BUTLER TWP — Taylor Welter traded pirouettes, heel drops and barrel jumps for digs, sets and kills.

She swapped a barre for a net.

A dancer for most of her life, Welter gave it up to focus on her new love — volleyball — full time in the eighth grade.

“I danced the majority of my life — I started when I was 2 or 3,” said Welter, a junior on the Butler girls volleyball team. “I did competitive — ballet, tap, jazz, point, Cecchetti, which is another form of ballet, modern. I did a lot of it.

“Sadly, that part of my life ended my eighth grade year when I mainly migrated toward volleyball,” Welter added.

Dance, though, gave Welter a bit of an edge on the volleyball court.

The discipline, body control and focus on technique aided her immensely when it came time to hone her craft in her new endeavor.

Sometimes she still misses dance.

“My favorite was definitely ballet,” Welter said. “I loved the technique work. I loved perfecting it and perfecting the technique. It was just so much fun.

“I'm a competitive person and I love competing,” Welter added. “That's one of the things volleyball does; it allows me to compete.”

Welter has developed into one of the best players in the state at Butler.

She registered 254 kills and 68 digs last season as a sophomore for the Golden Tornado.

This year, she has racked up 118 kills in just nine matches.

“She's jumping higher — she's at 10 feet, which in volleyball is a very big deal,” said Butler girls volleyball coach Meghan Lucas. “She's getting up and over blocks. She's now playing all six positions, which is great. She has goals to play in college and that is going to make her more marketable.”

Welter, who also plays club volleyball for Revolution, said she hasn't made up her mind yet where she wants to play at the next level.

Only that she does.

“It's exciting to think about,” Welter said. “I'm going to be blessed with an opportunity and I'm going to take the best opportunity I can get.”

Welter said she owes a lot of her development in the sport to her teammates and coaches.

“The setters make my job easy,” Welter said.

“I have to say thank you to all the coaches, my high school coaches and club coaches, just everyone who has helped me progress,” she added. “It's definitely not all me. It's their advice and their feedback that's helped me so much. Huge thank you to them.”

Welter said this unusual year has been challenging.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, she didn't have a club season this year and only got into the gym with her Butler teammates and coaches in June.

During quarantine, she tried to work as much as she could, even if that meant simply going outside to pepper a volleyball against a wall.

When she did get back into the gym, there was certainly rust to shake off.

“At first it was a little rough, a little rocky,” Welter said. “But I could feel everything come back into motion.”

Not only that, she felt more spring in her legs and more power in her swing.

That has certainly showed this fall.

What Welter is most proud of, however, is her ability now to be a six rotation player.

“I just got excited when (Coach Lucas) said I could play the whole way around,” Welter said. “I was excited and ready to work.”

Welter is working particularly hard on her defense.

“That's probably one of my weaker spots,” Welter said. “But my coaches are definitely helping me. I'm not worried about it. I know I'm going to get better and better and better.”