Last December, the Gopher’s women’s volleyball team made it all the way to the final four. Recently, I was able to talk to former Bengal and current Gopher volleyball player, Taylor Morgan. Here was our conversation:

Q: How long have you played volleyball?
I’ve been playing volleyball since fifth grade and I started club season in eighth grade

Q: What position do you usually play?
I usually play a middle blocker but I’m open really didn’t need place my coaches want me to play

Q: How was playing high school volleyball different from playing collegiate volleyball? Was it a huge transition?
I think the main difference between playing collegiate volleyball versus high school volleyball was that in high school I really just relied on being able to jump high and being able to block well for my success but in college I needed to learn a lot of skills in a short amount of time which I think I was able to do. It wasn’t that big of a difference physically because I physically was capable and ready to compete at that level it was mainly a big transition mentally. I had to mentally prepare myself that every point was a big point and the training and all that stuff.

Q: Your team made it to the final four, how was that experience?
It honestly felt so good to go to the final four back to back. The first year it was all new to us so we were all just really happy to be there but this year being our second year I feel like we came in with the mindset of we were going to work our hardest and try our best and do our best and that’s what we did. It was an amazing experience and I hope to do it again next year.

Q: Do you have any pregame rituals?
One of the most important rituals that I have is that I pray before every game, the next ritual I have would be to I have this thing called go-go juice and it’s a little bit of a monster and the rest of a power aid and it kind of gets me a little hyper, I eat some skittles maybe some sour patch kids and then really we just have a dance party in the locker room to get all hyped up and energized and ready for the game.

Q: Lastly, what animal describes your style of play?
The animal that best describes me I believe is a lion. I say this because a lion can be sweet at times but at the end of the day they are the king of the jungle and when I step on the court it’s a completely different side of me. When I’m playing volleyball my mindset is to win. Honestly, when I play beast mode is switched on.