The Sage Informer

…I wanted to get into coaching and I lived so close so I wanted to be someone consistent and I could see that consistency between all those coaches … I’ve learned so much from them, pretty much everything from them.

Coach Taylor Wallis

Taylor Wallis joined the Sages volleyball coaching staff this summer as the new freshman coach after the previous coach left on maternity. Her team boasted a resounding 12-2-3 final record after ending their season this past Tuesday.

Wallis, a 2013 Sullivan graduate, had always wanted to get into coaching since her highschool years. She said, “I’ve always wanted to be a coach. I had a lot of different coaches when I was playing, a lot of different people, random people who would coach and I always wanted to be a consistent and trustworthy person that students could go to.” 

Freshman Maia High, a middle blocker for the team, said that, though Coach Wallis is new to the program, she is “good at coaching and she knows what she’s talking about.” 

The rest of the volleyball coaches are glad she is onboard too. JV coach, Annie Camacho, commended her, saying, “She is so fun and she is the best cheerleader on the team” and that she was “always screaming from the bench.” Her addition seems to bring a lot of life to both the team and the coaches. 

Though a good coach is key to a good team, she attributes all the freshmen’s success to the players. She explained, “I think it is all the girls … Everyone, even people who didn’t play certain positions last year in middle school, are shining. I feel like they were a little hesitant to work with each other in the beginning and now you can kind of see different people are having different partners, talking to each other more.” 

Coach Wallis went on to say, “…It is really cool to see such a talented freshman team as I have never seen one this talented before.” Their record definitely backs that claim up. A .794 win percentage is no easy feat. 

“A loud team is a winning team,” said Wallis, “The most consistent thing we want them to work on is communication.” This is usually one of the most common problems freshman teams face. 

Freshman Sadie Walsh, defensive specialist, and High, attributed their success, respectively, to the team’s “bond” and how they are “working together”. It seems that, using that focus of communication, Coach Wallis has really improved that aspect of the team.  

Megan Allen, Staff Writer
allme25@sages.us