with the pole lap and then today with the great start, Rosberg sai

Savannah Rennie had just one wish on this recent September night, and she whispered it so her ears alone could hear. Get me on the court right now. Her first volleyball practice without any restrictions in more than a year was still hours away.Shed be able to sprint. Shed be able to jump. Shed be able to hit. Shed be able to dive.The 19-year-old redshirt freshman outside hitter at Cal would be able to be herself again. Savannah, the volleyball player. It was an identity stolen from her as she battled congenital hepatic fibrosis with portal hypertension -- a rare disease that took her off the court and threatened to take her life.A successful liver transplant saved her.Not even four months had passed since the operation, but Rennie felt no fear as she stepped onto the court at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.She never has. Not when she taught herself to ice skate at 2 years old and to swim and ride a bike at 3. Not when she struck out boys in baseball and craved the bat when the bases were loaded with two outs. Shed be the fireman that runs toward the fire, said T. Pat Stubbs, Rennies former Del Mar (California) Little League all-star coach.A Cal teammate set the ball to Rennie in hitting lines. She rose up, took her first swing and smashed the ball down.For Rennie, who could play in her first Division I match when the Golden Bears host Utah on Friday, the hit was more than a hit.It was freedom.I am where I am today because Im strong enough, Rennie said. I was given a second chance and now Im going to make the most of it.***On June 3, 2015, Rennie returned to her parents home in San Diego after a night of volleyball. She felt a pounding headache and then nausea. She had a 103-degree fever that rose to 105 in the early hours of June 4.Her abdomen throbbed and she couldnt eat or drink. She made multiple trips to urgent care before being admitted to the hospital for eight days. Twelve doctors plus a liver specialist administered test after test as Rennies liver rapidly expanded in size.She became septic, a life-threatening condition in which the infection in the body invades the bloodstream.Rennie worried she wouldnt make it in time for Cal summer school and training camp. Savannah doesnt take no for an answer, said her mother, Renee Giroux-Rennie Shes just: Volleyball is life, and whatever it takes, thats what shes going to do.Doctors couldnt pinpoint a diagnosis but managed to get her sepsis under control. She went 500 miles to Cal, taking antibiotics to manage the pain.Until she couldnt. One day she passed out while standing in line for coffee and returned to the hospital for six days. She went back and forth from Cal to San Diego for more tests, like the one that removed a large wedge of her liver, almost like a slice of pie.Growing more ill each day, developing pancreatitis after a test, she felt powerless: Why me? Why, at the peak of my athletic career at 18 years old, am I going through this? Rennie said.I always had that constant, living on the edge of fear like, What is going on with me? Am I going to be OK tomorrow? Am I even going to wake up tomorrow? she said.Another fear seized her.I didnt know if I was ever going to be on the court again.She contributed any way she could in practice -- shagging balls, keeping score and refereeing.Shed stay late after practice, said freshman outside hitter Maddie Haynes, Rennies best friend. If she could just have a hand on a volleyball, that would make her happy.Sometimes, though, she could barely stand up. Cal coach Rich Feller would tell her to leave so she could lie down.No, Rennie said. Im staying.She became the whiteboard guru, rewriting Fellers practice plans -- squares, circles and boxes -- and ensuring all the numbers and lines were immaculate. She relished the feeling of having a role on the team.She decided that she would fight the same way shed fight an opponent, Feller said. How fast can I get back? How fast can I do something that the doctor said I shouldnt be doing yet? And when she wins one of the battles, she moves forward and tries to win another.By mid-September 2015, doctors finally diagnosed the disease, which typically affects infants, many of whom die at birth, or seniors, as the disease stays dormant until late in life.Rennie, 18, was an anomaly.She needed a cure -- fast -- because her liver kept enlarging due to the backup of bile from the organ. That backup entered the blood stream, making her septic and thus at risk for death.She had been taking medication, including a form of bear bile called ursodiol. Im the only true California Bear on this team because I have bear bile, shed joke, managing a smile.For the first time, she had hope.But she became septic from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Doctors worried they couldnt prevent it from happening because she was growing resistant to the antibiotics, which were crucial to keeping her alive.A liver transplant was