Denvyr Tyler-Palmer is a senior exercise and sport science major and an offensive player on the women’s volleyball team. Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Tyler-Palmer played for four years in high school, and she was named the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll for fall 2015 and 2016.
What made you pursue volleyball in college?
“I played volleyball since I was in middle school and I was pretty good at it. So, I started to talk to different colleges and decided that it’d be a really good option to play in college and then I chose NSU.”
How’s your experience being a student-athlete at NSU?
“It’s very challenging. A lot of people say that being a DII athlete is more difficult than being a DI athlete just because academics are generally harder. I had a lot of support like my coaches and academic advising. I just have a lot of support in DII to help me in academics and help me succeed.”
What was your most challenging year?
“The most challenging year… I would probably say freshman year. Freshman year was really hard because you are in a new place, you have a new group of people you have to adjust to, a new group of coaches, teachers. Everything is different. So, I would say freshman year because it took a long time to adjust.”
How do you find motivation to keep playing volleyball?
“People everywhere around me push me. I have an internal drive to finish what I started because I don’t like when I quit so I keep going until I finished what I started.”
How do you balance academics and athletics?
“The teachers here are very helpful. Being a small school, it’s nice because you can talk to the professors during their office hours and they are willing to help you. The small class sizes are nice, too, because you get a lot of attention. That is one of the most helpful things that got me through my major.”
What are some of your future goals?
“Obviously to graduate, and then I really want to [study in] the nutrition grad program. But yeah, those are my goals right now.”
Can you talk more about you being named the first team All-SSC?
“It’s hard to talk about because we didn’t have a great season, but I got recognized so that was nice — to be recognized even though we didn’t have a great season.”
How’s your relationship with your teammates?
“We have a really great connection, actually two of my roommates are my teammates. We get along really well, and we have a lot of fun. We have a lot in common because we do the same activities every day, so we have a really strong connection and we have a really great time together.”
What do you think about your coaches?
“They provide a lot of support for us and push us to do our best all the time and they really want to see us succeed.”
