Image
Ht
6'
3"
Class
Senior
Hometown
Clovis,
California
Last School
Clovis High School
Roster Years
2017-2021
Personal
- Parents are Bart and Tina
- Has one brother and one sister
- Married BYU men's basketball player Dalton Nixon in May 2019
- Majoring in family life
High School
- Four-year varsity letterman
- Named the No. 21 Senior Aces in the class of 2017 by PrepVolleyball
- Named to the All-Valley Team in 2014, 2015 and 2016
- Named All-Conference in 2014 and 2016
- Named an AVCA Under Armour First-Team All-American in 2016
- Named a 2016 AVCA/Max Preps Player of the Week
- Named 2016 California All-State and All-TRAC
- Named the 2016 Fresno Bee Central Valley Player of the Year
- Named the 2015 Offensive Player of the Year despite an early season-ending injury
- Helped lead her team to the Valley Championship and Semifinals in the Open-Division 1 State Tournament in 2014
BYU Hall of Fame
Freshman Year
2017
- Contributed a dig vs. UNR (9/8)
- Had a kill and a dig vs. WSU (9/15)
- Collected a season-high 10 kills on a .588 clip and three blocks vs. USF (9/23)
- Added nine kills and four blocks vs. USD (9/30)
Sophmore Year
2018
- Helped the Cougars to a 31-2 record, the WCC title, an NCAA Final Four appearance and a No. 4 final ranking
- Played in 18 sets with six kills, two digs and eight block assists
- Had two kills and two blocks vs. Pacific (9/20)
- Collected two kills and four blocks vs. San Diego (11/2)
Junior Year
2019
- Played in 77 sets, totaling 139 kills on a .244 percentage, adding 14 aces, 52 digs and 56 blocks
- Helped BYU to a 26-5 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament
- Had 12 kills, hitting .435 against Utah Valley (8/30)
- Came off the bench to record seven kills and no errors on 14 swings in the win at No. 2 Stanford (9/21)
- Had a career-best three aces in each game against Saint Mary's (10/5, 10/31)
- Went off for a career-high 11 blocks (1 solo) at LMU (10/24), tied for sixth-most in a four-set match in the BYU rally scoring era
- Led the team with 11 kills and two solo blocks vs. Portland (11/21)
- Had a career-high 14 kills in the regular season finale against Pepperdine (11/26)
Senior Year
2021
- Played in 29 matches and 96 sets
- Led the team with 39 service aces. She boasted the second most kills (247).
- AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention
- All-WCC First Team
- Notched a season-high kill count of 14 kills against Southern Utah (8/27)
- Held a .800 clip after her 8 kills against Long Island University (8/27)
- Had double-digit kills 13 times this season
Graduate Year
Redshirt Year
Medical Redshirt Year
Senior
2020
- AVCA All-American Honorable Mention
- AVCA Pacific South All-Region
- All-WCC First Team
- Started all 19 matches, appearing in all 63 sets, while leading BYU to a 17-2 season, the WCC title, an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and No. 15 final ranking
- Had a career year, leading the team with 239 kills and totaling 133 digs, 38 blocks and 15 aces
- Tallied four double-doubles
- Reached double-digit kills in 12 of the 17 matches, recording a career-high 24 kills at San Francisco (3/6)
- Served a career-high four aces at Portland (1/27)
Taylen Ballard-Nixon vs SMC 2019
Taylen Ballard-Nixon BYU vs UVU 2019
- W Volleyball | Sep, 23
No. 11 BYU takes first conference win in sweep against Pacific
- ImageW Volleyball | Aug, 27
Cougars sweep SUU Thunderbirds in 2021 season opener
- ImageW Volleyball | Apr, 21
Three Cougars named AVCA All-Americans
- ImageW Volleyball | Apr, 13
Olmstead named Pacific South Region Coach of the Year, four Cougars claim All-Region honors
- ImageW Volleyball | Apr, 06
Bower named WCC Player and Setter of the Year; Olmstead receives WCC Coach of the Year
- ImageW Volleyball | Mar, 26
No. 15 BYU overpowers Saint Mary’s in straight sets
- ImageW Volleyball | Mar, 06
Ballard-Nixon’s 23 kills leads No. 15 BYU past San Francisco
- ImageW Volleyball | Feb, 04
Ballard-Nixon, No. 14 BYU Beat Utah Valley 3-1 in UCCU Crosstown Clash
- ImageW Volleyball | Jan, 27
Cougars Complete Road Sweep Over Portland
- ImageW Volleyball | Jan, 26
No. 16 BYU Sweeps Portland in Season Opener
- ImageW Volleyball | Jan, 20
WCC Names Three Cougars to Preseason Team, BYU No. 2
- ImageW Volleyball | Nov, 21
No. 13 Cougars Sweep Portland Behind Balanced Team Effort
- ImageW Volleyball | Nov, 09
No. 11 BYU Sweeps Past the Dons
- ImageW Volleyball | Nov, 02
BYU Downs Pacific 3-1 Behind Stellar Hitting
- ImageW Volleyball | Oct, 31
No. 11 BYU Sweeps Past Saint Mary's
- ImageW Volleyball | Oct, 05
No. 9 BYU Collects Third Win of the Week
- ImageW Volleyball | Sep, 21
No. 12 BYU Knocks Off No. 2 Stanford
- ImageW Volleyball | Aug, 30
No. 9 BYU Defeats Utah Valley
- ImageAthletics | Jan, 17
This Week in BYU Athletics - Jan. 16
- ImageW Volleyball | Sep, 01
Jones-Perry and No. 9 Cougars win BYU Nike Invitational with sweep of Wichita State
- ImageW Volleyball | Aug, 16
Women’s volleyball set for 2018 season
- ImageW Volleyball | Oct, 07
Balanced pin-hitting pushes No. 8 BYU past Pacific in three
- ImageW Volleyball | Oct, 05
Jones-Perry pushes No. 8 BYU past Saint Mary’s in five
- ImageW Volleyball | Sep, 30
Balanced play pushes No. 9 BYU past No. 17 San Diego 3-1
- ImageW Volleyball | Sep, 23
Outside hitters push No. 9 BYU past San Francisco in three
- ImageW Volleyball | Aug, 01
Women's volleyball set for 2017 season
- ImageW Volleyball | Aug, 01
Women's volleyball set for 2017 season