Britain and Brielle Taylor, a set of twin sisters living here in the western communities, are back-to-back national champions in beach volleyball.
On Saturday, July 1, the Taylor girls, who will be high school sophomores this fall, won their second-straight Beach Volleyball National Event (BVNE) East Coast National Championship held in Pompano Beach. The Taylor twins, who have attended school at the King’s Academy, will be chasing three more national trophies in July when they compete in the USA Volleyball Nationals in Fort Lauderdale on July 18-20; the Kauai Bikini Nationals in Santa Monica, California, on July 27-28; and the BVNE West Coast Championships on July 29-30, also in Santa Monica.
Britain and Brielle play beach volleyball year-round for the Delray Beach-based SandStorm Beach Volleyball Club. In the spring, they have played beach volleyball for the TKA Lions. In fact, the Taylor sisters played an integral role in getting the TKA girls beach volleyball team to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) Beach Volleyball State Finals, held in Tallahassee, in both 2022 and 2023.
In addition to their recent back-to-back BVNE East Coast titles, Britain and Brielle have had success in other events in recent years. Between them, they have also been USAV National runner-up, AVP Junior National runner-up and three-time USAV Florida State Champions. They have also been part of the USA Volleyball Beach National Team Development Program for Under 15s and Under 17s.
Another big honor bestowed on the twins is being named to both the Platform 1440 Young Guns and the prestigious Fab50.
“Only three other girls in their graduation year and 17 girls total, nationwide, were selected for Young Guns, so that was exciting,” said Christy Taylor, their mother. “They were blessed to be named to the Young Guns and Fab50 list.”
Platform 1440, often referred to as P1440, was co-founded in 2018 by three-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and seven-time AVP Open champion Casey Jennings to strengthen opportunities in the sport of beach volleyball.
Britain and Brielle are fortunate that their mother knows a little bit about volleyball, as she has been the head coach of the girls and boys varsity indoor volleyball teams at TKA. Yet while her knowledge of volleyball is strong, her coaching knowledge is more geared toward the indoor game.
“I coached them when they were younger, and still chime in occasionally, but their beach knowledge has surpassed mine at this point,” Christy said.
Both Britain and Brielle have the necessary physical and mental skills needed to excel at beach volleyball.
“They both are extremely athletic. They started out playing a lot of different sports and excelled in pretty much whatever they tried,” Christy said. “Beach volleyball is geared toward the extremely athletic players, as they have to do everything. With only two players, you can’t hide! Britain is very competitive, but also has a calmness about her. Brielle has always been extremely competitive and driven. I think this is why they make such a great pair. They are best friends, so they are blessed to have each other.”
While both girls are focused on what’s currently happening in beach volleyball, they are hoping to use beach volleyball as a springboard into college beach volleyball. “They absolutely want to play in college and are working extremely hard toward that goal,” their mother said. “We have heard some great things from college coaches over the years. It seems there is some interest, so that is exciting and encouraging.”
In order to give the twins more time to hone their beach volleyball skills, both girls may be homeschooled this coming school year, which will give them more time to train and then travel to beach volleyball tournaments around the country.
