For the Christmas holiday, Courtney Bowen is enjoying a couple of weeks at home in Brooklyn. Given her intense schedule of training, playing, studying and internships, time at home is rare. During this visit, there is a lot to celebrate. A middle blocker on Stanford University’s volleyball team, Bowen recently won her second NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship.
The victory was an unprecedented eighth national title for Stanford, so winning, while wonderful, wasn’t a surprise. Bowen’s presence on the team is a bit of a shock because when she arrived at Stanford in 2015, she had minimal experience with elite volleyball and spent her freshmen year learning to play alongside the best in the college game.
“Stanford has really in every sense been perfect,” said Bowen. “The volleyball has been incredible. The coaches and players are so knowledgeable about the game. They helped develop me as a player and a person. I would also reference the academic side in terms of my development as a person. I can’t imagine a better place to learn, grow and develop.”
Bowen attended high school at The Chapin School, where she earned athletic letters in volleyball, basketball,
lacrosse, badminton and swimming. At 6-foot-4, she was the standout player on the volleyball team, but basketball was her passion. After suffering a knee injury, her dreams of college basketball ended, but she’d already fallen in love with Stanford and was accepted in the regular ad- missions process.
“After I got in, a coach saw me play- ing club volleyball,” Bowen recalled. That coach contacted the coach at Stanford, who offered her a spot as a walk-on. “I almost said no because I was terri ed…They turned me into what I am now. The rest is history.”
Bowen adores the team spirit of volleyball. “In volleyball, when every- thing is going as it should, three people should touch the ball on every play,” she said. “Every success is team-oriented and shared with everyone. It’s a different level of connection amongst the team that I really appreciate. It’s the truest team sport I’ve ever played.”
A senior economics major who will graduate in June, Bowen will be stay- ing in Northern California for the foreseeable future as she’s accepted a position with a private equity rm in the Bay Area. Her indoor volleyball playing days are done, but she will play beach volleyball for Stanford in the spring and expects to play it recreationally going forward.
“My family attended the National Championship game,” Bowen said. “They were so excited. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better finish to my senior season.”