Former Kentucky high school star aims to help Penn State take down Louisville

Penn State’s Taylor Trammell won’t be the only Kentuckian playing for an NCAA volleyball championship Sunday, but she’s the only one who played for a Kentucky public school throughout her prep career.

Trammell was a standout for Lexington’s Henry Clay High School who played on two state-tournament teams — including the Blue Devils’ only one to ever reach a state championship game in 2016 — and earned multiple All-State honors throughout her career. She was no stranger to competing against — and typically losing to — the state’s elite volleyball programs, all private Catholic institutions, in high school play, before suiting up to play on travel teams with girls from those same schools.

“That’s something I pride myself on, because a lot of volleyball girls go to private school,” Trammell said. “Being from a public school, it builds that grit. The private schools win state here every year, and at Henry Clay we were fighting every single year to try and get to the top.”

Now the tables have turned. Trammell will look to help lead one of college volleyball’s premier programs to its eighth national title while three other former Kentucky prep stars — Anna DeBeer (Assumption), Elena Scott (Mercy Academy) and Kamden Schrand (Notre Dame Academy) — will try to put upstart Louisville into the winner’s circle for the first time.

Seniors DeBeer, an All-American who led Assumption to three straight state championships from 2017-2019, and Scott crossed paths with Trammell in their prep days and are major contributors for U of L. They’ll all play together starting in January: Each was selected by the Indy Ignite in the Pro Volleyball Federation amateur draft in late November.

Schrand is a true sophomore who’s played sparingly this season but will look to extend Louisville’s transformation into a volleyball force. The Cardinals had never advanced beyond an NCAA Sweet 16 before the 2019 season; starting with that year, they’ve finished among the top eight five of the last six years, and on Sunday will play in their second title game during that span.

“It’s not only amazing to come back here, but to be here and now we’re playing Louisville, too?” Trammell said. “It’s nice to see the representation that our state’s bringing. A lot of us have worked our whole butts off.”

Louisville advanced with a 3-1 decision against Pittsburgh, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, in the first semifinal played Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center. Penn State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to advance with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Nebraska.

“I’m not gonna cap: when we went to that fifth set, the first thing I was thinking was ‘no better team than us,’” Trammell said. “We handle this stuff pretty good, because we thrive in that type of energy.”

The Nittany Lions are fighting not only for their first national title in a decade, but for their head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who’s battling breast cancer. Trammell, who began her college career at Purdue, transferred to Penn State as part of Schumacher-Cawley’s first recruiting class when she was hired to succeed program architect Russ Rose, the sport’s all-time wins leader.

“We knew that we had it in us,” Trammell said. “We talk about grit all the time. We’ve been trying to put Penn State back on the map.”

Sunday

Louisville vs. Penn State

What: NCAA Volleyball Tournament championship match

When: 3 p.m.

Where: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville

TV: ABC

Records: Louisville 30-5, Penn State 34-2

Last meeting: Penn State won 25-15, 25-19, 25-13 on Sept. 3, 2024, at University Park, Pennsylvania

This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 2:19 PM.