Navarro volleyball standout Taylor Helms officially signs with Colorado School of Mines

(Geronimo) — Navarro student-athlete Taylor Helms officially committed to the Colorado School of Mines volleyball program during a ceremony at Navarro High School on Monday.

The senior, a three-year varsity starter for the Lady Panthers, will continue her volleyball and academic career at the university located in Golden, Colorado. The Orediggers are an NCAA Division-II school. They compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Helms plans to study Biomedical Engineering and says the School of Mines’ focus on academics is what attracted her to the university.

“They’re a super strong academic school. I believe that they’re classified as like an Ivy League of (Division-II) and that just really attracted me because I’ve always really been academically focused, that just helps out later in life,’ Helms said. “And they’re so nice. They so supportive. They have such a good volleyball team.”

Colorado School of Mines is lead by head coach Jamie Magalei. The Orediggers made it to the second round of the NCAA Division-II tournament in 2022. They finished the 2023 season with a record of 14-12 and 7-7 in conference play finishing in 7th place in their conference.

Navarro head volleyball coach Paige Poth says the Orediggers will be getting a player who has great leadership skills in Helms.

“I think she’s gonna have a big presence. And I think her leadership is still gonna shine,” Poth said. “The thing about Taylor, she never goes in scared, she never goes in hesitant. If she’s gonna go in, she’s gonna go all in and I think that school is getting a great personality, a great work ethic, just a great all-around player in Taylor.”

Helms finishes her career at Navarro as the all-time school leader in kills with 1268. She also set the Navarro school record for most kills in a season with 552. Helms will look to follow up on her First Team All-District 27-4A selection in the 2022 season, when the All-District teams for 2023 are released.

In addition to her achievements on the volleyball court, Helms excels in the classroom. She is currently one of the top students in her class with a 101.566 GPA. She is a member of the National Honor Society and she serves as Senior Class President at Navarro High School.

Helms says she’ll miss the comradery she has with her Lady Panther teammates on and off the court.

“I’m gonna miss my teammates. We can mess around. We can have fun but then in a split second, we can be serious and play a game and kick butt!”