For many, family can be one of the biggest influences on the trajectory of someone’s life. In the case of senior Taylor Wolf, that could not be more true.
Wolf said her family’s background and involvement with sports, and specifically her older sister Jessica Wolf’s influence with volleyball, are to credit for her interest on the court.
“It started with my family background, I was initially involved with basketball a lot at a young age and then my family kind of moved out to California where we didn’t really play basketball, and it was just all volleyball, and that’s when my older sister (Jessica) started club volleyball, and my younger sister and I were always the two girls with a ball on the sideline messing around … and it just grew from there,” Wolf said.
The 6-foot-2 senior grew up in Waconia, a small town in Minnesota which has a population of around 10,000 residents. Wolf said the community was supportive of her volleyball career and allowed her to make many memories.
“I love going home (to Waconia), it’s a great community, we have a Main Street, and there’s the traditional ice cream shop, coffee shop … it was really fun growing up in Waconia,” Wolf said.
Wolf had a decorated career at Waconia High School. She was a four-year varsity athlete and was on the junior varsity squad as an eighth grader. She racked up multiple awards during her 2016 campaign including the 2016 Minnesota Player of the Week Award, a 2016 Old Dutch Player of the Week Award and she was named to an all-conference team. Not only a great player, she was also academically talented, as she was named an All-Academic Player.
However, one of the most unique experiences Wolf has had in her career was with her club volleyball team, the Northern Lights Volleyball Club. They took a trip to Amsterdam for a week, and Wolf not only had fun on the court, as she was named the tournament MVP, but she also enjoyed her time off the court with teammates.
Wolf had the opportunity to play volleyball in high school with both her sisters and eventually followed Jessica to play for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Wolf said playing with her sisters could be annoying with all the time they spent at practice together and then at home, but she would not change it for the world.
“In practices, sometimes they can annoy you just like at home, but I will never give up the experiences I had with my sisters on the court, especially my older one at Green Bay,” Wolf said. “One of my favorite memories is going to the NCAA tournament and winning the Horizon League (conference tournament) with her, we gave each other a hug at the end of the match and I will never forget that.”
The Wolf sisters had a celebrated career while at UWGB together. Jessica finished eighth of all time in total points with the Phoenix and was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament team in 2018. Taylor added to her sister’s success, finishing her time in Green Bay with two Horizon League Player of the Year awards, two Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year awards, being named an All-American and Horizon League Freshman of the Year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA gave all fall and winter athletes an extra year of eligibility, and as Wolf was finishing up classes at UWGB, she decided to use her one extra year of eligibility in volleyball to enter the transfer portal. Wolf chose Marquette University to take the next step academically and to get more time on the court. Transfers were required to stay in quarantine in a hotel until they could get tested. Head coach Ryan Theis recalled the story of when he and Wolf drove to get her tested.
“It was the first time I had met her in person and when we got there, we were pulling up and Caroline Dragani, our transfer from Portland State, was getting out of her car and… I had never seen her face and so we pull up in the car and I tell Taylor, ‘hey I think that’s Caroline, but I’ve never seen her,’ …and so Taylor gets out the car and says, ‘are you Caroline?’ … To me it was hilarious.” Theis said.
Wolf has been strong right out of the gate for the Golden Eagles. She is leading the team with 21 kills and is second in digs with 27. Theis said that Wolf’s “physicality” is something new to his team, and that she has used it to benefit the team’s play already.
Beyond the court, Wolf wants to become a physical therapist. She will be starting her studies in the doctoral program this upcoming fall.
Wolf’s decision to become a physical therapist was sparked due to internship opportunities she had while in Green Bay.
“I’ve always been interested in the medical field and going into college I didn’t really know what route I wanted to do,” Wolf said. “I had some internship opportunities and that’s how I chose physical therapy.”
Wolf has even considered the idea of going back to her hometown of Waconia to be the main physical therapist in town after her education is completed.
“They just put a new sports medicine (and) PT facility (in Waconia) and I could do that and I would think that would be the dream job.” Wolf said.
This story was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacksonGross6.
