee Koulouras, was a swimmer at Davis, and their brother, Brandt Bordsen, played football for the Aggies.

"She always had a competitive spirit, and instilled that in me," Post said. "She pushed us to compete, and she always prepared us."

Post took over the Yuba College volleyball program in 1986, and by the time she retired from coaching after the 2005 season, she had amassed a 160-69 conference record, won six conference titles and qualified for the playoffs 15 times.

Forty-eight of her players earned all-conference honors, four were MVPs, seven were named to all-state squads and 51 were selected to all-academic teams.

Her first title came in 1990, and three straight second-place finishes and three straight trips to the playoffs followed.

Among the key players on that first title team was a young track athlete by the name of Stacy Mikaelson, who would later win the first ever woman's Olympic pole vaulting gold medal under the name of Stacy Dragila.

Post said her best team was the 2001 squad that qualified for the state tournament and finished fifth.

Her biggest disappointment came a year earlier when a team she thought should have risen to the same level, came up short.

Post closed out her coaching career at Yuba with the conference title in 2005.

Amazingly, Post's success came primarily with local athletes.

"I always felt that if I could get the most talented local players, I would be OK," said Post, who looked for athleticism above all else.

"They may not have been the best player on their team, but if I saw their athleticism, they were going to get a call from me."

In the end, it was the grind that comes with coaching that convinced her to retire, though she still teaches at the college.

"When you first start coaching, you are happy to win, and then as you have more success, you expect to win and the losses kill you," said Post, adding she had many sleepless nights trying to figure out what went wrong and what she could have done differently to turn the results.

"I miss the game time and trying to figure out how you can help your team win," Post said. "But I don't miss the recruiting; I don't miss driving the vans late at night; and I don't miss the fundraising."

Post still coaches club volleyball, where she has taken three teams to the Junior Olympics.

It is in club volleyball where she also coached her daughter, Kari, who went on to her own stellar four-year career at the University of West Virginia. She is third on the university's all-time assist list.

"She definitely accomplished more on the court than I did," said Post, who also has a son, Randy, who is a student-athlete at Sutter High.

Post said her entire family, including her father Gordon Bordsen, husband John Post and their children, will be at the ceremony, and she certainly hopes many of her former players can make it, too.

"I would love to see a lot of players show up and have a little reunion," Post said.

That would be the perfect fairy tale ending.

Marlin "Skip" Davies (Football, Baseball)

Davies played two seasons of football for the 49ers in 1958-59 under coach Bud Van Deren and a season of baseball in 1960 for coach Dan Dillon.

Davies was part of the 1958 Golden Valley Conference championship football team, playing several offensive positions as well as linebacker on defense.

In the 1959 season, Davies was team captain and led the conference in scoring at fullback.

Davies went on to UC Davis where he played two more years of football. He started at linebacker, leading the Aggies in tackles both seasons.

He earned several postseason accolades with the Aggies, including All-Far Western Conference.

Before his collegiate career, Davies prepped at Marysville High where he played football and competed in track and field.

Robert "Bob" Dempsey (Football, Baseball)

Dempsey spent one year at Yuba where he played football in the fall of 1955 and baseball in the spring of 1956. He played running back and catcher.

After his first year with the 49ers, he transferred to the New Mexico Military Institute where he played guard on the football team and was team captain for two seasons (1956-57).

Following the 1957 season, he was named Junior College All-American. In baseball he was a two-time all-conference selection at both catcher and first base.

He spent his last year of eligibility at Clemson University.

Dempsey played football for a Tigers squad that faced No. 1 LSU in the 1959-60 Sugar Bowl. Additionally, he played catcher for Clemson's 1960 College World Series team.

A Marysville High grad, Dempsey played football, basketball and baseball for the Indians.

Larry Pool (Athletic Maintenance)

Pool spent 30 years as part of Yuba College's classified staff, serving in athletic maintenance from 1979-2009.

In addition to his hard work and dedication, he did not miss a home volleyball match in 32 years and missed only five football games, home or away.

Pool built and maintained the Yuba College Hall of Fame members plaque that lists every member and team elected to the Hall.

He graduated from Marysville High and earned a building maintenance certificate in 1974.

Kim Rollins-Grider (Volleyball)

Rollins-Grider was a two-time All-Bay Valley Conference selection for the 49ers in 1986 and 1987 where she played for Bordsen-Post.

In addition to her All-BVC accolades, Rollins-Grider was captain of the 1987 squad and named team MVP.

Following her time with the 49ers, Rollins-Grider spent six years serving her country in the Navy.

She's a graduate of Williams High where she played volleyball, basketball and softball for the Yellowjackets.

Ben Terry (Football, Basketball, Baseball)

A three-sport athlete for the 49ers, Terry was a running back/guard on the football team, guard on the basketball team and shortstop for the baseball team.

Terry was MVP of both the football and baseball teams in 1962. He was also captain of the baseball team.

After his two-year stint with the Niners, Terry transferred to Humboldt State where he played football and baseball for the Lumberjacks. He graduated in the spring of 1965.

Terry is an East Nicolaus High product and played three sports for the Spartans.

"Yubadettes" drill team

Representing Yuba College from 1965-72, the Yubadettes performed at various events and parades. The highlight of their tenure was being asked to perform at halftime of a San Francisco 49ers game at Kezar Stadium.

Started by Sandi Watson and Carol Klamer, the group was headed by advisor, and Yuba College Hall of Famer, Carol Jean Bordsen.

The drill team was formed as a way to promote school spirit through performances at athletic events.

The squad earned numerous awards for their marching and dance routines at various parades and events.

The Yubadettes' ultimate goal was to give their audiences the pleasure of seeing attractive youth performing with skill and sprit.