Kallie Ball reflects on three busy years at BU

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This article was published 13/02/2024 (583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Even Kallie Ball isn’t sure how she pulled off the past three years.

“Sometimes I look at my schedule and I’m like ‘How am I going to do this?’ and yet somehow, it always gets done,” said the third-year Brandon University Bobcat, who will maintain academic all-Canadian status for the third straight season.

“You spend bus rides and plane rides and you spend (time) between games working on school. As long as you stay on top of it, it’s more manageable than you think.”

Ball played what’s likely her final home match as a Bobcat on Saturday, falling in straight sets to the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. BU (1-21) closes the Canada West women’s volleyball season at UBC this Friday and Saturday.

After that, the Calgary product is hoping to get into a dentistry program after finishing her prerequisites with a dazzling grade-point average of more than 4.2 at BU. Ball hit a perfect 4.5 last semester and took five courses each term, plus some summer classes, since her arrival in 2021.

She said being part of the team, even with the massive time commitment, helped her stay on track.

“It’s been huge. I look at my schedule and go ‘If this is due on Sunday night, I need to have it done by Thursday because it’s game weekend and I won’t get it done,’” Ball said.

“We work out Monday at 7 a.m., so I know when I’m done at (8 a.m.) I have until my class at 11 to get things done. I’m up, I’ve eaten, I have three hours now to work on stuff.

“You have so much structure in your schedule … You know the school is the flexible thing to work around that.”

Ball didn’t play her rookie year as the Bobcats went 9-7 and made the playoffs, earning their first and lone post-season victory.

They went 0-24 the following season as Ball played sparingly. She saw the most playing time this year, posting three kills and seven digs to help BU to its lone win of the season facing Regina, then career-highs of five kills and 12 digs in a five-set loss the following night.

At five-foot-nine, Ball knew she wouldn’t be a massive presence at the net, but could provide stability on defence and in serve receive, where she only had one match with more than one receiving error all season.

Ball learned a lot through the highs and lows and uncertainty around whether she’d play on any night.

“Resiliency is a big one. We had the season where we did really great and made playoffs and that was awesome. Then we had the season where we went 0-24 and that happens, too,” she said.

“The girls I was doing it with still came out to be my best friends. It goes to show no matter what year you’re faced with, you can take the positives out of it every time.

“It’s just been so amazing. I’ve met so many great people and my best friends from my first year are still my best friends now … Nicole Ashauer and I still talk every single day.”

Ball was glad to have libero/medical school hopeful Caitlin Le to learn from in her rookie year. The Mississauga, Ont., native was accepted into the University of Manitoba’s med school last year and has been a solid support.

“Caitlin was huge for me, even this summer when I was taking admission tests and dental school exams, I was on FaceTime with her bawling because I was so nervous and I’m like ‘You’ve done it, help me,’” Ball said.

“She was a huge inspiration for me to know it’s possible to get into these professional programs without compromising your athletics.”

While Ball had her Senior Night and plans to move on, she still has to get accepted. She hasn’t finished her degree as a bachelor’s isn’t required for dentistry — students need to complete a list of pre-requisite courses and at least three years of undergraduate studies, plus take admission tests.

If she isn’t accepted, she could return and finish her degree to apply next year.

Interim head coach Kailan Robison wants to see her chase her dream, but also wouldn’t mind having her back.

“I can’t believe her time management. It’s insane,” Robinson said.

“She has maintained the academic all-Canadian for three seasons. She is someone who helps discuss the science program at BU so highly to recruits. She promotes BU academically to so many people.”

While Ball didn’t start matches as often as seniors Camryn Hildebrand and Brianne Stott, Robinson noted all three share a quality which has helped the team grow.

“They can help show our whole team it takes the full team to have a successful season, to win a game. They essentially promote the fact that everyone’s fighting every single day for a chance to play on the weekend,” Robinson said.

“So if those three can model how hard you work in practice just to try and get a spot on the floor on Saturday, the whole team will play like that.”

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