Hewitt to double up at Lincoln College

MANLIUS — Taylor Hewitt had a hard time picking just one sport to play in college so she decided to play two.

The Bureau Valley senior standout from Manlius will continue to play volleyball and softball for Lincoln College, a junior college in Central Illinois, as reported in the BCR last month. She made it official with a signing last week.

“I was hoping I could do two sports in college, because I didn’t want to give up either,” she said. “I like playing them both so much. I was lucky enough to find a school that would allow that. Not many schools do.”

Hewitt said she first learned about Lincoln from her pitching coach out of Pekin. From there, she went to the school’s website and filled out a “recruit me” form and heard back from LC volleyball coach Mark Tippett.

Lincoln proved to be a good match for Hewitt.

“I wasn’t looking for a big four-year school, at least not right now,” she said. “I really liked the atmosphere and how it was a small school, but yet still has dorms and still has feeling of being in a four-year college.”

Hewitt will become the third Bureau County product to play volleyball for Lincoln, following Princeton’s Jacqui Kane, who concluded her sophomore season last fall, and Jenna Luck (Hall) before her.

A standout libero for Bureau Valley, Hewitt is being targeted to play in the back row for the Lynx because of “my height issues.” At the end of the volleyball season next fall, she will transition into softball workouts and prepare to play the infield for Lincoln.

The All-BCR volleyball and softball selection said getting to play sports in college is something she always wanted to do.