Taylor Briehl brings strength to all her athletic activities - and her many other endeavors.
Courtesy photo
has always been a humble person.
The
River Valley (Spring Green, Wis.) athlete was honored to be one of about 700 senior volleyball players nationwide to be named to the watch list for the American Volleyball Coaches Association/Under Armour All-American Team that was released in mid-October. The list will be pared down later this year and the top players will compete in December in Ohio.
"Taylor's biggest worry is that it's opening night for the musical," said Lisa Roelke, Briehl's volleyball coach at River Valley. "She's extremely talented when it comes to song and dance and has always been in the school musicals. The kid's got a pretty full plate."
Briehl owns the school record for assists.
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To go along with being humble, Briehl is certainly well-rounded. She is a three-sport star – volleyball, basketball and softball – takes part in numerous extracurricular activities, is active in her church and youth events, and still has time to log community service hours.
"To have character you have to be involved in lots of different things, and getting involved in lot of things is a lot of fun," Briehl said. "I just base it off that and make lots of friends that way."
"It's kind of one of those rare kids that comes through your school and your program," Roelke said. "Unfortunately, you don't have kids like that every year."
Since her mom, Jane, is the head softball coach at River Valley, Briehl has been surrounded by sports her entire life.
"I find that the high school gym area is basically my second home throughout the entire year, no matter what sport I'm in at the time," Briehl said.
On the volleyball court, Briehl recently wrapped up a phenomenal career. A three-year starting setter at the varsity level, Briehl shattered the school record for assists with 2,653 – besting the mark by 624.
"It's an honor because a lot of great volleyball players have come before me," Briehl said. "Just knowing that all my hard work has paid off, it's just a great feeling."
During her senior season, Briehl led her team in assists (786), service aces (58), kill percentage (43.1) and total block kills. Not bad for a setter. She was named the co-Southwest Wisconsin Conference Player of the Year.
Briehl knows she gradually improved each season.
"After having experienced just playing on the varsity freshman year, it boosted my confidence going into sophomore year," Briehl said. "Then after setting sophomore year and junior year, I felt really good about going into this year. Just wanted to kind of focus on relaxing and having fun."
Briehl is a two-year starter on the basketball team and three-year starting catcher on the softball team.
She is also quite dedicated to strength training. She holds four school records: cleans (170 pounds), squat (280), bench (160) and 40-yard dash (5.05 seconds). Her work ethic in the weight room is impeccable.
"My motto is: If you're going to do something, you might as well do it at 100 percent," Briehl said. "If I have to get up at 5:30 a.m. in the summer to work out, I might as well work as hard as I can -- because that will help me improve in other aspects as an athlete, not just the lifting portion. I think just knowing that things will help out in the end helps in the weight room."
In the classroom, Briehl is also an exceptional student. She is carrying a 4.0 grade point average and ranks in the top three of her school's Class of 2017. Doing well in school is of the utmost importance to her.
"I believe that out of all these activities that I'm in, school should come first because that's what's essentially setting me up for my future," Briehl said.
Briehl performed in "Bye, Bye Birdie" during her
freshman year.
Courtesy photo
Outside of the classroom, Briehl is just as active. She has taken part in the school musical all four years – this year it's "West Side Story." She sings in the regular school choir along with the chamber choir. Briehl has been a member of the National Honor Society for the past two years, competes in math contests twice annually and is a peer tutor/mentor on a daily basis for underclassmen and her classmates.
Learn more about the MaxPreps US Marines program at www.maxpreps.com/marinesOn top of all that she sings in her church choir at St. John the Evangelist and fulfills community service hours through the church. She also partakes in plenty of volunteer activities, including being a waitress at an annual fall dinner, along with helping rebuild and paint a shed for a community member. Briehl enjoys helping out a multi-cultural center in Madison where she assists with food service and mingling with those who come to eat.
She just really enjoys getting out in the community and volunteering.
"There's lots of families in the community that I realize don't have as much as I do," said Briehl, who plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and pursue a degree in biology. "I think volunteering helps me realize that I need to be very grateful for everything I have."
Being a three-sport athlete who is involved in so many extracurricular activities and volunteer opportunities doesn't leave Briehl with too much extra time on her hands. Sometimes it gets difficult to juggle everything she's involved in.
"I'm not going to lie, it's really tough," Briehl said. "Immediately after school it's normally practice, and then during fall and winter time I have to go right from practice to musical rehearsal. Weekends are normally when I get my service hours, and homework comes pretty late at night. It's some late nights, but I get everything done that I can."
Said Roelke: "The kid just goes 24-7. There's never a day off."
