For sophomore men’s volleyball sensation Kai Boyko, athletic success runs in the family.
His dad Bruce played college football in the NCAA with Western Michigan from 1986-89, and was a second round pick of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 1990 CFL Draft.
A slotback and fullback, Bruce recorded 1,624 yards receiving between 1990-99, averaging 10.5 yards per catch while also tallying 120 special teams tackles.
Meanwhile, Kai’s mom Dionne played for the Herd’s women’s volleyball team in the early 90’s.
It’s in the latter of those two sports where Kai, “tall and athletic at a young age,” has thrived.
A Volleyball Canada National Excellence Program (NEP) selection in his senior year of high school, the 6’5″ left side also captured an 18U club national championship with the Junior Bisons. Future UM teammates Jordon Heppner, Sammy Ludwig, Harrison Ens and Rowan Krahn were members of the roster as well.
Boyko added to his medal haul as part of Team Manitoba, winning gold at the Canada Cup in 2023.
The NEP was pivotal in Boyko’s development, preparing him for the intensity and preparation needed to succeed at the university level. Its purpose is to prepare athletes to perform at the highest level of volleyball and to continue their development towards the National Senior Team Program, and or playing professional volleyball.
The NEP offers individual technical and tactical skill development as well as team play refinement. Boyko spent four months in Gatineau, Quebec as part of the program.
“It was interesting. I had never lived away from home before. It was definitely a good learning experience. Volleyball-wise, it was the first real time where it was a university or pro-level training environment,” he recalled.
“It was five to six times a week, two practices almost every other day or alternating with workouts. It was a volleyball-only environment and I think I really thrived in that, just focusing on volleyball. You wake up, you practice and after practice you have to eat, stretch and prepare for the next practice for the next day. I really liked that.”
Bisons alum and national champion Dan Lewis was Boyko’s head coach with the NEP, and later coached him and Bisons teammate Owen Weekes as part of the Canada’s U21 roster this past summer.
A natural leader with an outgoing personality, Boyko was named captain for Team Canada. As a group, the red and white earned silver at the NORCECA Championship in Mexico, showcasing their chemistry and teamwork.
“It was Dan Lewis who chose [the captain]. When I was in NEP a year and a half before, he pulled me aside a couple of times. I was just really vocal in the gym, I talked a lot. I tried to talk and touch base with all of the guys,” reflected Boyko.
“I try to be an outgoing guy who talks to a lot of guys. That was my role on Team Canada. I was pretty loud, built guys up when they were doing really good and if they were slacking off or we weren’t dialed in as much as we needed, I kind of called them out, but most importantly just being guys’ friends first was the biggest thing, making an effort to connect with everyone on a personal level.”
The silver was Canada’s fifth overall at the tournament, also winning two golds and three bronze in past events.
As a group of guys, Team Canada “valued the same things.” The team’s commitment to their nutrition and off-court prep mirror that on the court, which set the squad up for success when they departed for Mexico.
The Canadians swept Puerto Rico and Guatemala 3-0 in the group B preliminaries, and topped Cuba 3-1, earning a bye to the semi-finals, where they topped Puerto Rico again, this time 3-1.
The Puerto Ricans finished fourth in the tournament, and were a solid test.
Block defence was a major key for Canada in both matches. They had ten total in their first match against Puerto Rico, and 12 in the semi-finals.
Individually, Boyko had a huge showing in semis with nine points and a block.
“I think our first game was probably our worst game. It wasn’t so bad, but we just weren’t playing at our level. When you’re playing a team like Puerto Rico, they’re pretty good. They finished fourth in the tournament and we played them first. That team had already played in U19 last year, and it was probably a little closer than it needed to be,” he noted. .
“It was a slower start, but the end of the second set, end of the third set, our block defence, which was probably our team’s best attribute, started to come together. Throughout that we kept building on the block defence and the offence came together and guys found their role on the court. Once we got to Cuba in the last game of our pool play, which was a big game for us to get a bye into the semi, we had a game plan and we executed it perfectly.”
‘It’s about being confident’
Boyko’s touch point of 11’9″ says just about all you need to know about his athleticism. He played in 34 sets as a true freshman for the Bisons, and this season he’s put up career highs in every key statistic, including digs.
The left side led Canada West in the category for a decent portion of the first half of the season, and has 75 on the year. Teammate Josh Jehle leads the conference with 130, while Manitoba – currently in a playoff spot at 7-10 – are eighth as a team, with 8.09 digs per set.
“I play a lot of beach, and I feel like I’m a pretty good reader on defence. Playing beach and having played left side and being able to read pretty well has helped me get a lot of digs,” said Boyko.
“You have a game plan, but if you see something else happening on the court, which a lot of the time I do, I try and make a read. Most of the time it helps me. Sometimes it doesn’t but you learn from it and move on to the next play. Me and [captain] Spencer [Grahame], pretty much every weekend in the first term we’d go and get extra reps on our own, float passing and spin passing, whatever we wanted to work on. All of the guys on our team can pass, but it’s about being confident in what you know how to do.”
A man of many talents, Boyko spends his free time outdoors. He has a strong passion for ice fishing, and works ten to 15 hours a week during the season at Lake of the Woods Sports Headquarters, all while balancing school and volleyball.
Fittingly, he’s working towards an environmental science degree, and wants to eventually be an elementary school teacher.
“It’s a lot of 7 am wake ups every day and getting to bed early. I’ve been able to balance it. I don’t think it’s been too taxing on my volleyball and school life. Time management is important, but figuring it out has been nice. I like working, so it’s not like I don’t enjoy going there,” he added.
“On Sundays I have off or we’re on a bye week, I can go ice fishing. Last year I got out ice fishing almost every free weekend that I had. This year I’ve been out close to ten times.”