Sigler Traded Gymnastics for Volleyball and Never Looked Back

Teraya Sigler wanted to be the next Simone Biles. However, at 6-foot-3. she was told she was too tall for gymnastics.

She then turned to swimming. Admittedly, she was not very good at it. She swam the breaststroke and felt she was good at it, but not good enough to have a future in the sport.

"Swimming was fun, but I was humble enough to know I wasn't very good at it," Sigler said on Sports Nightly on Husker Radio Network Monday night. "I loved the breaststroke, but I was never the fastest in the pool."

The phenom then turned to volleyball and became one of the very best in the country. When she graduated from high school, she was the top volleyball recruit in the country.

"I said fine, I'll take my height somewhere else," Sigler said. "Volleyball just happened to work out."

Volleyball did not just work out for Sigler. She became one of the best to play the sport when she was in high school. She took home all the hardware and the accolades. She also had a lot of involvement with the U.S. National Team.

Sigler was named the Gatorade Arizona Player of the Year as well as the MaxPreps Arizona Player of the Year, after both her junior and senior campaigns. She represented the U.S. Girls U19 Team that won the gold medal at the 2024 NORCECA Championships in Canada.

There was never a question she wanted to play volleyball in college. There was also no question as to where she wanted to play.

She said once Nebraska came calling, she knew she was going to make Lincoln home.

"With college, I was looking to go outside of Arizona and I always thought Nebraska was a cool place," Sigler said. "Nebraska is the best place that celebrates volleyball. It was a done deal when they reached out."

Sigler wanted to be the best, regardless of the sport. She watched tape of the best in different sports and tried to emulate them.

"Whatever sport I played, I looked at the best and tried to replicate them," Sigler said. "I can strive to be consistently good for a long time, but I will never be perfect, so there is no reason to strive for perfection. It's just not attainable."

She grew up in a family that thrived in sports. Her mother was a beach volleyball player and they were all very competitive. It helped make Sigler, an outside hitter, the best at what she does.

"I give all the glory to my family for making it fun," Sigler said. "They made me work hard at the same time."

While she was the best in high school, she said everyone on the Cornhuskers' team was used to being the best where they came from too,

"Coming into a school where everyone was the best in their school is very humbling," Sigler said. "These girls here are elite athletes."

More From Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI