Editor’s note: This is a regular feature profiling senior athletes at Bryant High School.
NAME: Taylor Shutt
DATE OF BIRTH: May 24, 1992
PARENTS: Rick and Deana Shutt
SIBLINGS: I’m an only child.
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: If lunch counted as a subject it’d be lunch but other than that, volleyball.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? I used to work at Larry’s and that consumed all my time but now I just like to sleep.
FAVORITE FOOD: Probably Pasta Milano from Macaroni Grill.
FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST OR GROUP: How about Paramore.[more]
FAVORITE MOVIE: Remember The Titans.
FAVORITE TV SHOW: CSI.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A KID? I had this little thing called Mr. Clown. But, now, I’m deathly scared of clowns so I don’t know. I liked him then. He always made me go to sleep but now I hate clowns. I can’t sleep if there’s a clown in the room.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? Go to college. Right now we’re about to start working on my video for volleyball. I’m going to send that in to some colleges. I’ve talked some coaches but, if not volleyball, probably UCA or ASU. I don’t know yet what I want to study.
OTHER THAN YOUR PARENTS, WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? Probably my cousin Jack. He’s about 13 now and his dad has died and his sister has died and I don’t think he realizes how strong of a kid he is, because he’s been through a lot. I just look up to him.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT VOLLEYBALL? The team, the bonding. We all like each other a lot. We don’t have to act like we like each other on the court because most of us hang out off the court anyway.
POSITION: Outside hitter
WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE IS YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY ON THE COURT? To first get the ball over the net but, hopefully, get a kill. If not, just get it over the net. That way we don’t lose the point.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SEASON SO FAR? Our season’s been great. For the seniors, we’ve never beaten Mount (St. Mary’s). Actually, not just the seniors, I think the whole time in volleyball Bryant’s never beat Mount. We should’ve both times but we still did it. I think we just come together and being a senior I think we realize how important it is for this to be a team and not just care about me.
WHAT'S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT TO THE SEASON SO FAR? Beating Mount, most definitely, and North Little Rock. Then, at our Missouri State camp, we all got along real well and we could just tell it was going to be a good season.
WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL THE REST OF THE SEASON? Everybody has to be on. You can’t have one person trying their hardest and win the ball game because there’s six people out on the court. You have to have everybody giving it their all.
INDIVIDUALLY, WHAT ABOUT YOUR GAME ARE YOU MOST CONFIDENT ABOUT? My hitting, definitely. I can normally put the ball down but, if not put it down, at least get it over the net.
WHAT DO YOU WORK HARDEST TO IMPROVE? I need to improve on my passing. I’m not a back row player at all.
AFTER YOU'RE THROUGH PLAYING VOLLEYBALL AT BHS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL REMEMBER MOST FONDLY ABOUT IT? Definitely the team and all the camps we went to and the late night talks when we were actually supposed to go to sleep, we stayed up and talked about stupid stuff. It was definitely fun.
