McKenna Woodford

Community Service

• College of Arts and Sciences
• Biological Sciences, Chemistry
• Chandler, Arizona

Involvement

Pen-pal with elementary school children to improve their reading and writing skills; taught the gospel and volleyball to kids in the community through her church; Special Olympics volunteer at annual basketball tournament; volunteered at the Hope Center thrift store; volunteered at the Regency Center retirement home, playing bingo, painting nails and building relationships with community elders; volunteered with Little Spikers, promoting physical activity and providing mentorship. 6’ 4” captain of the women’s volleyball team for two years; named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team three years in a row, and named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District® 8 team; finished WSU career ranking eighth all-time in kills (1,257), eighth overall in kills per set (2.95), and fourth all-time in total points (1,445.5).

Favorite WSU experience

I fell in love with volleyball and figured out there were options to play in college. I was scouted while playing with a club team in Chandler, Arizona. I visited a lot of other colleges but decided this is where I wanted to go. My small-town roots came out—I was raised in Sedona, Arizona—and Pullman seemed like the kind of town I wanted to fight for. It’s very family-friendly, and I liked the culture of the volleyball program—that underdog feeling. WSU women’s volleyball was at the bottom of the Pac-12 when I got here, so I liked the idea of joining in and trying to help turn that around. And with the help of a lot of people, we made that happen! I was twice named to the USA College National Team, which meant I got to travel to Europe in 2016 and Thailand in 2017. I worked with a lot of kids at various camps, which our coaches wanted us to do, but that’s who I am, too. I want to be someone who is a servant and serve the community. It was odd to me to get an award for community service—that’s just something you do! That said, I am deeply honored.

Future plans

More volleyball! I’m headed home for the summer, back to Chandler. Probably starting in September, I’ll be playing professional volleyball, probably in Europe—but I don’t know exactly where or for who yet, as contracts don’t come out until later in the summer. Volleyball is super big in Europe and they’re always looking for American players who can hit—and I guess that’s me! So I’m going to keep playing while I can. Eventually, I’ll get into the health sciences and going back to school. My dream is to do medical mission work.