Getting To Know – Taylor Wisniewski
“GET TO KNOW” FEATURES: Throughout the fall 2020 semester the Fairmont State Athletics Department will be posting “get to know” features to allow fans, donors, parents, and fellow student-athletes to get to know members of the 17 athletics programs at Fairmont State University. For today’s feature, we sat down with senior volleyball standout Taylor Wisniewski.
Why did you choose Fairmont State?
“Initially, I never wanted to play volleyball in college but at a volleyball camp that I went to I met the old assistant coach, Jackie Buchanan (current head coach at Chowan University), that used to help with the volleyball team. After that, she and Courtney (Materazzi) invited me to a camp on campus, and I got to meet the team and I just fell in love with the team and program. I knew this was a team that I wanted to be a part about of. About a month later, I got to tour the campus and I just fell in love with the size of the campus. I also got to meet some of the professors and other students that were in the biology program. The school is also a nice distance from my home back in PA, so if I ever got home sick I could go home or if something ever happened, my parents were close by. But I also got the feeling that I could be on my own.”
Can you tell me about your story/journey, and where you were raised?
“I’m originally from PA. I live in Irwin, PA. It’s about 30 minutes east of Pittsburgh. I went to Penn Trafford High School. In high school I used to play volleyball and basketball for those four years. Growing up, I always liked science classes. I think that’s what got me into the biology program. Some of the classes I took like my forensics class actually got me interested in pathology. That helped me figure out what I wanted to do after graduation – go to medical school and study pathology.”
How does it feel being the only senior on this year’s squad?
“It’s definitely different. Even before it was usually two of us that were here, and now it’s me. It does feel like I take more of a leadership role being the only senior, but I know I have a lot of my teammates, especially some of the juniors, that will help me a lot. Being here for four years now I learned a lot just from being with the upperclassmen, like knowing how to be a good leader for the team and being a good role model for everyone on the team. However, it does feel a little strange being the only senior this season.”
Biggest moment (s) on and off the court?
“Just coming from memory, last season we did kinda struggle a little bit in the beginning of the year but at the end we finished strong, particularly in back-to-back matches against Notre Dame and Urbana. Those were kinda like our two biggest games of the year to help us get into the MEC Tournament. I’m just proud of how much we grew, and came together as a team. Working together made such a big impact on how we played late in the year. I think our growth really showed and we carried that into our spring season and even now during the fall.
“Off the court, I would say honestly just the type of impact our team can have on campus. I just think we carry ourselves very well. And I just know that we have a good reputation on the campus. That’s something I’m really proud of, and I think that really shines and shows who we are as a team.”
Can you describe some of your relationships with your teammates?
“We are all really close. They are like my second family. We spend pretty much every day together. We all love each other. I’ve made some lifelong friends that, if I had gone somewhere else, I would’ve never got to meet them. They’re like sisters to me.”
How would you describe the culture of your team?
“We are a very hard-working team. We are very accountable for each other. We want to have that great aspect to us. We want teams to know that whenever they play us we are going to be one of the hardest working teams out there. Nothing will come easy for them. They have to work hard to beat us. We just want to have that type of reputation when we go out on the court. We want everyone to know ‘We’re playing Fairmont today; we need to be on our A game. We need to work harder than them if we want to have a chance to win’.”
What does it mean to be a Falcon?
“It’s an honor to be here. Previous volleyball teams that have been here have had such successful seasons. Being able to be a part of that is a great honor and I’m glad that this team has accepted the challenge to carry that same type of reputation and legacy that our alumni have built up for this school and our program.”
What are your expectations for this spring?
“Hopefully we have a season. But I know right now it’s technically what we would be doing in the spring. I’m hoping for us to be able to carry what we had last spring over into this spring. We just had our first practice the other day, and honestly, for being off for so long and not playing with each other for so long, I was really proud of what we did. Obviously, we have little things here and there that we need to fix and just get the rust off but I feel like we still have that same type of energy and team chemistry that we had before. Hopefully it just continues to grow from there.”
How motivated or anxious are you to play right now?
“Very. It was so fun just being able to be back at practice this week, to be with everyone in a competitive environment. It’s made me really excited and hopeful that we will be able to play games in the spring and have a season.”
Have you been able to stay engaged and connected with coaches and teammates during this time with all the restrictions, not being able to play or practice as normal?
“Oh yeah. Last spring when COVID happened, we would have weekly team meetings on Zoom and we would be able to catch up and just talk about how we were doing, how school was going, and how things were going with our days. Honestly, it was good just being there for each other, like in case someone was struggling with having to adjust to the type of living situation that we have now. We also talked about some of our goals that we hope to achieve and what we wanted to see when we came back.”
Do you think the COVID-19 pandemic has made your experience as a student-athlete any less meaningful?
“I think it just made me realize how short of a time I have left here. I never thought this would happen during my senior year. It made everything so much different and it’s just kinda scary or sad to even think that I might not even be able to have that last season to go out. But even if so, I’ve experienced so many great memories and so many great times on this team.
“You never think about it until it’s the last game but just knowing that last year, that could have been my last game is just crazy to think about.”
What has it been like for you as a student during the pandemic (online classes, masks, and social life)?
“It’s definitely a little different. I am definitely one of those people that learns better in person rather than online. I just feel like I focus more and can understand the information better. Also, if I have a question, the teacher is right there where I can ask them.”
Major: Biology. Expected graduation: Spring 2021. Future plans?
“After graduation, I plan to take the MCAT and then apply to medical school and hopefully get in. If not, I might take a year off to save up some money and do some internships and research programs to add a little bit more experience to my resume before applying.”
Activities/interests outside of school and sports?
“I like to read sometimes. Also, since we had time off, a lot of us on the team and some of my friends outside of the team started to go exploring some places around West Virginia, which has been really fun. We got to go hiking and went to Cooper’s Rock and Summersville Lake. Just seeing all the different types of hidden gems in West Virginia that I’ve gotten to experience so far was really cool.”
What is one thing you want people to know about you or your personality?
“I just have a really chill personality. I’m kinda more like a go with the flow type of person.”
