(Oakland, IA) — After helping to lead Riverside to two state tournament volleyball appearances in her career, Sophia Taylor will head to Buena Vista University in Storm Lake to play volleyball for the Beavers. It didn’t always look like that Taylor would play volleyball in college, let along play college athletics at all. She started out with basketball as a first love but volleyball caught on and she made the switch
Taylor visited some smaller schools initially in the recruiting process and at one point during the fall, she was leaning to not playing in college. Enter Will Baumann, Head Coach for Volleyball at Buena Vista who coaxed Taylor into a visit and she felt it was the right fit for a number of reasons
Other local girls that play volleyball for Buena Vista include Genevieve Livingston, a freshman from Nodaway Valley; Merced Ramirez, a freshman from Red Oak; and Lacie Davis, a sophomore from Coon Rapids Bayard. Taylor played a number of different positions while at Riverside and she is keeping her options open when she goes to BV
Baumann has been at Buena Vista for three years but the Beavers only won 5 games last season and 6 matches in 2023. Taylor is not concerned with that — she helped turn around the Riverside program under Head Coach Brooke Flanders and she hopes to being part of the same process at BV. She says it will take a lot of grit and leadership
Taylor plans on majoring in business and wants to follow in her Dad’s footsteps who owns a manufacturing business. She also says she enjoys boating and camping — Buena Vista is only a block or two from a large lake in Storm Lake, Iowa.
Complete Interview with Sophia Taylor
