Senior Sit Down: Morgan Boukather

Women’s volleyball’s Morgan Boukather has experienced a breakout season in her senior year. The human biology major has started 28 of 30 games this season, recorded five double-doubles and ranks third on the team in kills per set. The team received the number one overall seed heading into NCAA tournament play this Friday after winning the Pac-12 title and finishing the regular season with a near flawless 29-1 record, including a program-record 28-match winning streak to start the season. Boukather, who was named an honorable mention to the All-Pac-12 team on Tuesday, sat down with The Daily’s Ashley Westhem to discuss the upcoming NCAA tournament, her time on the Farm and plans for the future.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): What are the emotions and feelings of the team right now with the end of the regular season?

Senior opposite hitter Morgan Boukather has had a breakout season in her final year of eligibility for Stanford’s women’s volleyball team. She appeared in just 22 sets in her junior year, but has been an important presence for the Cardinal on offense this year, averaging 2.55 kills per set. (NATHAN STAFFA/The Stanford Daily)

Morgan Boukather (MB): We’ve had a ton of fun together. We all work really well together and we all smile a lot and we’ve just gone for it. We haven’t really thought about the other team and we just think about ourselves and how we can play. And we played great so that’s fun.

TSD: What is the team going to concentrate on most in advance of the NCAA first round game?

MB: We felt like how we never wanted to feel when we lost last Wednesday [at No. 5 Washington] and we’re going to make sure that we feel confident enough that we will never feel that way again. Our mentality is going to be what we think about a lot.

TSD: You’ve had a breakthrough season in terms of not having been a huge factor your first three years and then becoming a critical part of the team this season. What sparked this surge from you?

MB: I felt the opportunity and I just love playing volleyball and the opportunity to stay out there playing volleyball. It’s definitely nice being a senior. I’ve experienced both being on the bench and then also playing and I guess my number one goal was to bring the team together as best as I could since there’s always a little bit of a divide. So I really wanted to just go for it and it’s been great.

TSD: What do you mean by “divide”?

MB: Well, there’s always a divide between the starters and the non-starters. We’re obviously still a great team together but you just get so much more time and bonding when you’re on the court because there’s so many situations where you have to rely on each other. Being [on the bench] kind of pulls you apart from everyone else.

TSD: Since you’ve been in both situations, do you want to be the glue between the two?

MB: Exactly, that’s what I’ve been trying to do this year.

TSD: You’re trying to co-term next year, but if you are able to do that you wouldn’t be able to play volleyball since you’ve used up your four years of eligibility. If you were to end up co-terming, what would you do with an extra year at Stanford without volleyball?

MB: I’m so excited. I loved my experience as a volleyball player, but to be able to have that extra time, maybe I’ll get a job and go to school; maybe I’ll go to see more speakers. I’ll be able to take classes in the afternoon. I’m just really excited to experience what life as a student is like.

TSD: If you could give advice to an incoming freshman on your team, what would it be?

MB: You have to have really good time management but I would say to take advantage of the knowledge that your older teammates have in regards to classes and teachers because they have the best advice, even compared to your advisors.

TSD: If you weren’t a volleyball player at Stanford, what would you have wanted to engage in more on campus?

MB: I would’ve joined more clubs, like maybe one of the business associations that we have on campus. Maybe I would have been more inclined to take on MS&E or a major with more units, even though I do love my major right now and that’s not why I chose it at all. I think I would have not been as hesitant to take part in more of the extracurriculars.

TSD: What’s something about you that most people don’t know?

MB: Something that’s weird is that I have an extra vertebra. I love to eat, but I feel like everyone on our team does, and I like to dance. I’m just really goofy.

TSD: Anything else that you want to say about the season or senior year?

MB: Senior year has been amazing and I’m going to be sad to leave all of these people. The one thing I want to say is that the team is really what’s helped me going throughout not playing and then being able to play. We have a great group of girls and I wouldn’t change [the experience] for the world.

Contact Ashley Westhem at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.