I’m so excited to have a new volleyball family and to have all of those girls supporting me. Meeting some of the girls at Grand Valley State was really encouraging.”

Taelynn Rodeghero

ROCHELLE — Before taking the court as a member of the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity volleyball team, junior outside hitter Taelynn Rodeghero was a successful gymnast during her childhood, regularly competing in state-level events throughout her grade-school and middle-school years.

Rodeghero’s athletic interests shifted, however, after she suffered a broken thumb during gymnastics that ultimately led her to walk away from the sport. As she worked to overcome the mental struggles that came with her injury, Rodeghero soon discovered a new passion for a sport she had never played before until she was in eighth grade. That sport was volleyball.

“It was really unfortunate because I broke my thumb and that took me out of the sport for a really long time,” Rodeghero said. “After I got over the injury, I suffered from mental blocks and I wasn’t very confident in myself. I talked with my grandma about it and I knew it hurt my mom because she was a big supporter of my gymnastics. My friend Ali [Ohlinger] had been doing volleyball at VC United for a while so I thought I’d try that out. I tried out for their lowest regional team and I didn’t think I’d even make it because I had never touched a volleyball before.”

Rather than barely make the regional team, Rodeghero was assigned to the top elite team with VC United and has remained on the club’s top elite teams over the last three years. Using the athletic abilities molded by her gymnastics background, Rodeghero quickly took to volleyball, immediately earning a varsity role with the Rochelle Lady Hubs during her freshman year.

Fast forward to this spring and the soon-to-be senior now ranks second on the RTHS all-time kills list with 523 accumulated over three varsity seasons. The 265 kills she scored during her junior season are also the second-most in a single season in program history. Not only has volleyball become Rodeghero’s No. 1 high school sport, but the 6-foot hitter will be continuing on at the collegiate level after recently committing to Division II Grand Valley State University.

“I was introduced to Grand Valley State University by my club coach and our recruiting coordinator,” Rodeghero said. “They told me to talk with them on the phone because they were really interested in me. The second I got on the phone with their coach, I knew I could see him being my coach and I wanted to see their campus as soon as possible. I visited their campus about a week later and everything was picture perfect for me. It was exactly the kind of school I wanted. The girls were amazing and their coach is someone who empowers women.”

Rodeghero was an All-Conference Honorable Mention in the Interstate 8 during her junior season, where she totaled 265 kills along with 74 digs, 19 aces and nine blocks. Rodeghero, who has spent time at both outside and right side hitter during both her high school and club careers, finished with 200 kills, 26 digs, seven blocks and six aces as a sophomore in 2022. Rodeghero said she intends to study nursing in hopes of becoming an oncology nurse.

“I’m so excited to have a new volleyball family and to have all of those girls supporting me,” Rodeghero said. “Meeting some of the girls at Grand Valley State was really encouraging. I think my athletic abilities have developed, but I think my leadership has improved the most. I was a little nervous as a freshman coming in, but after that first year was over, I was ready to step up and be a leader on the team. I want to show the freshmen that they can come in and be leaders too. I want to show them that they can become good players and they can achieve anything.”

Rodeghero has helped the Lady Hubs to 51 wins over the last three varsity seasons. She’s one of multiple upperclassmen who’re eligible to return to the varsity team for the 2024-25 school year. One of those other teammates is junior setter Ali Ohlinger, who committed to Toledo earlier this year and also plays on the top VC United elite team with Rodeghero. The two recently helped VC United finish third in the 17 Open Division at the 2024 JVA World Challenge.

“Playing high school volleyball has really developed me as a player and a leader,” Rodeghero said. “We all come together as a team and we push each other in the gym every single day.”