This year marks the end of an unlikely road for Heidi Bomberger.

The senior outside hitter, who vowed never to play for Arizona's volleyball team while at Tucson's Sahuaro High School, will end her last year as a two-sport athlete.

She has been a member of two NCAA Sweet 16 volleyball teams, and was a member of last season's NCAA champion softball team.

Bomberger was about to go to the University of San Diego when Arizona made coaching changes that included the addition of head coach Dave Rubio and Bomberger's club coach, Liz Townes. Rubio came home early from a recruiting trip to try to convince Bomberg er to play for Arizona.

"I committed to San Diego, but I really wanted to play at a higher level," Bomberger said. "The competition in the (Pacific 10 Conference) is the best in the nation. You've got to bring it every weekend."

When Bomberger came to Arizona, she was under the impression she would be able to play only one sport. The sport she truly loved was softball, and it was agony for her not to play. In 1995 she told Rubio she was going to try out for the softball team.

"My initial reaction was that it was not best for our team," Rubio said. "I gave it a lot of good thought and talked to the coaches on our staff. I think that it was good for her to go play. I would not want to deny anyone the chance to play on a champion ship team."

The softball team, however, was a world apart from the volleyball team.

"It's a huge transition," Bomberger said. "The atmosphere in both sports is a complete 180. The people are so different."

Bomberger will play both volleyball and softball this year, and when the season ends she will fly to Boston to marry Tedy Bruschi, former Arizona defensive end and co-owner of the NCAA record for career sacks. Bruschi was drafted by the New England Patrio ts in April and is currently playing reserve linebacker and special teams.

"I just see it as Tedy would never want to see me give up what I do," Bomberger said. "If I was going to give up sports, I would have last March and I'd be in Boston right now."

Since the Patriots have a bye this weekend, Bruschi is expected to be in Oregon to watch the volleyball team play Oregon and Oregon State.

The 1993 volleyball recruiting class was one of the best in Arizona history. It included Bomberger, Barb Bell, Michelle Fanger, Stephanie Venne and Tamika Dennis. Only Bell and Bomberger are seniors as the others had redshirted years.

Their experiences have made Bell and Bomberger the undisputed team leaders, but they have very different styles.

"I would say my role for the four years that I've been here was a leadership role," Bomberger said. "I'm sort of the spiritual leader."

That 1993 class bears a striking resemblance to this year's recruiting class: five freshman brimming with potential and led by experienced veterans.

"We have the best freshmen in the nation," Bomberger said. "The senior leadership in our freshman year was awesome. I hope that Barb and I can provide that."

So far Bomberger has led by example. She has never missed a match and has competed in 360 of a possible 364 games. Her 795 career digs puts her ninth all-time in school history.

"I'm not the kind of person who misses practice," Bomberger said. "I want to make every one around me better. I want to leave UA knowing that I had an impact."

Bomberger's backcourt passing has been a major factor in the Stanford and California matches.

"Heidi played an exceptional match (against Stanford)," Rubio said. "She passed well, served nails and got digs. The impact that Heidi has had on the team is not easily seen from the outside."

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