Photo: Hunter Taylor plays in the Pan Am qualifier against Brazil with the men’s national deaf volleyball team. He is a rising junior at Eastern Mennonite University. (Photo by Tara Lanning)

Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, Virginia,  volleyball was represented on the international stage earlier this summer when Hunter Taylor showcased his skills at the PanAm regional qualifiers and the World Deaf Volleyball Championships at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C.

Taylor, a 6-foot-5 junior hitter from Richmond, Virginia, traveled to Los Angeles for an open tryout to make the US National Men’s Deaf Volleyball Team. He joined players from across the nation in Washington June 30-July 4 and July 6-15 for the pair of high-level tournaments against some of the world’s best deaf athletes.

Taylor, who was born with significant hearing loss and received a MED-EL cochlear implant at age 2,

says the tournament experience was invaluable. His team took the silver in the Pan Am qualifier, finishing behind only Brazil, and lost in the quarterfinals of the World Deaf Volleyball Championships to Turkey, which went on to win the gold in that event. The silver medal in the qualifier assures the team a spot in next year’s Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey.

“Playing at the international level helped me raise my game, because I was going up against several professional players from different countries. I felt like I was able to get some quality punches from my side of the net against guys who get paid to do this for a living,” Taylor says.

“I learned a lot about international volleyball and different defense styles that are used in Olympic volleyball today. It was a great experience overall, and I can’t wait to take that back to EMU.”

EMU men’s volleyball coach Dominick Porter is also eager to bring that perspective to the team this year.

“It means a lot to have an athlete from EMU participate at the highest level of the sport,” Porter says. “I’m looking for Hunter to have more roles on our team. Hunter brings life to our team, and we are proud and lucky to have him here at EMU.”

“Hunter is a player that goes 100 percent and wants to get better,” Porter says. “He is very explosive and

contacts high, which as a right-side hitter is a must. Hunter is always looking to learn more and absorbs everything.”

Taylor started at EMU as a freshman before transferring to Radford (Virginia) University and leaving volleyball for a year. He missed the sport, though, and friends convinced him to return to EMU. He was a force in his second college season, receiving EMU Athlete of the Week honors this past winter.

Having absorbed the taste of high-level volleyball, Taylor now has a singular goal.

“I want to help us win a conference championship,” Taylor says. “I am interested in playing professionally after my college career concludes, but my biggest volleyball goal right now would be to win the conference.”