The 2024 season was Samantha Taylor's first with the Foresters and second as a coach at the collegiate level. She oversees the team's pin hitters and liberos and serves as the program's recruiting coordinator.
Seven different players led the team in kills, 11 in aces, seven in digs, and eight in blocks at least once during Taylor's first season at the College. Juli Barrientos ranked among the Midwest Conference leaders in digs and was named Second Team All-MWC.
Prior to coming to Lake Forest, Taylor spent the 2023 season as an assistant coach at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. She helped lead the Seahawks to an overall record of 13-11 and a 7-3 mark and third-place finish in the Coast Conference.
Taylor is also a head coach with MOD Volleyball Club and served as a head coach with SAND Santa Cruz Volleyball Club from 2021-24. In addition, she coached at numerous clinics in southern California, including Claremont McKenna College.
A 2023 graduate of the University of California Santa Cruz, Taylor tallied 464 kills, 67 aces, and 50 blocks in two seasons with the Banana Slugs. She was named Coast-to-Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2022 after earning Newcomer of the Year honors the previous season. UC Santa Cruz earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament her senior season.
