A Wolf is set to join the Battlin’ Bears in Montana.
Durango High School senior Taylor Wolf signed a National Letter of Intent to play college volleyball at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. She is set to join a good Battlin’ Bears team that competes at the NAIA level. This season, Rocky Mountain College has gone 28-4 overall, including a 12-0 performance in the Frontier Conference. The team earned an at-large big into the NAIA national tournament.
“When I went up there, just walking around town, it just felt right. I felt at home,” Wolf said during her signing ceremony Wednesday at DHS. “I got to play with them, and the team was really accepting immediately. Coach was already coaching me even though I was just there to practice with them. I just felt very accepted very quickly.”
Wolf, daughter of Courtney and Steve Wolf, said Battlin’ Bears coach Laurie Kelly is similar to her high school head coach Colleen Vogt, which was comforting.
Vogt said Wolf served as a coach on the floor and will bring leadership qualities to Rocky Mountain College.
“Whether on or off the court, she’s such a positive presence and a force to be reckoned with on the court,” Vogt said. “That always helps in the game of volleyball when you’re such a presence. She definitely demanded a work ethic from the girls, and that was really nice.”
Wolf was second on the Demons in kills during the 2018 season with 190, an average of 2.4 per set. She hit for a team-best .263 percentage, an improvement from her .155 percentage her junior season.
Wolf, a middle blocker, made her biggest impact with 86 total blocks, an average of 1.1 per set. She also added 31 serving aces.
In the last two seasons, Wolf totaled 161 blocks.
“I’ve been better at block than offense,” she said. “I want to keep that up and use my height to continue blocking well. I want to work on my jumping so I can get higher and swing more powerfully.”
Vogt said Wolf has a high ceiling and plenty of room to grow with new coaches and a college setting.
Wolf didn’t begin to play volleyball until the seventh-grade and said she was a bit behind the curve. She joined the Four Corners Volleyball Club and thrived under the coaching of Molly Malarsie, who attended her signing Wednesday.
“Club was super competitive, and I had really good coaches supporting me,” Wolf said. “They helped me find teams I wanted to play with in college and were very helpful the whole way.”
Wolf wants to go into medicine and will begin her studies in the fall while also juggling her volleyball schedule, which has become a year-round commitment. She’s eager to immerse herself in a new volleyball family.
“It’s such a team sport,” Wolf said. “You have to keep the ball off the ground, and everyone is working together to do that. Everybody plays as a team, and you really become family with your teammates.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
