Fowles to use volleyball as vehicle for life-changing ride at
Utah State Univ.
For Chelsea Fowles, it all comes back to the family. She sees the ‘Baler girls’ volleyball team as one big family. She’s pumped to be joining the Mormon family at Utah State University. And of course, there’s her actual family, the driving force behind the success of Hollister’s latest NCAA Division I athlete-to-be.
With setter Fowles and San Benito ready for another deep postseason run, and a full scholarship sending her to Logan, Utah to continue her playing career next year, the senior finds herself immersed in a world that has a riveting present and a future that seems even brighter.
“It’s still hard for me to believe,” Fowles says, “because I just think it’s the best place I can be in now.”
With the sport as the vehicle, Fowles knows that she is in the midst of a journey that will impact her life far beyond her playing days. Her family led her to volleyball, and now volleyball will lead her to her next family.
Family Matters
Volleyball was a natural fit for Chelsea Fowles. With a father who coached and four older siblings who played, Fowles stepped into the sport’s realm at age 8 and has been hooked ever since.
“(Volleyball) was like the family thing,” says Fowles, whose older sisters Bethany and Alyssa played collegiate volleyball. “That was what everyone had fun doing. We’d go to the beach, set up a net and play as a family.”
The decision to become a setter was a family matter as well. Bethany, 25, who competed at San Jose State and Cal State-San Bernardino, and Crysta, 23, played the position, so Chelsea wanted to follow suit. “Little kids just want to be like their big sisters, so I just took after them,” Fowles says.
The young Chelsea quickly found herself an integral part of standout teams, with her club teams advancing to the Junior Olympics at an incredible rate. By the time she was 12, she won a bronze medal at the JOs. And the sport afforded her opportunities to play throughout the U.S. and in Europe.
At the high school level, Fowles found similar success, starting on the ‘Baler varsity team beginning in her sophomore season. With Fowles picking up First Team-All League honors in 2004 and 2005, San Benito twice fell just short of CCS titles.
But with Fowles and a slew of talent back on this season’s squad, the ‘Balers have designs on breaking the CCS hex and sending their seniors out as champions.
Setting the way
Scholarship or not, Fowles is still working hard on her game. Motivated by the narrow losses in the playoffs the past two years and the chance to head to Utah State with her game at new heights, Fowles has attacked her senior season with a newfound determination.
One ongoing family ritual is for Fowles to review video footage of her matches with parents Debbie and Curtis, looking to pinpoint any areas for improvement. And then there are the twice a week workouts at Rovella’s Gym with a trainer.
The Utah State coaching staff has asked her to work on jump-setting, so Fowles is working on perfecting that technique, knowing that such improvements offer dual benefits. “What’s going to help me next year is also going to help this team,” she says.
San Benito coach Dean Askanas calls Fowles the engine that makes the team run. “She’s priceless on our team,” Askanas says, “because she’s the most court savvy, the most emotionally pumped … (and) I don’t think anyone wants to win more than she does when the whistle blows. We’re very lucky to have her and we’re utilizing everything that she has to offer.”
Asked what plays into her success as a setter, co-captain Fowles said mastering the mental game is just as significant as the physical side. “I don’t hear things off the court,” she says. “Everything is just, ‘What is the other team doing? Where are they? Where are my players?’ … You have to be thinking a lot of things at once and you kind of have to go against your first instinct because that’s what the other team is thinking.”
Fowles’ teammates have become so used to her steady excellence that they can’t imagine what their team would look like without her. “Her sets, no matter what position you’re at, they’re always the same, they’re always there,” senior outside hitter Morgan O’Laughlin says.
Adds junior opposite Emily Kortsen, the 2005 TCAL MVP: “Every time, she’s always been the obvious leader, even when she’s not the captain.”
The ‘Balers also reap the benefits of Fowles’ experience and leadership skills by utilizing her as an on-floor coach. “I don’t need to call a time out to tell them what I see because Chelsea’s going to see it anyways,” Askanas says.
“If anyone’s ever doing anything wrong, they just ask Chelsea, and she just helps them to do it right next time,” Kortsen says. “She just helps the team fix it.”
Fowles says it’s all a part of her personality. “I’m a really outgoing person and setters are like the quarterback of the team,” she says. “I like being a leader.”
A Faith-Based Choice
Signing with Utah State was even more of a lifestyle choice for Fowles than it was a selection geared toward her volleyball future. As a Mormon, she remains thrilled to have the opportunity to spend the next four years in a place she believes will dramatically impact her life.
Asked the factors behind her college selection, Fowles says, “I think it’s the life-Mormon thing. It’s not so much the volleyball thing because I doubt I’ll turn pro after this. … It’s such an important choice to make in your life, but I definitely think I made the right choice.”
“I’m definitely going to marry someone who’s Mormon, so I might as well go to a school that helps me with that,” she adds with a smile.
Admitting that she thinks about playing at the Division I level “every day,” the competitor in Fowles is itching for her next challenge on the court. But she also recognizes that she is embarking the next part of a bigger journey. And that brings her back to the all-important feeling of family.
“Almost all of the girls on the team are Mormon,” Fowles says, “and the coaches are Mormon, so it’s like a family environment. It just seems like the right place to be.”
