Taylor Hammond Season 2015

Nittany Lion Career

2016 (Redshirt Senior): Averaged 11.04 assist per set during the year, which ranked No.1 in the EIVA and No. 5 in the NCAA... Helped the Nittany Lions hit .287 which ranked No. 2 in the conference and 14th nationally... First team All-EIVA... Finished career with the fifth-most sets in Penn State history (4,732)... Recoreded four games with 10 or more assits, two games with 20 or more assist, 10 games with 30 or more assist, eight games with 40 or more assist, four games with 50 or more assist and a season high 61 assist against Lewis (1/16)... Finished the season with 16 kills hitting .324... Collected three solo blocks during the season... Helped lead Penn State to 11 sweeps.

2015 (Redshirt Junior): Averaged 10.99 assists per set during the year, which closed out the season ranked first in the EIVA and fifth nationally ... Helped the team to a .283 hitting clip, which ranked first in the conference and ninth nationally ... Second Team All-EIVA ... Dished out 33 assists against No. 8 UC Irvine (1/8) ... Had 24 assists, two digs and a block at No. 10 Hawaii (1/9) ... Dished out a career-high 60 assists to go along with five digs at Ball State (1/16) ... Recorded a double-double with 47 assists and a career-high 14 digs vs. No. 1 Loyola (1/23) ... Paced the team to a season-high .425 hitting clip vs. Mount Olive (1/30), adding a team-high nine digs ... Directed the team to a .500 hitting percentage against Erskine (2/6), matching a career-high mark with three blocks ... Recorded a career-high five blocks at No. 12 Ohio State (2/10) ... Paced the team to a .375 hitting clip at No. 2 Lewis, dishing out 43 assists (2/20) ... Directed the offense to a .403 hitting percentage at Sacred Heart (2/27), collecting seven digs ... Paced the team to a .422 hitting clip at No. 7 USC (3/10) ... Tallied a career-high 61 assists against No. 11 Ohio State (3/21) ... Had five blocks vs. NJIT (3/28) ... Paced the team to a .520 hitting clip at GMU (4/4) ... Totaled 56 assists and nine digs vs. Harvard (4/10) ... Posted two aces and three blocks vs. Sacred Heart (4/11) ... Paced the team to a .359 hitting clip at NJIT (4/18), passing out 41 assists ... Directed the team to .333 hitting at Saint Francis (4/25) ... Led the team to .500 hitting in the EIVA semis vs. Princeton (4/29) and in the EIVA finals against GMU (5/1) ... Dished out 54 assists in the NCAA play-in against No. 4 Hawaii (5/5), adding four digs and three total blocks ... Led the team with eight digs and 38 assists in the NCAA national semifinals against No. 1 Lewis (5/7).

2014 (Redshirt Sophomore):
First Team All-EIVA ... Paced the squad to a .307 hitting clip in 2014, which closed out the season ranked eighth nationally and first in the conference ... Dished out 54 assists against No. 7 UCLA (1/9), adding one kill, one ace and five blocks ... Paced the Nittany Lions to a .325 hitting clip against No. 14 Hawaii, distributing 52 assists and eight digs ... Posted four digs, one kill and one block against No. 12 Ohio State (1/11), while also adding 44 assists ... Led the team to a .322 hitting clip against No. 14 IPFW (1/17), passing out 35 assists and five digs ... Had 40 assists, seven digs and two kills against Ball State (1/18) ... Passed out 26 helpers against Mount Olive (1/31), adding two digs and one block ... Dished out 32 assists in the EIVA opener against Saint Francis (2/1), adding one kill, four digs and three blocks ... Contributed one kill, four digs, and one block against No. 14 Ohio State (2/5), while also adding 47 assists ... Distributed 11 assists against Erskine (2/7) ... Tallied 40 assists and six digs against Pfeiffer (2/8) ... Posted one kill, a team high 18 assists, one service ace, two digs, and two blocks against NJIT (2/14) ... Contributed one kill, 14 assists, and two digs against Rutgers-Newark (2/15) ... Recorded one kill, 42 assists, four digs and one block against Sacred Heart (2/21) ... Registered four digs and 31 assists against Harvard (2/22) ... Dished out 50 assists while adding four digs at Princeton (2/28) ... Distributed 49 assists to go along with five digs at George Mason (3/1) ... Passed out 44 assists at No. 14 Ohio State (3/7), adding nine digs and two kills ... Had four digs and 38 assists vs. CSUN (3/14) ... Totaled 36 assists and four digs at No. 2 LBSU (3/15) ... Dished out 41 assists and seven digs at No. 1 Loyola (3/21) ... Recorded 50 assists and 11 digs at No. 10 Lewis (3/22) for his first double-double of the season ... Collected one kill, five digs and 32 assists against Princeton (3/28) ... Tallied one four digs, one block, one kill and 34 assists against George Mason (3/29)....Recorded two kills, 38 assists, seven digs and one block at No. 15 Harvard (4/4)...Tallied one kill, 28 assists, four digs and two blocks at Sacred Heart ... Paced the team to a .388 hitting clip at Saint Francis (4/12), dishing out 54 assists and seven digs...Contributed 18 assists, two service aces, and five digs at Rutgers-Newark (4/18)...Posted one kill, 31 assists five digs, and two blocks at NJIT (4/19) ... Dished out 53 assists and six digs in the EIVA semis against GMU (4/24) ... Had 38 assists in the EIVA Championship against Princeton (4/26) ... Passed out a career-high 61 assists in the NCAA play-in match against Lewis (4/29) ... Logged 44 assists, five digs and one block in the NCAA national semifinal match at No. 1 Loyola (5/1).

