Catching Up with Volleyball Alumna Taylor Bruns
Taylor Bruns (2009-2012) finished her South Carolina volleyball career among the top 10 in program history for career assists, and she has continued to make history after leaving Columbia. The Normal, Ill., native spent seven seasons playing professionally across Europe, but recently returned to the states to be one of 45 athletes to play in the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Volleyball League in Dallas, Texas.
“It was an incredible experience,” said Bruns, who currently lives in Gothenburg, Sweden, with her husband, Anton Tegenrot, a former men’s professional volleyball player. “I had such a blast playing with so many amazing volleyball players. I felt so lucky to be part of the inaugural season.”
The league had an unorthodox format, as the four teams played a round-robin schedule every weekend but changed rosters each week. The players accumulated points that were tracked by a season-long leaderboard. Bruns said one of the best characteristics of the league was that it was player-centric.
“Everything that we would like to change about the league, we have a voice,” Bruns said. “The founders of it are hands off. They want the players to be in charge of their own destiny.
“There will be a year two… hopefully moving forward, it becomes an even bigger thing. College players can look forward to it and they don’t have to go overseas anymore, they can play professionally in the United States! For many girls, it’s their dream to stay in their home country.”
For Bruns, the league also was refreshing after seven years in a demanding schedule playing in Europe, where leagues can run nine months out of the year.
“It was a nice change of pace to do it all in a two-month period, and I was able to play with the best volleyball players I’ve ever been around,” Bruns said. “Just to be able to say I played with those girls, it still doesn’t feel real.”
“The lifelong friendships I made at South Carolina, that’s probably the thing I loved most about going to school there.”
Not that she has anything against playing overseas. Since graduating in 2013 with her degree in education, Bruns made a living playing professionally in Finland, Belgium, Sweden, and Germany. She also met her husband while playing in Sweden. Among the challenges she embraced in transitioning from the U.S. to other countries was being open to different cultures.
Bruns and husband Anton Tegenrot
“There are new people, new ways of life, and I think really embracing that is a big change,” Bruns said. “It was crucial to me to really enjoy that. It’s fun. I really enjoyed being in all these different countries.
“Playing overseas is definitely different. The level of play is different. Everybody is more technical, and they are more all-around players overseas. They definitely have more well-rounded players. The SEC absolutely prepared me to play overseas.”
Bruns will play with a local team in Gothenburg to stay fit and ready if she is able to play in the Athletes Unlimited second season. Whenever her playing days are done, Bruns looks forward to teaching and coaching.
“I’m so thankful to South Carolina that I got this amazing education degree and I will use it in the future,” Bruns said. “I do want to be a teacher and a coach. There are plenty of English schools here, which is nice. I do think I could teach at a Swedish school, but maybe give me three or four years to make my Swedish really good!”
While it’s been nearly a decade since she donned the garnet and black for the Gamecocks, Bruns still has fond memories of her time on campus.
“It’s the girls I met,” Bruns said. “South Carolina brought so many amazing women together. I just feel so close to so many of them. The lifelong friendships I made at South Carolina, that’s probably the thing I loved most about going to school there.”
