University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Spotlight: Sophie Beckley
8/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Get to know another one of the newest Gopher Volleyball members, this time with freshman Sophie Beckley. Hailing from Seattle, Wash., Beckley played her high school career at Bishop Blanchet High School. As a senior last year with the Braves, Beckley played as a six-rotation outside hitter, where she had 335 kills, 338 digs and 18 blocks. A two-time all-metro selection her senior and junior years, she was also an all state honorable mention as a sophomore and freshman. Here's a question/answer session with the rookie defensive specialist.
Gophersports.com: How have you been adjusting to life in college?
Sophie Beckley: It was nice to come in the beginning of summer to get a hold of everything and get a hold of campus before the craziness started. Other than that, the transition is good. For me, it's nice because my club team runs a similar system of playing to what we do here. That part is nice. But it's different; it's exciting and new.
GS: Is it a lot different than playing in high school?
SB: It's different. There's more [work], but I think my high school was a little more intense than some high schools. We practiced five days a week plus Saturday. We didn't do anything on Sunday because we weren't allowed to. There's less work in high school but I like it [now]. I like practicing more than once a day.
GS: What's been your favorite thing since being on campus?
SB: In general, my favorite thing is having freedom to do stuff. If I need to get food, I can leave and just go get food. Volleyball wise, my favorite thing has been getting to the next level. With my club team, some of us were not going to play in college, so at the end of the year, everyone was done and ready to most on. So playing at the next level and getting here was really exciting.
GS: How did you get into playing volleyball?
SB: I started playing because my mom and my sister both played. My sister is 12 years older than I am and she started playing when she was 13 or 14. So I've been around it my whole life. My mom coached my sister's grade school team. That's how I started getting into it.
GS: You're from Washington, what made you choose Minnesota?
SB: Originally, I wasn't even looking at it because it's farther from home than I wanted to go. Then I expanded and added a couple of schools, Minnesota being one of them. When I got the offer from them, I was like, `You can't pass up the offer to play for the Olympic coach.' So that was a huge part of it. Of course I like the school, I like the campus, it's in a city, which I wanted. But it's a good program with an amazing coach. And I'd love to play after college so it offers good opportunities for that.
GS: What are you most looking forward to this season?
SB: I'm most looking forward to actually playing matches. I'm really looking forward to playing Stanford because they're in the Pac-12, which is over where I'm from. Playing them will be really cool because they've always been a powerhouse in the Pac-12. To me, it's relevant to my childhood.
