Taylor Johnson: An Exceptional Volleyball Player

I knew early in life that my passion to play sports was undeniable. I was determined to be the best at every sport I played. That determination led me throughout my high school career to be a three-sport athlete since I was a freshman. I have received a varsity letter awards for baseball, basketball, and football. Senior year of my high school football season I was awarded captain of my team. My junior football season I was awarded honorable mention all league as well as honorable mention all area. Being a talented athlete, I continued to push myself to improve. I believe the drive to succeed came from deep within myself as dedicated team player to never let my teammates down without a fight. Besides sports I am active member of the key club for my school and frequently helped out with the miracle league foundation in Schnecksville, PA for kids with disabilities. Throughout my summers I have been helping out at a youth football camp having fun and teaching the youth about the sport of football. Throughout my high school years I’ve kept myself quite busy whether it be through athletics or just helping out where ever I can. Keeping up with

I had spent most of my childhood happy, without much pain or adversity; as a result, the moment I learned I did not make the Junior Varsity volleyball team my freshman year, I was especially devastated. When I showed up on our first day of tryouts I was excited. I looked forward to playing volleyball all summer with my friends. I worked hard, and I felt really confident at the end of the two weeks; certain that I had made the Junior Varsity team. The coaches took me to a secluded room and sat me down to explain which team I had made. I was almost already thanking them, not realizing that they were telling me, "We think that your skills at the moment would shine best on JV2; work on your technique and practice being a leader.”

Even with migraines, I challenged myself to be athletic and played a vast amount of sports like basketball, tennis, soccer, track, etc. Conversely, in my sophomore year of high school, I was filled with self-doubt when it came to trying out for the JV volleyball team. Being that my schedule consisted of: Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment, and honors classes made playing a sport non recommendable by counselors and teachers. In addition, I was not the typical height of the average volleyball player, which made others much more critical of my actions. Being told that I have too much on my plate or “not the look” to be a volleyball player, filled me with self-doubt and made me second guess my choices. Luckily, I did not let others make decisions for me. Little did I know, I was opening the gym doors for tryouts in no time. The floors were freshly waxed and the clean white net stood tall in the middle of the gym, dividing the court evenly. I stood nervously with a smooth leather ball in hand, reciting drills and methods I learned off the court in my head. The thrill rushed through my nerves the next day when I went through those same gym doors officially on the junior varsity volleyball team. A passion arose in me when something that I was close to not trying at all, was a part of my everyday activity. The fact that the negativity I encountered about trying for

Ever since I was young, I had always dreamed of playing college volleyball. After playing volleyball for 10 years college letters were finally beginning to flood my mailbox everyday and college coaches were sending emails to me left and right. This all began in January of last year. At my first tournament of the year in Columbus, college coaches were swarming the courts. They were like worker bees after the first bloom of spring. I remember crossing paths with one coach, in particular. That coach was Pete Hoyer of North Carolina State University (NCSU). I vividly remember greeting Pete with a smile and a simple hello. Pete Hoyer did not return the greeting.

Volleyball season had started, and that means six o’clock practices bright and early. Practice was two hours long before school. I could feel the anxiety in the gym that day; everyone was nervous, thinking about what was to come. We did not play the best that day, to say the least. We kept seeing people walking past the gym, wishing they were anywhere else. The whole team was waiting for the clock to read eight so we could rush upstairs to change. At last, Coach let us take down the nets and go get ready. Our excitement led us to break record time taking down the nets.

From the outside looking in, collegiate athletes live a life of luxury. They have the opportunity to perform the sport they love in front of massive crowds, and some are provided an opportunity for free schooling. Although this is undoubtedly true, outsiders are not capable of comprehending the true hardships associated with college athletics. Although they are granted acceptance and often a scholarship to their school of choice, they are not truly granted the opportunity to utilize their school’s academic resources to their fullest potential due to the immense amount of time that they are expected and required to devote to their sport. These activities include film review and playbook studies, team meals, traveling to and from games or

