Freshman twice named ACACC player of the week

Going into freshman year as the “quarterback” of the SCC volleyball team isn’t easy, but starting-setter Taryn Salum says it’s all about attitude.

“If you have a good attitude, it brings the team up, and if you have a bad attitude, it brings the team down,” Salum says. “Attitude determines how a game or match goes in every sport.”

Salum has been named Player of the Week twice this season by the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC).

“I was very shocked with it. I have a lot of consistency, but I couldn’t have done it without my hitters and my passers. Really, every time someone from Scottsdale gets Player of the Week it’s a team effort,” says Salum. “It’s recognition for the whole team, not just one player.”

Salum has played volleyball for eight years and recently graduated from Hamilton High School.

“I was like, let’s try a sport, and I just picked volleyball out of nowhere and it ended up working out for me,” said Salum. 

Salum now averages over nine assists per game.

“I was scared coming in as a freshman and I was really scared because I was starting. When I first came, I was the only freshman starting, so I was very nervous that they (the rest of the team) would not take me in as easily as the rest of the freshmen,” Salum says.

SCC summer practice and conditioning took place every day of the week during the summer to get the girls in shape for the season.

“We don’t really condition as much during the season, because we are already in shape (from summer), but we lift twice a week and have games twice a week,” said Salum. “Once the season is over, we have spring ball, which is more conditioning and working out.”

Salum says that it isn’t always good to have a lot of girls in one place, but she soon found that she had nothing to worry about. She says she has never had a team as welcoming as this one.

“We get along really well. I love the team,” Salum says.

The SCC women’s volleyball team is currently ranked 12 in the nation.

When Salum isn’t facing opposing teams on the court, she studies Early Childhood Education in hopes of becoming a third-grade teacher.

“I actually interned for a third-grade class and I loved it,” Salum said.

Salum wants to play volleyball throughout college and says she would be very happy to play for a division-one school, but is still undecided where she wants to go after SCC.

“Anywhere is fine as long as I’m playing.”