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By Jim McCurdy

MESQUITE, Texas – You might say, she’s Taryn it up.

Dallas College Eastfield sophomore setter Taryn Doiron is the catalyst behind the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III No. 1-ranked Harvester Bees’ offense. She’s the one driving the bus, if you will.

“We knew she was going to change our team for sure,” Eastfield third-year coach Phil Nickel said. “She has. They all have, obviously, but she’s a big part of it.”

On a team that boasts a 24-1 overall, 6-0 Dallas Athletic Conference record after Thursday’s win over No. 13 Dallas College North Lake, Doiron leads the nation in assists (833) and assists per set (11.26).

“I think our offense has succeeded so much definitely because we have amazing passers, and that helps me a lot to get good sets,” Doiron said. “And the hitters, they can just effortlessly kill the ball when it’s a good pass and a good set. I think it really all starts with the pass.”

Everywhere on the court, Doiron has options to choose who receives the next attack opportunity. That’s a luxury every setter desires.

“Very, very fortunate,” Doiron said. “You don’t really ever see teams that have hitters all across the front line, but I have hitters everywhere. I’m never really worried about where to put the ball. I can even find someone in the back row if my front row isn’t ready. But I just feel like there’s always someone ready for the ball.

“Wherever the pass is, I can get a feel for my hitters. If I’m behind the middles, I know I shouldn’t set them. I should push it out or to the right side. And same for the right side, if I’m really close to the right side, I’m not really going to try to go to the right side. I’m going to try to push it away from me. Just really spreading them out, keeping everything apart.”

That’s the mind of a great setter – knowing where to put the ball on every attack. A native of Orange, Texas, Doiron wasn’t a setter when she first started playing volleyball. Initially, she was a hitter. She began to specialize as a setter while at Bridge City High School, where she earned All-State honors.

Last year, Doiron became an NJCAA Division III First Team All-American after collecting DAC Setter of the Year and First Team All-DAC honors. This season, she had a career-high 62 assists in a five-set win over Temple College Sept. 14. She had 57 assists in a 3-2 win over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and 52 in a four-set victory over Metropolitan Community College, both on Sept. 27. She was named to the Cowley County Community College Invitational All-Tournament Team that weekend.

In an offense with so many options to choose from, Doiron says her teammates will plead for more sets.

“I normally just tell ’em whoever screams the loudest before each set will get it,” Doiron said. “It really just makes it so I’m not picking favorites. It’s just up to them, whoever screams the loudest.”

In the spring, Nickel made the decision to use a 5-1 offense, diverting from the 6-2 the Bees ran last season with two setters. This year, it’s Doiron’s show to run.

“We ran a 5-1 in the spring most of the time, and it really started to click there,” Nickel said. “We really hit the ground running coming into preseason with so many returners, and the setter is such an integral part of what you do with the offense because they touch the ball so much. We had high expectations, and for the most part, we’ve lived up to that.”

Last year, even in a two-setter offense, Doiron ranked 13^th in the country with 736 assists.

“In a 6-2, that’s kind of unheard of,” Nickel said. “I think at that point I realized, ‘OK, we do have something special here.’ This year, giving her the keys to the car in a 5-1, we’ve learned a lot. She’s learned a lot. She’s one of those kids who asks a lot of questions. It’s not always perfect right away, but she’ll work at it. She wants to get better, and she understands she has a lot of things to work on. Those are the things that stand out to me. As good as she is, she still is trying to get better and work hard to take her game to the next level.”

When she moves on to a four-year school next year, Doiron plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in business and obtain her insurance license, eventually taking over her mom’s home and auto insurance company.

Like mother, like daughter.

Eight months ago, Doiron became a puppy owner of a mini golden doodle named Hayes. Eastfield teammate McKenzie Anderson has a dog named Moose.

“They’re best friends,” Doiron said, professing it proudly.

Like setter, like hitter.

“She’s funny. She doesn’t always intend to be,” Nickel said. “She says some stuff, and you’re kind of like, ‘What?'”

He chuckles.

“And then she looks at you like, ‘What?'” Nickel continued. “And then everybody will laugh, and she laughs with ’em. For the most part, she has a good sense of humor, and doesn’t always try to be funny, but makes everybody laugh.”

In addition to Doiron individually topping the nation in assists, Eastfield leads the country in assists per set at 12.97. Again, Doiron plays a big role in that, but the offense she’s surrounded by is a huge component. The Harvester Bees also lead the NJCAA Division III in kills per set at 13.78. That means more than half the points they collect each set comes off kills. With aces, errors and blocks also making up the 25 points per set, the kills per set category speaks to how sparkling Doiron and the Harvester Bees operate in terms of offensive efficiency.

“It really means something to me,” Doiron said, admitting leading the nation in assists is a personal goal. “It’s definitely going to set the tone for when I continue to move on and keep playing. Me leading in assists has held myself up to a standard that I really knew I’d have to reach. I guess I’m holding myself higher than I ever have. So leading the nation has given me something to look forward to, I guess … the motivation to really put it in drop.”

Eastfield certainly put the wheels in motion after Doiron arrived. The Harvester Bees went 35-0 in her freshman season, dropping only six sets on the way to becoming the first NJCAA Division III volleyball team to go unbeaten and capture the national championship.

“I feel it’s a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment,” Doiron said. “That’s something we will forever be able to be proud of, and say that we did that. We went undefeated, and we won nationals. It makes me really proud of my teammates and proud of myself.”

Now the Bees are buzzing to try to repeat. The regular season ends Oct. 24 when Eastfield plays at Dallas College Brookhaven. The NJCAA Division III South District Tournament is set for Oct. 30-Nov. 2. The NJCAA Division III National Tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is Nov. 14-16.

Doiron has the dates circled.

“She’s super competitive,” Nickel said. “Looking to move her on to the next spot, that’s one of the things we’ve talked about. She’s just really competitive, and she wants to win. Not everybody has that. There’s setters that are more technical or more this or that, but she is very driven to win, and will do whatever she can to help her teammates be successful. That’s something I feel like sets her apart.”