LETTING GOD TAKE CONTROL

By: Mallory Talbert

Champions' TriBUne is a special feature through Baylor Athletics that gives you the student-athlete's perspective and the chance for them to share their own story. Mallory Talbert, who played her final season at Baylor after four years at Texas A&M, earned first-team All-Big 12 honors at middle blocker. She ranked third in the league and top-25 nationally with a .391 attack percentage and finished with 227 kills, 99 blocks and 26 service aces. Mallory graduated with a degree in nutrition from Texas A&M and is working on a master's in communication sciences and disorders at Baylor.:

"The days go by slow, but the years go by fast" eloquently describes my collegiate athletic journey. It is hard to believe that five years of my life as a college volleyball player have now come and gone, and I am officially a "retired" athlete. Following the conclusion of my final season, I have been able to reflect upon the amazing gift of being a volleyball player. Collegiate volleyball has allowed me to meet the remarkable people I have met, go to the amazing places I have traveled and experience the valuable lessons I have learned along the way.

Before arriving at the beautiful campus of Baylor University, I had quite the journey to get here. I would not say my development into an athlete was typical. Even though I eventually grew to be 6-3, I was a little late getting there. In fact, it never occurred to me that I would become a collegiate athlete. I simply wanted to do everything my older sister was doing and that meant playing sports.

In grade school, I played soccer, basketball, softball and volleyball. As competitive sports became more serious for me, I fell in love with volleyball, even though I was probably better at basketball. I can remember that after "tryouts" in junior high, I made the C team in volleyball and the A team in basketball. At the time, I was probably 5-4 and had the graceful coordination of a newborn giraffe. The NCAA rules for volleyball recruitment have since changed, but when I was in junior high, there were friends I knew who were already visiting colleges and some were even verbally committed. I was never discouraged by the thought that college athletics might not be in my future, I just loved playing volleyball and being with my friends on the team.

Over the next year, I grew nine inches, which meant a few calls to my mom asking her to bring me longer jeans to school because I had somehow managed to grow taller after leaving the house that morning. That same year, as a freshman, I made the high school varsity volleyball team. I still never envisioned myself playing at the next level. So many athletes I knew were already being recruited, and I had just finally figured out how to jump serve. Still, I was not discouraged. I was playing the game I loved and spending time each day with friends.

It was not until my parents encouraged me to attend a college coach's camp at a nearby volleyball club that I finally gained exposure to opportunities at the next level. In my junior year of high school, I joined a bigger club and started getting more serious looks from college coaches. Ryan McGuyre, Baylor volleyball's head coach, was one of the first college coaches to show an interest in me, and I cannot put into words how much that meant to me. The potential that Coach McGuyre saw in me made me want to be the best player I could possibly be, and that is when it became my goal to play college volleyball. From that point on, I trained harder than I had ever trained, and I prayed every day that I would get the chance to play college volleyball.

I found myself clinging to the advice my parents had given me. They said, "Stop monitoring things you left in God's hands."

As a junior in high school, two of the offers I received were from my favorite universities, Baylor and Texas A&M. To say the decision was difficult would be the understatement of the year. I was so torn and told myself to make a list of the pros and cons, which resulted in me sitting at my desk looking at a list of only pros for both schools. Around this same time, my brother signed to play football at Texas A&M. I have always been very close to my family, so I decided to follow in his footsteps and committed to Texas A&M as well. It was a very hard choice to make, and what I did not realize at the time is that God's plan for me to attend Baylor University was already in the works when I initially chose Texas A&M.

I have always considered myself to be a strong and able person, but I could not have imagined the growth I would experience on my journey to Baylor. After completing my senior season at A&M, I felt so unsure about my future and the career path I had pursued for the previous four years. With this feeling, I spent time praying and talking to my family about what my next steps should be. During this same time period, I learned about Speech-Language Pathology and the amazing program that Baylor offers. The idea of moving to Waco seemed wild at the time, because it meant starting a whole new degree, moving away from my current friends and moving even farther away from my family to a city I had not visited since I was a teenager. I could not explain it, but I had this tugging at my heart that I was supposed to go to Baylor for this program and, if possible, play volleyball.

At the conclusion of my fourth season, I entered the transfer portal and contacted one school and one school only – Baylor University. I do not mean this to sound overly self-confident, but when I spoke with Coach McGuyre I was not nervous or anxious. Coach has always said, "God is this school's head recruiting coordinator," and I had such a peace about that concept. When our conversation ended, Coach McGuyre was gracious enough to offer me the opportunity to play my final season here at Baylor. All that was left for this dream to become a reality was my acceptance into the Communication Sciences and Disorders Leveling Program. So, I sent in my application . . . and waited.

I had this feeling tugging at my heart that I was supposed to go to Baylor for this program and, if possible, play volleyball.

I trained hard all throughout the spring, believing that I was going to continue my volleyball career in the fall. Then, I received an email that said I had been waitlisted. What I had not realized was that this particular program only accepted four students out of more than 200 applicants. I was shocked and immediately felt like my entire plan was crumbling before me. I had only applied to one school, and I had entered the transfer portal as "no contact," meaning no other schools could contact me. There was no Plan B. I had not even considered that this could happen after everything had worked out so well up to this point. Sadly, I was much too quick to doubt God and to allow myself to be overcome with fear and worry. Every day, I found myself clinging to the advice my parents had given me. They said, "Stop monitoring things you left in God's hands."

I am self-aware enough to trust my friends and family when they lovingly remind me that I am someone who likes to have everything under control – and by "under control," I mean under MY control. And believe me, this was the most uncontrollable situation that I had ever experienced. To want something so much and to be so close, but then not be able to have everything work according to my timeline was unnerving. This would have to be one of those times when I truly let go and let God. So, that is what I did.

Several weeks and many sleepless nights later, my acceptance email finally arrived. I immediately wrote down what God had taught me through this process, which included the following: I can trust God at all times and in all things; God is not the God of fear or worry; God will open doors for me, but it is then my responsibility to walk through them. I still look back on these lessons as a reminder of God's love and as a reminder to live and work in God's plans, because that is where He is able to bless me.

I still look back on these lessons as a reminder of God's love and as a reminder to live and work in God's plans

Attending Baylor, not only for its incredible athletics program but also because of its outstanding academics, has been such a blessing to me. I have met the most amazing people and feel so much peace about my future career as I finish my master's degree. I also have learned what it means to glorify God through each and every thing I do. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, "Let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." While it might sound funny to say you are trying to glorify God through working out, going to practice and performing your best in a game, that is what our team here at Baylor strived for every day. I always knew I was playing for something bigger than myself, but I used to think that meant playing to represent my university. However, in reality, all of those years, I was playing for All Mighty God, who is so much greater than any earthly person, place or thing. And that is what being a volleyball player at Baylor University has meant to me – learning to be faithful, learning to be thankful and learning how to glorify God in ALL that I do.

I have so many people to thank for my winding journey to Baylor. That includes Coach McGuyre and all of the incredible coaches and support staff at Baylor, as well as the director of the CSD Master's Program, Mrs. Susan Sherman. These people saw something in me and trusted me to represent this school academically and athletically. I have sought to take advantage of this blessing every day and appreciate the challenging path it took for me to get here.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

LETTING GOD TAKE CONTROL

Players Mentioned

Mallory Talbert

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LETTING GOD TAKE CONTROL

Players Mentioned

Mallory Talbert

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