2013 (Redshirt Freshman):
EIVA Newcomer of the Year ... Second Team All-EIVA ... Outrigger Invitational All-Tournament Team ... Mike Anderson Player of the Match (1/25, 4/19) ... posted 44 assists vs. UCLA (1/10) ... tallied 50 assists and three blocks against Hawaii (1/11) ... had 41 assists against Ohio State (1/12) ... registered 43 assists against Lewis (1/18) ... paced the offense to a .494 hitting percentage with 36 assists vs. Loyola (1/22) ... helped PSU to a .313 hitting percentage with 31 assists vs. Sacred Heart (1/25) ... posted 37 assists and three blocks vs. Harvard (1/26) ... had 36 assists vs. Pfeiffer (2/1) ... paced the offense to a .379 hitting percentage with 40 assists vs. Mount Olive (2/2) ... had 38 assists vs. Saint Francis (2/8) and helped Penn State hit .445 ... had 39 assists against Ohio State (2/9) ... led the team in digs with seven and tallied 32 assists vs. Sacred Heart (2/16) ... posted 47 assists against George Mason (2/22) ... had a season-high 52 assists against Princeton (2/23) ... recorded 41 assists at NJIT (3/2) ... tallied a season-high 56 assists with seven digs at IPFW (3/9) ... had 44 assists and seven digs at Ball State (3/10) ... tallied 29 assists and four digs at Ohio State (3/16) ... registered 36 assists and three blocks at Saint Francis (3/23) ... notched 48 assists and five digs at Princeton (3/29) ... paced the offense with 49 assists and a team-high 11 digs at George Mason (3/30) ... had 30 assists and five digs against Lees-McRae (4/5) ... posted 38 assists at Concordia (4/12) ... paced the offense with a .435 hitting percentage vs. Rutgers-Newark (4/19) ... had 35 assists and four digs vs. NJIT (4/20) ... paced the offense to a .398 hitting percentage and had 39 assists vs. Princeton (4/25) ... had 36 assists and helped Penn State hit .474 against Harvard (4/27).

2012 (Freshman): Redshirted.

High School
Three-year varsity letterwinner and team captain at Santa Margarita Catholic High in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. ... guided his high school team to four straight Trinity League Championships and two Orange County Championships and the 2011 Karch Kiraly Tournament of Championship Championship ... team was a finality in the 2011 Best of the West tournament and the 2011 CIF-SS ... was a three-time All-Trinity League First Team selection and the 2011 Trinity League MVP ... named an Orange Country Top 15 Sophomore and received the Coaches Award for Most Improved ... was a 2010 All-CIF Third Team pick and a 2011 All-CIF First team honoree ... earned 2011 Second Team All-America laurels ... was an all-tournament selection at the 2011 Best of the West and named the MVP at the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions ... played for the Balboa Bay Volleyball Club in Newport Beach, Calif. ... was a three-time gold medalist and two-time all-tournament team honoree at the Junior National Championships ... 2011 "Fab 50" selection ... was the 2010 California Beach Volleyball Association Youth Tour Points Champion ... was a 2010 CBVA State Champion.

Personal
Born Taylor Douglas Hammond on Oct. 27, 1992 in Mission Viejo, Calif. ... parents are Teresa and Doug Hammond ... has one sister, Dilynn ... names beach volleyball and soccer as hobbies, Rise Against and Foo Fighters as favorite entertainers, math as favorite school subject, the L.A. Lakers as favorite professional sports team, Derek Fisher as favorite athlete, hamburger as favorite food, "The Road" as favorite book, "Seinfeld" and "Wilfred" as favorite TV shows, "Talladega Nights," "Big Daddy," "Anchorman" and "Step Brothers" as favorite movies, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Mila Kunis as favorite actors and Hawaii as favorite place to visit.

Why Penn State?
"I chose Penn State because of the rich history of academic and athletic success."