Kayla Walker used to dream. When she was a young kid in Davis County, she dreamed about a great number of things. Not once in her youth did she dream about playing major college volleyball, and not once did she believe she'd want to attend an in-state school like BYU.

It's funny what a few years and some mental and emotional growth can do to a person's dreams.

From the time she could first carry a ball, Walker wanted to be a basketball player. She found herself out shooting hoops with her father day after day, and with her height, which eventually hit 6-foot-5, she had high hopes of making that dream into a reality.

And, even though her family is highly active with her dad loving hoops and her mom swinging a tennis racket, it didn't dawn on her that volleyball might be a good idea until her mom actually paid her $75 to go to volleyball tryouts in junior high school.

"I'm pretty sure I started crying when I walked in," said Walker. That's just how badly she didn't want to play volleyball.

"But then my first junior high season, I fell in love with it. I'm not all that big on physical contact, but I love competition," said Walker, who then noted that volleyball, which lacks physical contact, became preferable over her beloved basketball.

She started out in the middle because of her amazing height (she's the tallest of any members of her family, including her father and brothers), and from there she's played almost every front row position imaginable.

"I go wherever they put me, but I love the outside. I like swinging away," noted Walker.

But the amazing thing with her height is that Walker has now become one of the dig leaders on the team. She wanted to play all-around and started working hard on her back-court defense, something that's not so easy for a 6-5 net player. But she didn't let it stop her, and after all the hard work, "it's become something that's just natural."

So, in junior high, her dream to play basketball in high school and college morphed into a passion for her current sport of volleyball. But, even through high school, she was still determined she didn't want to play anywhere in the state of Utah, including BYU.

"I knew I wanted to leave Utah," Walker admitted, noting that she considered many schools, with USC, Pepperdine and CSU on the top of her list.

Eventually, she chose Pepperdine because of the other players and coaches. And, though she didn't end up sticking with that decision throughout her eligibility, she doesn't regret the decision she made.