the only option.While awaiting the transplant, shed manage her pain by arriving at Haas Pavilion, her sanctuary, every day at the sleepy hour of 5 a.m. to hang IV bags of antibiotics and fluid out of her arm.She finally moved to Indianapolis in March 2016, with her mother, to receive care at the Indiana University Transplant Center. And wait. She was offered a liver toward the end of the month. But the liver was high risk, which means that the donor had participated in one or more of 13 high-risk activities, including drug addiction, incarceration and receiving IV fluids.Not knowing which activity, and terrified of potential consequences, Rennie declined the liver.Finally, on May 16, she was offered a healthy liver and accepted. The operation, which usually takes four to six hours, began at 6 a.m the next day. The doctor came out at 8 a.m. to speak with Rennies parents and Haynes, who was tweeting updates.Were done, he said.In two hours?It could not have gone any more perfectly, the doctor said, shaking his head in disbelief.***Rennie has not lost her competitive fire -- the same fire that expected to bat a thousand as a 13-year-old baseball player. The same fire that wanted the ball in the big moments as a high school volleyball player.She handles that pressure, said Brennan Dean, her former coach at Torrey Pines High School and WAVE Volleyball Club. She thrives in it.Rennie knows it is practically unheard of to return to the court and potentially play in a Pac-12 match for Cal (6-8) just over four months post-operation. But she still wants more. Sometimes she struggles to accept that she isnt able to jump as high or move as quickly as she used to.Not yet, at least.Shes way further ahead than anyone expected her to be, said Feller, who thinks Rennie is physically ready to contribute in a match.Her next chance will be against Utah on Friday. Or possibly Sunday against Colorado. On Oct. 14 against Arizona, Cal will host Be The Match night, an organ donation awareness event, in Rennies honor. A representative from Donate Life will be on hand to educate fans about organ donation, and discounted tickets will be available for those with proof they have registered as an organ donor.After one recent practice, Rennie taped her iliotibial band, which runs down the thigh, after she felt a strain.Thats great, Feller said.What do you mean? Rennie said.Youve got tape on for an athletic injury. Its an athletically related thing, Feller said. That for her was a big step and an adjustment, like, Look, Im an athlete again. Rennie isnt afraid to show her scar, which stretches across her stomach and resembles both the Mercedes Benz and Air Jordan logos. She wears the same necklace every day: a silver bar with the date of her surgery, May 17, 2016, in roman numerals, honoring, in her own words: The day I got my life back.This is a young lady who literally looked death in the face, said Stubbs, her former baseball coach. She said, Not me, not today. I have much bigger plans. Custom New York Giants Jerseys . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. 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Nico Rosberg says he knew Daniel Ricciardo would not be able to pass when he started the final lap of the Singapore Grand Prix after a cool ending saw him withstand heavy pressure to win.What had been a fairly routine race was blown wide open when Daniel Ricciardo made a late switch to super-soft tyres, with Rosberg not far enough ahead to pit and emerge ahead of the Red Bull driver. Rosbergs lead was rapidly whittled down but Rosberg was able to take the win by just 0.488s.Early on in the stint Ricciardo had been taking over 3.5 seconds a lap of Rosbergs lead, which had been around 25 seconds when he pitted. ?But the German knew the Red Bull driver would not have enough left from his tyres at the end.Its been an awesome weekend here in Singapore for me, already yesterday with the pole lap and then today with the great start, Rosberg said. With 10 or 15 laps to go, just after the pit stop, the team said that he would be with me at the end of the race, which was the case, so for sure I had to be on it in that last stint and get everything right, nail all those laps and it really worked out with management all the way until the end.ddddddddddddThe tyres lasted just right, so Im very, very happy of course. At the time I started the last lap I knew that it was going to be enough because Daniels tyres werent as fresh anymore, by that time it was OK.Ricciardos pit stop was followed by Mercedes mechanics filing into the pit lane, only for Rosberg to carry on without making a stop of his own. The German, who now leads teammate Lewis Hamilton by eight points in the championship, says his lap had been compromised by lapped cars.Every driver to have won a Singapore Grand Prix has been a world champion. When asked if that was a good omen, Rosberg refused to think too far ahead.No Im not focused on points... as I always say Im just happy with the win today. ' ' '