Hey folks! I’m Shea Casey, and I’m an upcoming Sophomore (yikes!!) at SUNY Geneseo, along with being a proud member of the Geneseo Volleyball family. Even though I have a year of college under my belt, every time I think about going back up to Geneseo, I get excitement butterflies. I cannot even put into words how perfect Geneseo is for me, and I think all the rest of us can agree with that. From the beautiful campus, to the great academics, to the ever-lasting friendships, I can say SUNY Geneseo is a once in a lifetime experience. Just the volleyball community alone is one of the major reasons Geneseo felt like home right as I set foot on campus. This team has created unbreakable bonds with some of the best people I’ve ever met, to the point that in this upcoming semester, all of this year’s freshmen are living in the same dorm building…on the same floor…with 4/6 living in the same suite (we just can’t get enough of each other). I cannot wait for August 18th, when all my best friends are together again playing the sport we love in a place we love.

In my current school, St. Jerome’s, I participate in almost everything sport and activity that I can and enjoy participating in. Through my future years at Hill-Murray, I know that all the activities and sports that I participate in at St. Jerome School will be overtaken by the immense amounts of homework that every high school student endures, but others have managed, and so will I.

As a leader it is important to follow the motto service above self. My favorite activity / event of the 2016-2017 Rodriguez Prep school year was being on the school’s volleyball team. The experience of being on the school’s volleyball team impacted me personally.

I was doing everything I could to make Rock Ridge’s volleyball team. I was working out almost every day, I went to every volleyball open gym, and I went to many clinics and camps. Making this team was very important to me, and I didn’t know what I would do if I didn’t. I’ve been working very hard to get a spot on the team. However, nothing could mentally prepare me for the three-day long try-out process.

She is a hardworking and excellent athlete who balances the demands of middle school field hockey, club soccer, and maintains an A average in all of her classes. She has become quite skilled at balancing an accelerated, academic workload while playing two fall sports at the same time. In addition to field hockey and soccer, Madelyn has run track and swam for both Moss Spring and Mercersburg Area swim clubs. She is especially excited about applying her skills as a field hockey and soccer player to the sport of lacrosse in the spring

We start with the stretches. The seniors move to the middle in order for the younger volleyball prospects to see the exercises clearly. To teach them about Union’s school spirit early on, we chant U-N-I-O-N twice for every exercise. Then we lace up and hit the track. Run a lap, get low, run a lap, high knees, run a lap, butt kicks, run a lap, karaoke, then sprint for the finish. After our brief water break, we head up to the bleachers and a sense of dread fills the group of one hundred and fifty girls. “How many will they make us run today?” we ask each other. Three, four, five? It always fluctuates, so it is good to guess. As usual, the seniors start up the bleachers first and we shout out our names as we step a single foot on the first bleacher. By the end of the first round of bleaches, I am sweating profusely in the unforgiving August heat and praying for mercy. I look in the faces of other prospectivevolleyball players and share a look of exhaustion, while the sweat drips off my forehead and down my back. After the bleacher exercises are finished, we head into the gym and start tryouts. That is how it has been for the last

The Gobles J.V. Volleyball Team played strong against Fennville @home on Tuesday, September 26. Christiana Hunt lead the team with 4 assists. Karlee Henderson got an outstanding 5 hits along with Libbee Nason who got 4. The team had a total of four amazing blocks. The team pushed their hardest till the very end and left with another

The athlete chosen for this given assessment was 19 year old, Madison Nagel. She stands at 5 feet 6 inches, and weighs roughly around 135 pounds. She is the starting libero of Arkansas Tech University women’s volleyball team, therefore, has been regularly training for her second year of collegiate volleyball since mid-August. Her daily exercise is 2 hours of moderate-high intensity volleyball practice, and at least 3 of those days include an hour of moderate intensity weight lifting.

It is a chilly September morning as the volleyball team piles on the bus and heads to the preseason tournament in Hoisington. Two hours later, the bus arrives, we enter the building and begin preparing for our first game. We fly past our first two opponents, beating them easily. Next, we play Hillsboro. Returning from the state tournament the year before, they have a solid team. Alex Ratzlaff is their star player. She is an excellent receiver, phenomenal hitter, and has one of the best jump serves I have ever seen. The University of Nebraska has recruited her to play for them next season.