After years of experience in the sport of volleyball, new Mississippi State assistant volleyball coach Taylor Evans finds himself continuing his career in Starkville. Evans has many years of coaching and playing experience, making him a great fit for this program. Evans is another new addition to the already new volleyball team that features a young group of tenacious freshmen. This new face has a lot of people excited and wondering how Evans will do at State.
Evans began playing volleyball at a young age. He was born in Salem, Ore., and then later moved to Alamo, Calif. California is where he remembers his start in volleyball. Evans said his father played volleyball growing up and taught him the sport.
“I remember not playing on a team but digging and passing the ball with my dad and my brothers. I was lucky enough to then go to a high school that had volleyball for boys. That’s where I really fell in love with the sport,” Evans said.
He later went on to play high school volleyball at Monte Vista High School in Danville, Calif. before going to college at Brigham Young Univeristy. Evans played multiple positions during his time at BYU and was on the 2004 National Championship team. After college, Evans coached at schools such as the University of Utah and American University.
In the sports world today, there are some cases where former athletes are not always good coaches. However, this is not one of those instances. Head coach Jenny Hazelwood said Evans’s knowledge of the game greatly impacts the team.
“The girls have been very receptive to (Evans) teaching them. He played volleyball at a very high level, and he knows what it takes to be successful,” Hazelwood said.  “(Evans) is a great teacher of the game. He is not only knowledgeable of the game, but he communicates well with the players.”
The players have also enjoyed Evans’s role on the team. Junior Paris Perret said he is the “backbone” for the team and is always there to help when players ask.
“I think he has been great. He’s really experienced and he knows what he’s talking about,” Perret said.
Coming from the Mountain West Conference with perennial powerhouses such as Hawaii and BYU, the transition to the SEC has been different for the former BYU standout. However, Evans said he is impressed with this year’s team.
“I knew that we would have high-level athletes being in the SEC, but what I’m really impressed with is the skill level here. We’re young, but we have a lot of skill,” Evans said.
At State, Evans is in charge of recruiting activities for the team. He has taken over a job that he was not highly involved in before, but he said he has taken a liking to the new position.
“(Starkville) is a college town with big time athletics across the board,” Evans said. “All of the sports on campus are not only successful, but well followed by the student body. That makes it relatively easy to find good kids.”
This weekend the Dogs are in Los Angeles, Calif., playing in the Trojan Classic. Tonight at 8 p.m. the team will play Boston College. Saturdaywill be a tough test for MSU as it plays No. 23 Northern Iowa at 2 p.m. and No. 5 Southern California at 10 p.m.