A common piece of advice for college students these days is “It’s who you know, not what you know.” In the case of the newest member of the Wisconsin volleyball team, it’s a little bit of both.

Sophomore transfer Taylor Morey has made her way from Notre Dame to Wisconsin this season because of her impressive volleyball credentials and connection to first-year head coach Kelly Sheffield (Sheffield coached one of Morey’s older sisters, Allyson, at the University of Dayton for three seasons). He even tried to recruit Taylor to join the team at Dayton when she was a freshman in high school.

In the many years Sheffield has known Morey, he knew she had a “gift for the game” since she was a little girl.

“Her biggest strength is that she’s a bulldog competitor,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a great volleyball IQ, great instincts, great feel for the ball. She’s a tenacious defensive player.”

Her competitive nature has contributed to winning results her whole life — at Muncie Burris High School in Muncie, Ind., she led her team to four state championships and two undefeated seasons. Morey was also part of two national championships in 2005 and 2006 playing for the Munciana club team.

Morey was crowned Indiana’s 2010 Gatorade Player of the Year and was named first-team Under Armour All-American in 2011. She currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 4.28 kills per set.

Morey said it was important for her to transfer to a school that would be in the throes of highly competitive volleyball.

“Transferring out of the Big East, a big thing for me was that I wanted to go bigger, I wanted to go better,” Morey said. “The Big Ten has always been top notch volleyball — the best of the best.”

Morey also said both her confidence in the coaching staff and the UW campus were factors in her decision to transfer to Wisconsin.

“It was important to me to choose a place where I knew I could be for three years,” Morey said. “The visit was awesome … I really like Madison, I really like the girls on the team and it helps that much more that I’m familiar with the coaching staff.”

Morey’s hometown connections extend far beyond knowing Sheffield from Muncie. At Muncie Burris, Morey was coached by Steve Shondell, a close friend of Sheffield and a coach who won four national titles, 21 state titles and 1,183 games in his career, which ranks in the top 10 nationally in the history of girls high school volleyball.

“There are a lot of good coaches and good players that come out of my area,” Morey said. “I grew up in a volleyball town.”

In addition to growing up in a competitive volleyball town, Morey also grew up in a competitive family. All four of the Morey sisters played volleyball, and Taylor and Allyson played together on their high school team for two seasons.

Morey is not the only talented and competitive defender on UW’s roster — senior Annemarie Hickey, who led the Big Ten in digs the past two seasons, switched positions to outside hitter this season to make room for Morey in the starting lineup.

Hickey was Morey’s recruiting host this past spring when Morey was still shopping potential teams. Hickey told her that while they may be competing for a position, that wouldn’t have any effect on their relationship.

Hickey said she embraced having another capable defender because the competition forces each player to fight for the upper hand.

“There’s always going to be that competitiveness that comes out,” she said. “Whenever people are competing for a spot, it’s always making both of them better … I kind of embrace it because I wanted to become better and I wanted her to become better.”

Sheffield said the surplus of talented back-row players will not be an issue — he said his philosophy is to try to put as much talent on the court at the same time.

Morey has started 11 of Wisconsin’s 12 matches at libero, while Hickey has been starting at outside hitter. Sheffield said this arrangement allows both players to potentially play all six points in the rotation of players.

“What Taylor and Annemarie are, they’re exceptional ball control players,” Sheffield said. “The tandem of them is the best in the country, I believe. You try to get that out on the court and let them work together.”

With Big Ten play approaching this weekend, Morey said she is excited for the challenge of the best conference in volleyball. After not finding the right fit playing for Notre Dame, she is thrilled to be playing volleyball as a Badger.

“There’s no place else I’d rather be right now,” Morey said. “I love what I do, I love who I’m doing it with and I’m just excited to play at such a high level.”