TAYLOR OF ALL TRADES: Alston, Clarion’s Lone Senior, Ready to Lead in Any Way She Can On and Off the Court

CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Taylor Alston stood alone, volleyball balanced on her right hand, smile big and wide on her face.

It was time for the seniors on the Clarion volleyball team to get their picture taken.

Alston was the only one.

(Pictured above, Clarion senior Taylor Alston)

Just like the camera was on her, so too will be a lot of her teammates’ eyes. They will look to Alston for leadership, on and off the court.

Alston is just fine with that.

“I learned from the players in the past,” Alston said. “I took so much advice from them, and I think it’s really good to push the younger players to do their best because they push me to do my best. We all just love competing. The juniors have really stepped up this year, too, leadership-wise. Because I’m the only senior, it’s a lot, so they’ve really helped with it and they’re really growing themselves as leaders, too. It’s great to see.”

Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.

The 5-foot-7 Alston is the last of the holdovers from the two state championship wins by the Bobcats.

She was a freshman on the first title team and played in 11 sets. Alston saw a lot of playing time as a sophomore in 2021 when the Bobcats won their second straight crown, seeing the court in 96 of the 98 sets Clarion played that season.

Last year, Alston stepped up even more as both a setter and a middle hitter.

This year, her role will be an eclectic one again.

“She brings a lot to the table,” said Clarion coach Shari Campbell. “We’re asking her to be versatile. We’re asking her to be a leader and to be active at the net — she’s a good blocker. We’re looking for her to set and we’re looking for her to hit, just be an all-around player for us.”

Campbell is also looking to Alston to be a lighthouse for a young roster.

Lead them into port.

And hopefully to a lot of victories.

“That’s a natural thing for Taylor, being a leader,” Campbell said. “That’s her personality to take on some of the off-the-court tasks. She’s doing a great job and she’s really kind of made room for some of the younger kids, like freshmen through juniors. I really like that she’s pulling the other kids in to lead with her and make decisions. It’s a good leadership style.”

At Clarion, the expectations are always lofty.

And the higher the goals, the harder the fall when coming up short.

Alston saw that first hand last season when the Bobcats went through a bit of a transition year, moving on from all-state stars like Korrin Burns, Noel Anthony, Jordan Best and Payton Simko.

There was a huge influx of young talent, trying to find their way.

And sometimes, that inexperience showed.

A run of four consecutive District 9 championships ended with a semifinal loss to Oswayo Valley.

It was disappointing for Alston, who had her sights set high, too.

Alston, though, believes the pain of not achieving some of those big aspirations last season will serve a purpose this year.

Motivation.

The team is galvanized again.

Alston hears the chatter outside of the high school walls — people writing them off again.

“We are definitely aware of everything that people say about us,” Alston said. “I think we really just take that and run with it. It helps us push each other. People say that our team is young and everything, but the experience the juniors and sophomores have, it’s really great seeing them play at a high level, too. As the one senior, I just love watching them and playing with them because it’s so much fun. They’re my best friends.”

Alston said she has seen some promising things already. Some very encouraging things.

Clarion attended two big team camps this summer and juniors like Natalie Durish, Hadlee Campbell, Alicyn Burford and Sophie Babington flourished. Sophomore Marley Kline also shined, as did the rest of the roster.

“I’m actually very excited for this season,” Alston said. “We have a young team, but we also have a lot of experience along with it. We’ve gone to Juniata and Indiana team camps and I think just watching the growth from everybody across both camps was really great. We’re really meshing together as a team and it’s fun to have fun with each other. There’s some jokesters on our team. We get a good kick out of that.”

The goals are lofty again for Clarion in 2023.

They have to be.

They are the Bobcats’ volleyball team, after all. And Alston and her teammates are hungry to return to their perch atop the rest of the district.

“I think we always set the bar high. I think anybody that is going into a season anywhere in the state should be setting the bar high,” Campbell said. “I mean, they have a state championship for a reason. Everyone should be working toward reaching their potential and ultimately playing in the playoffs and achieving those other goals that go along with it, like a league, a district, a state championship. If you’re gonna put the uniform on, you set your sights on some of those things.”

Alston said no punches were pulled when setting goals for the season.

“We just sat down a couple of days ago and talked about our goals,” Alston said. “One of our main goals is growing as a team, because when we grow together, it’s gonna take us to the highest level that we can play and take us the farthest we can go and then, ultimately, the state championship. That’s our want and that’s what we’re chasing right now.

“We have a lot of priorities and a lot of high standards to reach,” she added. “We have high expectations in each other.”

Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.