Katarina Pantovic spent her undergrad years playing indoor volleyball in California and British Columbia, then switched sports in 2024 because she wanted to feel the sand under her feet.

“In indoor volleyball, there are six players on the court, but in beach volleyball, there are only two, and you kind of have to do everything yourself,” she said. “I really fell in love with the challenge.”

Pantovic, who is working on her Master of Science in Information Management, enjoyed the strategic side of beach volleyball. “The more I played, the more I realized that I loved the freedom that came with beach volleyball.”

Pantovic played indoor volleyball at UC Berkeley and the University of British Columbia before transferring to the University of Washington. After receiving her B.A. in Sociology in 2025, she began the Early-Career Accelerated MSIM program and continued playing for the UW beach volleyball team. She said it was a good fit after her undergraduate studies: “I found that Sociology really helped me think about systems, organizations and the broader impact of technology on society.” 

Another former UW athlete and MSIM alum who also transferred from UC Berkeley told Pantovic about the program. “When I discovered the MSIM program, it kind of felt like a natural next step, because it combined those interests with data, AI and problem-solving,” she said. 

“I didn't want to just learn how technology works. I wanted to understand how it could be used responsibly to help people make better decisions and improve outcomes in real-world settings, and in my case, the sports industry.” 

After she graduates from the MSIM program this summer, Pantovic plans to focus on training with the Canadian beach volleyball national team and pursuing her goal of competing at the Olympics. 

She’s been simultaneously training with the Canadian national team while completing her MSIM degree. “It's almost like a full-time job, and it takes up a lot of time, but it's taught me a lot about discipline and adaptability,” she said.

“I get to be surrounded by some of the best athletes and coaches in the country, which pushes me to improve every day, and ultimately, it's part of my long-term goal of pursuing the Olympics. I'm super grateful to have this opportunity to represent Canada while continuing my education at the same time.”

Outside of her athletic goals, Pantovic sees herself in a career where she can help sports organizations use technology and information more effectively, specifically working on the integration of AI into the sports industry. 

“One of the reasons why I pursued the MSIM degree is because I know athletics is not a forever career. I like that the iSchool has given me skills that are applicable across many industries, so it should be able to open up a lot of opportunities for me when needed, and ideally, I would love for these worlds to overlap,” she said.