Former local star Honka hits big time

It was a rather sleepless night during a cold January spell last winter in Provo, Utah, as one question repeated itself in Courtney Honka’s mind: “Is it even worth it?”

The following day, Honka would be attempting to fulfill a life-long dream — earning a spot on the storied Brigham Young University women’s volleyball team.

To many, it would seem a gutsy move, since Honka hardly got a sniff from any other Division I schools coming out of high school in 2008.

It irked the ultra-competitive yet soft-spoken multi-sport athlete that anyone would underestimate her, and those who knew Honka likely warned her against throwing caution to the wind, only to be embarrassed against some of the country’s finest volleyball stars.

Yet the thought of not trying out ate at her even more.

“I knew it was a long shot and I was kind of gearing myself up for the disappointment of not making it,” Honka said. “But I’ve never had the attitude that it’s not worth it to even try. I told myself I have to try out, because I’ll never know and I’ll always regret it if I don’t.”

Still, doubts crept into her head. Was her career at Monache High not enough to prove she could play at an elite level?

After all, Honka led the Marauders to the playoffs in her sophomore, junior and senior years.

During her final season, Honka’s squad dominated the East Yosemite League, finishing 11-1, as she amassed cartoonish numbers of 341 kills — an average of 4.3 per set. She attempted 868 kills for a success rate of 40 percent. In other words, opponents knew she was coming, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Honka also scored on a team-high 47 aces while racking up 250 digs. Monache coach Kyle Newlin later admitted she was arguably the best player he had ever coached.

That was the reputation Honka carried onto the court that following afternoon on BYU’s campus.

For 45 minutes, Honka and 15 others ran through the motions of passing, serving and hitting drills. For another 45, Cougars coach Shay Goulding — a former Redwood High coach out of Visalia — had the girls split up for some 3-on-3 scrimmages.

Then it was over. The coaches said, “Thank you very much,” and the young women departed.

During her final spring in high school, Honka had asked her club team to switch her out of her dominant position as left outside hitter to one she was much less familiar with — libero. Making such a late adjustment, she hoped, would improve her chances of landing at a larger university where she would be unable to compete with other outside hitters who stand more than 6 feet tall.

Understandably, Honka was even more unsure of her 90-minute trial performance when BYU coaches said they weren’t looking specifically for liberos.

“They said they weren’t looking to fill certain spots,” Honka said. “They were just looking at people. They said we can take one of you or four of you.”

For four painstaking days, Honka wondered whether she made the right impression. Then she found a message in her e-mail inbox from assistant coach Shawn Olmstead and her heart jumped.

But the e-mail simply listed the coach’s phone number and asked her to call him.

When she did, Olmstead still revealed nothing of her standing with the team, instead asking her to swing by the office.

The apparent goose chase continued as Honka’s frustration mounted. Finally, in person, Olmstead spit it out.

“He said, ‘We liked what we saw and we wanna bring you on for spring volleyball,’” Honka recalled. “I was thrilled. I still can’t believe it. I ran outside and called my mom and dad.”

The next few months were a whirlwind as Honka traveled and played against San Francisco State and Saint Mary’s in her home state. She even made a beaming first impression as the Cougars played in the volleyball version of the Holy War against arch-rival University of Utah. The Cougars ranked 17th in the nation in the previous year.

“She played her first game against Utah, and BYU lost the first game,” Honka’s father said. “They were losing the second game but the coach put her in at libero and she had eight serves in a row, turned the thing around and they won.”

Honka quickly befriended her teammates and coaches, who were equally pleased to have her.Goulding even wrote a letter to Honka’s parents saying they took her because of her good attitude and ability to energize the entire team.

“I think I have leadership skills, the ability to bring people together and lift them up to play better,” Honka said. “You can never have too much leadership on a team. We’re all accountable for each other.”

Relief of realizing her dreams and avoiding embarrassment washed over Honka, who had planned all along to attend BYU and study kinesiology at the very least. She attributes the competitive nature that volleyball requires and her coaches and family for hitting the big time.

“This may sound kind of cheesy, but volleyball has really changed my life,” said Honka, who began playing club volleyball since junior high. “I’ve learned about leadership and persevering and never giving up and hard work. If I wanted results, I had to put a lot of work in and it paid off.

Honka chose volleyball over other varsity sports at Monache, including basketball and track, where she was gifted with a 31-inch vertical and a best time of 12.7 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

But what if she had listened to those doubts the night before tryouts and never followed through?

Honka smiled at the thought.

“I would’ve tried out for the track team at BYU.”