Some kids have their blankets, others will drag a teddy bear around until its paws and ears fall off. Julia Doyle was comforted with volleyballs.

"My mom had to sneak in at night and take them away," the Wayzata senior setter said. "It was all I ever wanted to do. I had to have a volleyball in my hands."

Doyle recalled this childhood memory last week while clutching -- what else -- a volleyball flipped to her by an assistant coach.

"Volleyball calms me," Doyle said.

Perhaps, but at 6-2 Doyle is taller than most setters and has been known to give opposing teams fits.

"Julia absolutely has it," Wayzata coach Scott Jackson said. "She's a thoughtful player always looking to make her teammates better at all times. You can see her checking out all aspects of the game. It's very rare that I think, 'Why is she doing that?'"

Jackson's comments came a day after the Trojans were knocked out of the Class 3A, Section 6 tournament, putting an end to Doyle's memorable prep career that included 3,056 set assists. Her 841 assists this season are actually her third most for a single season.

Doyle, a lefty, also finished this year with 158 kills and an attack efficiency -- think of a hitter's batting average -- of .518.

Her sound play and all-around force on the court makes Doyle this year's Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year.

"Whenever anybody thinks about Wayzata volleyball, Julia Doyle comes to their head," Trojans senior middle blocker Toni Okuyemi said. "Volleyball is just in her. It's so natural."

Doyle quite literally grew up playing the sport. Her parents, who were coaches in the Wayzata system when she was born, have since opened Ralia Sports Center in Maple Grove, a 46,000-square-foot complex specializing in volleyball and indoor soccer.

Jackson is the volleyball director of the facility.

"It's been a fun journey," he said. "I remember when [Doyle] was playing early on as a second-grader. I'd be minding my own business coaching another team, and I'd hear other coaches say, 'Let's go watch that second-grader play.' The kid who is the best hitter gets the most attention. But Julia has that element in addition to being a great setter."

Though she received her first letter of interest from a college in eighth grade, Doyle waited until April to decide on Oklahoma for college. The Sooners were among the last schools to offer her a scholarship.

The delay caused other schools to back out on their offers, but Doyle understood it was part of the process.

"I don't recommend at all rushing that kind of decision," she said. "If I didn't wait, I wouldn't have been able to go to Oklahoma."

Doyle is expected to compete with a pair of defensive specialists next fall for the Sooners' setter spot. The team already has her on a strength program, which Doyle is so in tune with, she worked out in the hours after the Trojans lost to Eden Prairie in the section final.

"It's pressure, but a good pressure," she said.

So long as there is a volleyball nearby, Doyle should be content.