The NCAA Women’s Volleyball saw the Nebraska Huskers march to the 2023 finals with just one defeat in the regular season. Nebraska is already a powerhouse team in Division 1 Volleyball. However, it received a mighty boost in 2023 as reigning Olympic gold medalist Jordan Larson joined the program as an assistant coach.

Larson donned the Nebraska Huskers jersey from 2005-08 and won an NCAA Championship under head coach John Cook. Today, she is back at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and working alongside him. But, what made Larson choose to be a coach? Especially when she helped the US qualify for the Paris Olympics just a few months ago?

Giving back to the roots that strengthened her

According to Huskers.com, Jordan Larson revealed that while she has traveled the world playing volleyball as a professional, she wanted to be home now. And she has only known one home throughout her journey, Nebraska. The 3x Olympian said that she had been thinking about joining the Nebraska Huskers as a coach for a long time.

She mentioned that she had made a phone call to John Cook regarding the same three to four years ago. She finally got her wish granted back in June 2023 just before the season began. Interestingly, Larson also talked about her approach towards coaching when she started coaching the Nebraska Huskers.

According to her, “I asked myself a series of questions, starting with, how can I make an impact on this program that has given so much to me? What could I have done differently during my time at Nebraska that would have benefited my career? How can I help the girls make the most of their potential?” 

These questions worked wonders for the Nebraska Huskers in the very first year of having Larson as a coach. She also mentioned that these questions were what truly led her back to her alma mater. While the players of Nebraska had a great time learning with her, Larson also loved her coaching experience. She happily spoke about it after the NCAA finals despite losing the highly-anticipated match.

Jordan Larson narrates her coaching experience with the Nebraska Huskers

Jordan Larson gave a courtside interview to Nebraska Huskers Volleyball’s radio voice John Baylor after her team’s loss about her coaching experience. She said, “It was great I’m just really grateful to be a part of it and to get to know these girls and to understand kind of what makes them want to play volleyball and why they love the sport.”

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Larson also said that while the team lost the finals, it was still a successful season for the Nebraska Huskers. She noted, “I think we all led with gratitude and just appreciative of abilities that we have, and every day we get to come in the gym and get better… we did have a ton of success and not to hang our hat on the last match.” As Larson gears up with a refurbished squad for 2024, will Nebraska be able to win the NCAA Championship this time?

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