Christmas Day was near when Sophie Bukovec decided it was time to walk away from a full volleyball scholarship at Long Beach State University in California and return to Canada and Hamilton's McMaster University.  The Toronto native had a falling out with Long Beach head coach Brian Gimmillaro, fought for her release and was prepared to head home and continue playing the indoor game before reaching out to Alexa Strange, a member of the University of Southern California women's beach volleyball team.  Bukovec knew Strange from competing against her at world championships over the years, along with U.S. national coach Anna Collier, the head coach at USC.  Bukovec transferred to USC early in 2015, where she helped the Women of Troy to a 28-0 record and 2015 AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship. Earlier this month, Bukovec and her teammate Strange helped top-ranked USC become the first-ever NCAA beach volleyball champions with a 3-0 win over No. 2 Florida State in Gulf Shores, Ala.  In her brief time in the U.S., Bukovec has seen the women's beach game soar in popularity, not only from a fan perspective but young athletes wanting to learn more about what it takes to reach the collegiate level.  Teenaged girls are more focused on beach volleyball, the fastest growing sport in the NCAA, because there are now scholarship opportunities south of the border, says Bukovec, an Olympic hopeful for Tokyo in 2020.  While capturing an NCAA title was exciting, it's not everything to Bukovec, who has also won gold at the 2014 FIVB U-21 world championships and the 2013 Canada Games to go with an Ontario University Athletics title with McMaster.  "I want to talk about the journey and struggles that it takes to win different championships," Bukovec said on the phone from Los Angeles. "[People] don't know the back story and that's what I want to tell young girls.  "If you want it, you have to go out and get it. You have to know that you will have to battle adversity and be prepared for it."  Bukovec, who describes beach volleyball as a tedious and difficult sport with many intricate details, is impressed with the attention to detail and passion of today's youth.  Last month, the Vancouver Province cited the American Volleyball Coaches Association in reporting that 61 NCAA schools fielded women's beach volleyball teams last season, with another 51 considering adding the sport in the future.  Besides Bukovec, twins Nicole and Megan McNamara from Tsawwassen, B.C., are playing beach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) along with Emily Maglio of Coquitlam, B.C., at the University of Hawaii.  In Canada, doors are starting to open with reports that Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., is poised to add a women's program next spring, with the school's athletic department awaiting an external consultant's review of its overall business plan.  "To see it [potentially] happen so quickly is phenomenal," said Bukovec, who prepped at Bishop Allen Academy in Toronto. "It would be a nice opportunity for a lot of people who don't think they can go to the States and play beach volleyball."  When Bukovec accepted a scholarship in 2013 to play indoor volleyball at Mac, she didn't believe attending an American college was an option, given the athletic talent pool within the U.S.  But after starring at Mac in her lone season — Bukovec was an OUA first team all-star and the school's athletics rookie of the year — she put together a two-minute YouTube recruitment video with highlights of her passing, hitting, setting and serving and sent it to Gimmillaro. Bukovec then signed a national letter of intent after being told she could play indoor and beach at Long Beach.  "I don't know how I've been so lucky that everything's panned out," said Bukovec, who started indoor volleyball at age 11 and was introduced to beach volleyball at 15. "I have definitely persevered through a lot of things."  Fighting the urge to return home that December night might have been the biggest.
NCAA champion Sophie Bukovec has witnessed women's beach volleyball soar in popularity in her time at the University of Southern California, and believes scholarship opportunities for fellow Canadians will continue to rise.