MSUB SPORTS – Taylor Sherman knows all about patience.
 
Look at her year-by-year stats and you won't see any entries for 2016. It's not a mistake, but it serves as a constant reminder of just how much she missed out on when a torn ACL in the spring before her sophomore season rattled her athletic career.
 
"I had never been injured before," Sherman said. "That was my first time sitting out."
 
Six hundred fifty days elapsed between MSUB's final match of the 2015 season and the first one of the 2017 season, when Sherman made it back to the court as a junior. That gave her lots of time to reflect on her athletic career as she focused on returning to the court healthy. "I started putting my effort into the girls who were on the court, and tried to help them out," Sherman said during her time away from playing. "I was still contributing to practice and especially helping the people who played my position."
 
 
On Saturday at 2 p.m., Sherman will play the 88th and final match of her collegiate career, as the Yellowjackets (12-17, 6-13 GNAC) take on Western Oregon University (6-20, 3-16). Her parents Charity and Michael will be in attendance as their daughter is honored on Senior Day. "They have been to almost every home game I've been able to play in since my freshman year," Sherman said. "It has been awesome having them commute up here every other weekend. They always have good things to say before and after games to motivate me."
 
Joining fellow senior Miranda McConnell as the lone four-year players on the team this fall, Sherman has witnessed the transition of the program from a unique perspective. It is a young group – with nine of the 12 players on the roster being either freshmen or sophomores. Sherman has the wisdom to recognize how many moving parts there are in building a winning program, and though the won-loss results haven't been there during her career she recognizes the importance of her role in the process. "Since I have been here, we have progressively gotten better," Sherman said. "This younger class has definitely exceeded expectations of how good we thought they would be. It shows that the program could really go far, but it takes patience to get there. It has been exciting being part of the process."
 
 
T-SHERM
 
Sherman grew up in Brandon, Florida, where she took after her father and began her athletic career as a soccer player. Michael competed at Georgia Southern University. She credits her aunt Leilani with her early development as a volleyball player, which started around the age of 12 when she began in a local YMCA league.
 
When Sherman was 15 the family relocated to its current home in Parker, Colorado, and by then she had made the tough decision to pursue volleyball as her career at Chaparral High School began. "We went to a college national championship game one year in Tampa, and that's what kind of started it," Sherman recalled on what fueled her passion for volleyball. "It was one of my first years playing, and I remember thinking to myself, 'I want to do that one day.'"
 
A versatile player through her prep years, the 5-foot-8 Sherman began her collegiate career in the dual role as an outside hitter and defensive specialist. "At first I was recruited as a DS/libero, but when I got to start hitting in practice as a freshman I was really excited," Sherman said.
 
Sherman was one of six players to reach triple digits in kills during the 2015 season, as she totaled 129 while playing in all 29 matches and starting 17. In addition to her offensive success, Sherman was a stalwart defender on the other side of the net as she ranked second on the team with 314 digs.
 
It took some adjusting in her first year in the program, as the level of play was admittedly much higher than Sherman initially expected it to be. She leaned on her fellow teammates – experienced and green alike – and found a way to adjust. "Stormy (Siemion) offensively and Kimmy (Kirk) defensively made it easy to fit in and helped me learn everything faster," Sherman commented on a pair of junior role models during her first season. "I was shocked at first that they let me swing, and I definitely felt like I had to step up. It wasn't so much that the pace was faster, but consistency wise teams didn't make mistakes. I had to put the ball down as opposed to waiting for the other team to screw up."
 
Though she is universally recognized by teammates and friends alike as 'Sherm' today, the nickname has evolved over the years. "At home, everyone calls my dad 'Sherm,' and I was always 'T-Sherm' in high school," Sherman said. "The nickname stuck my freshman year here because we had another Taylor on the team, so I became 'Sherm.'"
 
Just as an encouraging freshman campaign came to a close, things were looking up for Sherman. She had her own identity on the team, was brimming with confidence, and had the statistical performance to back it up.
 
But during a spring workout in March of 2016 it was all swept away in a single moment.
 
WHEN YOU FALL, GET BACK UP
"My dad was in my ear a lot about not getting frustrated with myself. He told me to really push myself to get back and to not give up on playing ball." – Taylor Sherman on words of encouragement from her father Michael.
 
