Elimination rounds of the U21 World Sand Volleyball Championships had begun, and Sophie Bukovec, along with her partner Tia Miric, were looking to move into the quarterfinals. The two Canadians won the first match; during the middle of the second one, Bukovec’s necklace broke, and the pendant that hung from it fell into the sand.
She thought that, without a doubt, her father’s pendant could not be found, but the match had to go on. Elation at moving on to the next round of the tournament and the dismal feeling she felt from losing her father’s pendant hit her at the same time, and she began to cry.
Bukovec said the loss of her father to lung and liver cancer was tough for her and her family, but she believed it brought everyone closer together.
She said can see bits and pieces of her father in her siblings. Her older brother Matthew played basketball just like their father and is a spitting image of him; Her twin sister Stephanie inherited a knack for art from her father as well. Bukovec said her older sister Natalie had the closest relationship with her father of the four and took his passing the hardest. It gets hard for Bukovec as she realizes her father never got to see her play volleyball. During the one occasion he did, he was physically unable to stay and watch so her mother had to leave the gym with him.
Bukovec said she thinks it is a cliché thing to say how she idolizes her mother but could not help but credit her for all that she has done.
“My mother is an amazing woman,” Bukovec said “She started out with nothing and at the age of 18, she had her own flower shop and now she has a huge business for herself.
Her mother’s business works with the Rogers Center in Toronto, which hosts the Raptors and the Maple Leafs. Bukovec is interested in taking over her mother’s business with her older sister after she is done with college.
Aside from being a world class volleyball player, Bukovec also played soccer competitively and even was a model for a few years. When she was younger she tried out for Canada’s national squad and made it to the last round of tryouts before the actual games started. Although she was discouraged from athletics she did not give up on them.
“I was about to order a big mac when someone asked me about modeling, so that’s kind of how I got into that,” Bukovec says.
Despite what she thought was an ironic beginning to her modeling career, she stuck with it for three years.
“I wasn’t really a huge fan of it,” Bukovec said. “Then volleyball got really competitive and they both conflicted. So I had to choose.”
Bukovec’s journey to Long Beach State was a unique one as she actually recruited herself by contacting head coach Brain Gimmillaro first.
When she decided she wanted to leave McMaster University, she knew she wanted to go away as far as possible. She began to look up schools on the west coast of the United States and eventually came across LBSU.
Bukovec recognized LBSU alumni Misty May-Treanor and the accolades that the 49er women’s volleyball team had accomplished in the past as a good reason to pursue attending the university.
Wanting to continue the tradition of having successful women’s volleyball teams at LBSU, her goals this year start and end with doing whatever it takes to send the seniors on the team off with a bang. The team has high hopes of a conference championship and hopefully an NCAA tournament appearance this season. She hopes to accomplish this by becoming a better team player.
Bukovec was the top player on her team at McMaster, which was something she did not enjoy.
“I’m not a huge fan of the spotlight,” Bukovec said. “I like to be under the radar kind of. I want to help the team, rather than be the all-star.”
Improving her indoor skills is one way she hopes to contribute to the team as she is already a dominant sand player.
“She still young and has a great deal to learn but she’s doing good,” Gimmillaro said.
The necklace and pendant that her father once gave her is the last thing of his that she has. Bukovec cried as she searched for her pendant on the sand volleyball court. As word got around, people from the crowd and even players from different teams began to help her look for it. With the help of over 20 people, she eventually found it. This help came as a surprise to her because another match that was in its last set was going on one court over.
“Even in all the competition and hype of the sport, it was a worldly community of people and athletes coming together,” Bukovec said “It was amazing to be a part of.”