In 2024, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumnus Taylor Averill played volleyball for Team USA in the Paris Olympics. He helped to secure a bronze medal and was named Best Middle Blocker. However, according to Averill, nothing compares to Hawaiʻi volleyball.
“There were more people at this year’s [UH game vs. Long Beach State] than were in the stands at the Olympics,” Averill said. “There’s nothing like all the love and support you get in Hawaiʻi.”
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Rough start
The California native’s collegiate volleyball journey did not begin in Mānoa. In 2012, after one semester at UC Irvine, Averill was cut from the volleyball team. Determined to keep playing, he reached out to UH Mānoa Head Coach Charlie Wade.
“At that time, [Wade] just said, ‘Hey, we all make mistakes,’ and I just felt like I resonated with his message,” Averill recalled. “It just felt like a good fit.”
He joined the Rainbow Warriors as a setter/opposite hitter but was soon cut again at the end of his freshman year.
“When I first came to UH, it’s almost like I didn’t learn my lesson at UC Irvine,” Averill said, admitting his priorities at the time were partying and playing volleyball.
Another second chance
Realizing he needed to change, Averill transformed himself—dropping 20 pounds, adding 11 inches to his vertical, and earning a 4.0 GPA. After he pleaded with Wade, the coach gave him one more chance, but made it clear the only open position was middle blocker.
“I went to the Olympics because I’m a middle blocker. I went to the Olympics because in those six months, I realized what real hard work looked like,” said Averill. “I owe so much of my career professionally, with the national team to what happened to me here in Hawaiʻi.”
Averill became a two-time AVCA First Team All-American and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UH Mānoa in 2015.
Pushing through
After graduating, Averill went on to play professionally in Italy, France and Poland. While playing overseas, he dealt with injuries, self-doubt and mental health challenges. The excitement he once had for volleyball began to fade, and injuries kept him from training with the national team.
He considered stepping away from volleyball entirely, but eventually came to a place of clarity: “I know I’m an Olympian no matter what. I love myself whether I go or not.”
By summer 2023, he was able to train with Team USA. In May 2024, the Olympic team was announced, and Averill made the cut.
Averill said, “I just kept pushing through, and I’m so happy I did because the experience of the Olympics was, without a doubt, like the coolest experience of my entire life.”