Casey Williams was named the head coach of MSUB's volleyball program on January 26, 2016, and though she had roughly eight months before the first serve of the 2017 season there was much work to do. It didn't help that one of the first things she endured as a head coach was a devastating injury to one of her talented young players. "When Sherm went down with an ACL in the 2016 spring season we didn't know how she would recover," Williams said. "She worked extremely hard to get back on the court, and it showed in her performance in the 2017 season."
 
Sherman had already planned to focus more on the defensive side of the ball, but was still taking reps as a hitter to keep all areas of her game sharp. It was on the landing after an attack attempt that her left leg gave out, and she knew right away that something was wrong. "I didn't think it was that bad because I had never been injured before," Sherman commented. "When they explained the process to me, that I would have to build up muscle before surgery and then just lose it all, that thought of starting over was really frustrating. I was worried about not being able to touch a ball for a long time."
 
Beginning one of the toughest rehabilitation programs in sports, Sherman was far from alone as she embarked on the journey. Her teammate Kimmy Kirk suffered the same injury within two weeks, and both were in the hands of MSUB athletic trainer Lindsay Sullivan who is an experienced veteran when it comes to knee injuries. "When the team traveled it was nice to have someone behind to push me in workouts and therapy," Sherman commented on her friendship with Kirk. "It takes so much time to get back, and we helped each other avoid getting frustrated. Lindsay was my counselor and personal trainer at the same time. It was easy working with her, and I never had to stress about anything."
 
Sherman spent the season virtually as a student assistant coach, sporting matching shirts with Kirk that read 'You Can't Sit (The Bench) With Us.' The gravity of their injury didn't stop the two from finding humor in the

situation with a Mean Girls reference.
 
When the spring season arrived and Sherman was fully cleared for all aspects of volleyball again, the return to the court came understandably with a sense of doubt. "Playing in a brace was really weird, and I didn't like it," Sherman said. "I was hesitant at first, but after a while I stopped thinking about it."
 
The 2017 fall season arrived, and Sherman had a new knee, a new number (10), and a new mentality.
 
SHERM'S LEGACY
"You're my hero!" – MSUB freshman Skylar Reed's words of encouragement when Sherman makes a big play.
 
Izela Alvarez became the first player in MSUB history to reach 600 digs in a season, when she shattered Erin Compton's 2012 record of 577 last fall with a total of 622. One of Sherman's traits that was honed the most during her time away from the court was her leadership ability, and Alvarez naturally became one of her primary mentees as a fellow defensive standout.
 
"Zel came in kind of quiet, and I don't think anybody expected her to do what she did her freshman year," Sherman said. "Now she is so vocal, loud, and assertive on the court, and she is very competitive. It makes me want to be better, and she pushes me because she doesn't give up on any plays."
 
Sherman played in 29 of 30 matches in her return to the court, and ranked third on the team with 226 digs for an average of 2.31 per set in her comeback season. She has already surpassed that mark with 254 total as a senior this fall, and also has a career-high 24 service aces in her final season. "Sherm has been such a steady player here at MSUB," commented Williams. "She started out as a six-rotation OH and transitioned into more of a DS role throughout the years. She has really become a scrappy defender and she has been very consistent in serve-receive."
 
Sherman's focus has been dually on her own development and being the leader her youthful squad has needed over the past two seasons. "I wanted to prove myself and show everybody that it didn't hold me back," Sherman said on coming back from her injury. "I was set on being a leader, and I knew I had to take on that role immediately. We had so many new players, and as a team it was on me and Brave to help us figure it out."
 
A GOOD CRY
"Sherm has one of the best attitudes on the team, and they look to her for mental consistency. She is willing to play whatever role we ask of her, and she does it with a smile on her face." – MSUB head coach Casey Williams on senior Taylor Sherman.
 
A two-time academic all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection, Sherman will graduate in the spring with a degree in human services. She hasn't picked out a specific career yet, but knows she wants to work with children potentially in a counseling or therapy route. Talk about an occupation that requires patience.
 
"I want to be working one-on-one with kids," said Sherman. "I want to help them with their struggles and challenges."
 
It's hard to imagine a young individual more qualified to mentor others through trial and tribulation. Through rebuilding her knee and helping rebuild the Yellowjacket program, Sherman has patiently waited and persevered. On Saturday it will be her turn, for once, to step into the spotlight and enjoy everything she has worked for the last four years.
 
"I am so excited for my family to be here in person to watch me for the last time," Sherman said. "I will probably tear up, but my dad claims he won't. My mom will bawl her eyes out. It will be a good cry."