BY MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
At 5-foot-3, McAllen Memorial’s Taylor Marburger generally is the shortest player on the court. She contributes in the way most setters do — with their distribution — averaging a team-high 15.7 assists per match for the No. 4 Lady Mustangs.
But what’s unique about Marburger is how she’s made her mark in a relatively short period of time, while playing in the unlikeliest of positions: the front row. As a freshman, she earned a spot on the varsity squad. Within a week, she nabbed a starting role. And if that wasn’t enough, she approached coach Lorena Lopez about shouldering an even bigger load this season.
“She’s a competitor,” Lopez said. “She wants to be in the game all the time. … Last year, she said, ‘Coach, what do I have to do to play in the front row?’ And I told her, you have to be an offensive threat.”
Blocking is hard enough for a player of that stature, but Lopez didn’t mind, as long as the tradeoff came with offense. So far, the sophomore has proved to be effective on the right side.
Last year, Marburger played almost exclusively in the back row. Now, she’s developed into a six-rotation player for Memorial. A large part of that comes from her workout regimen. Aside from playing club ball during the offseason, Marburger worked on her athleticism, particularly in improving her vertical leap.
She also lifted weights, performed squats, and focused on her agility and resistance.
Fine-tuning those physical attributes helped her become even more effective in reading the ball and making smarter choices.
“I want to do anything I can do to help the team win,” Marburger said. “I’m very small, so I have to work very hard in the position I’m in.”
Marburger has shown that level of determination since joining the program last year. Freshmen players are hard to come by on varsity, Lopez said, with one joining the team every 3-4 years.
“It’s not something that’s easy for (freshmen) to do,” Lopez said. “They have to work hard to get there, and she was able to do it.
“Her maturity level was always great. If she was nervous, she never showed it. She never gets frustrated. If she gets rattled, she gets over it. That’s something you want from all your players.”
Initially, Marburger was nervous about joining the team. She was a freshman on a Memorial team that featured seven seniors. Very quickly, however, Marburger felt at home.
“I have great teammates,” she said. “I was so nervous but they helped me through everything. It was hard in the beginning; I was very nervous. But once I got the nerves out, I got in the groove of things.
“They encourage me all the time. They tell me how good I am. And we’re just very complimentary to each other.”
Memorial has had reason to feel good about its early season success. Despite boasting a relatively young team, the Lady Mustangs own one of the better records in the Valley in what is considered to be a rebuilding year for the program.
Players of Marburger’s youth, and impact, are part of the reason for that. By adding another dimension to her game, Marburger presents an even bigger threat to the opposition. Last year, teams accounted for Marburger initiating the offense. Now, they plan for her hitting the ball, as well.
“She’s become a triple threat,” Lopez said of Marburger, who is second on the team in aces (33) this season. “For her, it’s just about consistency in setting and getting service aces. Offensively, she’s going to contribute big points. And that’s (something) new (she brings to the team). Now that we have that, we have another offensive threat.”