Nick Taylor is a rookie in unfamiliar territory on a team that is still looking for its first win, but the Corner Brook native sends out positive vibes when asked about life at Trent University.
The 18-year-old former high school volleyball star at Corner Brook High is immersed in his first season with Trent University of the Ontario University Association (OUA) men’s volleyball setup.
Trent University became the new kids on the OUA block last season and never won a game in its inaugural season.
Taylor, who is 18 and a former Canada Games team member, remains upbeat about his experience at Trent because he likes the group of guys he calls teammates and they are showing improvements every time they get on the court.
“You just have to keep putting the work in at practice to get better to know that we’re close to getting that our first win,” Taylor said Wednesday. “The more we connect and the harder we work the better we will get and the better we will do in games.”
Taylor’s floor time has been somewhat sporadic. He has started a few games and his focus is on continuous improvement in his skillset, but a knee injury in the first game of the season kept him sidelined for a number of games and he battled through the discomfort as much as he could.
His goal is to keep working hard and eventually earn a spot in the starting line-up.
He knows it requires patience and time so he’s just going to take it one day at a time.
Athletes who carry on with their respective sport at the college level after high school are met with a period of adjustment. A new school, a tougher daily routine to master, new friends to mingle with and a daily diet of volleyball away from the comforts of home is something that he needed time to adjust to but once he got settled in it was a lot easier to keep his focus.
He is more relaxed. The days of panicking over things that he had to do with little time to do it are behind him now that he’s found his way and he has a lot of new friends to help him adjust.
“People tell you about it but you never know until you actually get to it and start going through it yourself,” he said.
Hanging out with family and friends during the holidays is the only gift he wants to receive this year.
He missed his family and friends who were a big part of his life before he began this chapter.
