Oscar Durand

For Nichole Boxler, a senior International Business major, volleyball is about family. Since ninth grade, she has been playing some form of the game. Boxler first became interested in the sport through her aunt, the Attica High School Volleyball coach. Now, in her fourth and final season with RIT Volleyball, Boxler can look back on an impressive career.

This season, however, did not get off to a good start. After four straight losses in the Capital Invitational, the team was not in great shape. According to Boxler, the Ohio games were against much tougher teams. Because of their impressive 2007 season (during which they made it to the NCAA championships), the Tigers were pitted against tougher teams. “Our record isn’t that great [this year], but we’ve been doing really good in regions,” which, Boxler hopes, will get the team into the NCAA championships again.

As she grew up on a family farm, Boxler loves the outdoors. “It was awesome, but sometimes not so good,” she laughed. “Once I turned 14, they threw me on the tractor and some days were, like, 18 hours long.” She worked at the Boxler Dairy farm, one of three farm businesses owned by her family. “I’m a big country girl,” she said. “When I have kids, I definitely want them to know the value of a dollar and have a good work ethic.”

Boxler attended high school in Attica, NY and made varsity in 10th grade. Volleyball, it seems, runs in the family, as Boxler had the chance to play with both of her sisters on the team. “My younger sister was in eighth grade when I was a senior,” she said, and “she played varsity [during that time].”

One of the best parts, she said, is that “being on a sports team really broadens your social life... You instantly have friends and people to hang out with.” Boxler added, “I’m more talkative now, but I used to be more shy.”

As a setter, Boxler is essentially “the quarterback” on the court. “I’m the person that always gets their hands on the ball, so I get to choose…which hitter hits the ball…I pretty much run the offense.”

Boxler’s most memorable moment of the season was in a game against Hartwick. We were down 8 to 14 and we came back,” she said. “We got eight straight points in a row and that got us into the Empire 8 championships…The other team kind of fell apart…on our 14th point...[Laura Mooney], our middle hitter, blocked the ball and went straight down the middle, it was a great block.”

Boxler, who made the All New York team in 2007, is carving out a place for herself in the RIT record books. “I’ve broken 3000 and I’ve actually moved up in the rankings of the all-time career assists,” she said. This puts her in the top 10 of all time. RIT alumna Ushi Patel holds the top spot with 7008 career assists.

2008 STATS
Total Sets: 1203
Sets per Game: 7.97
Total Blocks: 101