Kayla McCoy

Classroom

Kayla McCoy maintains a career GPA of 3.79 while earning multiple accolades including United Soccer Coaches second-team Scholar All-America and first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District III. She also has been named to the ACC Honor Roll all three years and is a two-time member of the ACC All-Academic Team.

Character

McCoy was tabbed team captain for the 2018 season and demonstrates it on the field by putting 100 percent into every game, whether playing or cheering on her teammates from the sideline. She has dedicated herself to carrying out the legacy of past teammates by continuing the culture set by previous captains when Duke missed the NCAA Tournament in 2014. She can be found, during the postgame meetings, with any and all fans, making a point to meet as many members of the Blue Devil family as possible. McCoy has always made herself available for media and fans after games and regularly takes time out of her schedule throughout the week to meet with media and TV personnel while drawing compliments across the board. She treats everyone around her with the utmost respect. Unfortunately, she missed the final 14 matches of her sophomore season due to an achilles injury, but she battled back and worked relentlessly in rehab to come back and have a standout junior season.

Community

McCoy participated in the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program—a collaborative service initiative between Duke and Stanford—in the summer of 2018, traveling to South Africa for a month to assist in teaching academics, sports and life skills to the local children. She is the first player in Duke women’s soccer history to take part in the ACE Program and has volunteered time with the Durham Ronald McDonald House. McCoy has worked with Bull City Fit the last two years, a community-based wellness program located in Durham, N.C., that offers free activity sessions during the evenings and weekends that encourage and promote active living. The women’s soccer program partners with Durham Parks and Recreation to offer a safe and fun environment to put into practice the lifestyle modifications that are necessary to treat childhood obesity and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Competition

Entering her final season, McCoy is one of the top players in the country. She is a two-time All-ACC honoree, including first-team honors last season, and was selected to the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and the preseason All-ACC Team. Also in 2018, she received TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Best XI Third Team honors.

In 2017, McCoy was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team and earned ACC All-Tournament Team honors. She and teammate Imani Dorsey tallied 28 combined goals to become the second-highest scoring tandem in school history.

In 2015, she was selected for the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team and was named to the Best XI Freshman Team. She has been one of the key reasons why Duke has reached the NCAA College Cup twice in the last three seasons.