"THE PHOTO IS blurry and the faces are indiscernible, but this screengrab, Emilio Rodriguez says, captures the moment that Jackie Taylor's life turned. It's from a workout in the summer of 2021. Rodriguez had just taken the volleyball coaching job at Gulliver Prep, a private school known for its academics, athletics and being a hub for children of famous people in Miami. Gulliver was not, however, famous for volleyball, winning just one game the previous year."
"Taylor was a 15-year-old who had been playing volleyball for two years, mostly just "for fun," and was coming off a nondescript season on Gulliver's junior varsity team. At the time, there wasn't a hint that she would become a middle blocker for a North Carolina team that is heading to the NCAA tournament this week. "She was super, super raw," Rodriguez says. "Like when Bambi first walks.""
"She hit the court that day among a bunch of seasoned 15-to-17-year-olds in South Florida. Rodriguez hit record. "She had no real acknowledgement of the space she needed, so she was all up in the net," Rodriguez says. "She could barely swing." Her mom, Jackie Garcia Haley, sat in the stands and watched. She's the one who nudged her into playing volleyball."
A blurry screengrab from a summer 2021 workout captured Jackie Taylor's sudden volleyball potential after coach Emilio Rodriguez took the Gulliver Prep job. Gulliver Prep had won only one game the previous year, and Taylor was a 15-year-old with two years of experience who had played mostly for fun on junior varsity. Rodriguez called her "super, super raw," and noted she lacked spatial awareness at the net and could barely swing. Her mother, former soccer star Jackie Garcia Haley, encouraged her to play. The photo showed Taylor soaring with her head above the net, foreshadowing her rise to a middle blocker role at North Carolina.
Read at ESPN.com
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