2017 All CCAA second team member, Bekah Boyle, is a key member of the Chico State women’s volleyball team, as she leads the team in kills and points. Boyle is in her junior year with the Wildcats and has played all three years. Boyle is a biochemistry major and has won academic honors from several different associations. Boyle also led last Friday’s win in kills, with 20, earning her this week’s Wildcat of the week.

How do you prepare for big games?

In order to prepare for big games I usually have a cup of coffee and I like to listen to music before, just to get myself in the right mindset to focus and think about, individually, what I need to do and my individual strategy. We get game-plans for every single game and, typically, I’ll take a look at that before I go into it too, just to know what my coaches are expecting out of the other teams and what they’re expecting out of us.

What music do you warm up to?

I listen to a lot of rap actually, more recently it has been a little bit of Kanye West and a little bit of Lil Uzi Vert. It’s usually rap to get me in the mood.

How do you manage both school and volleyball?

Time management is huge when it comes to being a student athlete and it’s pretty tough, just because of the crazy schedule and the traveling and missing class is pretty hard, but the professors are awesome about working with student athletes and it’s typically not an issue. It’s just all about managing your time and, if I know that I have a free hour or two, I need to make sure I’m getting schoolwork done and not just slacking off or taking a nap. I need to be productive with every second that I have.

How did you choose volleyball over other sports?

I just thought volleyball was a lot more fun. I played basketball up until senior year of high school and it was fun, but I got a little bit burned out. Volleyball has always been super fun for me. The practices were fun, which was different from the other sports I played, other sports is a lot of running and cardiovascular. Volleyball, of course, is a good workout too, but I really enjoy playing.

What’s your best advice to younger players?

My best advice for younger players would be just to seize every opportunity you have. Whether it’s in practice or games or whatever it may be, and to have a growth mindset about everything because you can’t be good at everything. Everybody starts at the same level and so you can work your way to the top, you can work to wherever you want to be.

Who are some people that motivated you to want to play?

Some people who have motivated me to continue playing are definitely my parents and my friends, and more so the friends I’ve made through volleyball and especially the friends I’ve made on the Chico State team. Those girls are my absolute best friends and they mean the world to me. So even if on a certain day I don’t really feel like playing for myself, I play for my teammates and those are my best friends, so obviously I’m gonna work my butt off for them.

How do you stay warm during the off-season?

To stay season ready in the off-season it’s a lot more weight training and we practice throughout the entire year but during the off-season it’s a little bit more of individual work. Which is nice to get the opportunity to work on some individual skills, which maybe broke down during the season, and so the spring is a good opportunity for us to work on our weaknesses and individual skills rather than the team as a whole and we weight lift a lot more and it’s just about staying in shape and getting stronger for the next season.

Do you have any superstitions?

I wipe my hand on my spandex before I serve.

What’s your favorite part about playing volleyball?

My favorite part about playing volleyball is definitely the people that I’ve gotten to meet, especially here in Chico. The community is super supportive of athletics in general and volleyball especially, and it has been amazing to feel like I’m a part of that and get to feel like I’m a part of the community here.

What’s your favorite thing to do outside of volleyball?

Number one thing is probably eat, but I really enjoy hiking here in Chico and I really like going to Upper or Lower Bidwell and walking around there with my friends.

Connor McPherson can be reached at [email protected] or @theGOATMcphers1 on Twitter.