Originally published in print in September 2024. View print issues here.

From the scoreboard buzzer in the Bruin Den to the roaring crowds of the Paris Olympics, volleyball has been quite a journey for bronze medalist Taylor Averill.

Averill, who graduated from Branham in 2010 and has played professionally for nine years, represented Team USA in men’s volleyball at the Paris Olympics in August.

Averill’s volleyball career didn’t exactly start off this strong, however. As a scrawny kid, Averill’s doctor instructed him to do something about his weight. He began studying nutrition from books at the local library and hitting the gym, managing to put on 50 pounds.

It wasn’t until his first year at Branham that Averill’s passion for volleyball began to take flight, when he joined the school team.

“I was so bad, easily the worst one on the team,” Averill said, recalling that his teammates would tease him over his low vertical jump. “[But] I just loved it. I didn’t care.”

During Averill’s freshman year, the Branham team didn’t see much success, but that didn’t deter him. During his four years on the high school team and with Bay to Bay Volleyball Club, Averill made major gains in his development as an athlete.

“I knew I was gonna play division one,” Averill said. “That was the first time, at least in my high school career, that I got to be a leader.”

By his senior year, he stood six feet six inches tall, weighed 190 pounds, and was a team captain, leading the program to its first ever CCS banner. He also led the team in kills, digs, aces and receptions that season.

After high school, Averill remembers being a bit too much of a “party boy” in college, and after getting kicked off two division one teams, he eventually settled at the University of Hawaii, where he played from 2012 until he graduated in 2015.

Averill’s career took him overseas after college, playing at clubs in Italy and France before he joined AS Cannes in 2020, where he won the French championship the following year and was named best middle blocker. Averill then played at two Polish clubs, joining his current team, Vero Volley Monza, in 2024.

Averill has been a part of the U.S. Men’s national team since 2014, yet was forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 after rupturing his plantar fascia, the muscle connecting the heel to the toe, in the semifinal match that year.

He returned just four years later, beating Italy in three sets to win bronze with Team USA.

“To go from the most heartbreaking loss of your entire career to one day recover and come back to compete for a medal taught me a lot about what I’m capable of,” he said. “I was also just really fortunate. I had the best tournament of my life.”

Looking back on his journey, Averill can’t help but think how far he’s come.

“I remember all the staff and people coming to [high school games] and just feeling ‘Oh my gosh, I’m playing for my community’,” Averill said. “Now flash forward to the Olympics and you realize you’re playing for your country.”

He credits his first experience with volleyball at Branham, helping him get to where he is today, noting the special passion and team environment as a driving factor for his success.

“I look back and I’m so lucky that I was so blinded by and addicted to the love that I had for volleyball, and I think that’s a huge reason why I was able to succeed,” he said. “I still carry that childlike spirit.”

Although he appreciates the accolades and medals, Averill acknowledges that volleyball for him holds a value that goes beyond bronze, silver or gold.

“The medals are great, but those are really for other people. They see it and it’s exciting,” Averill said. “The things that I’ll hold forever, that no one can take, are the things I learned along the way. I’m in the pursuit of peace and joy, and I recognize that those come from things that don’t just have to do with volleyball.”

Averill doesn’t plan to take any steps back, and hopes to play in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In the meantime, he hopes to connect with the next generation of volleyball players.

“I’m a part of a huge and growing community in America and all around the world,” he said. “It taught me what I’m capable of, physically and emotionally. It’s so easy to be wrapped up in success. It’s easy to lose yourself. And volleyball has humbled me.”