Jordan Madsen is a senior volleyball player on Vestavia Hills High School's volleyball team. In this interview, she shares what she loves about the sport and her team.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about volleyball?
A: My favorite thing about volleyball is the competitiveness. In school, you have to act, like, one way, but then, we get to the volleyball court, you can let it all out show up and what you got and just be competitive with the other team.
Not only the other team, but, like, yourself. For me, I know volleyball is, like, a very mental game. So, like, you want to challenge yourself, get this many kills, fix the passing, do this. And so, you're competing with yourself a little bit, but, ultimately, working with your teammates to beat the other team. So, it brings, like, an adrenaline rush for the sport, so I'd have to say that's my favorite part about it.
Photo by Kyle Parmley
Vestavia Hills' Jordan Madsen (3) during a match between Briarwood and Vestavia Hills on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, at Vestavia Hills High School.
Q: What’s your first distinct memory that involves volleyball?
A: So, I don't really remember much about younger volleyball. I know I was on a team called the Lucky Charms, but, other than that, not much.
There's, like, two years later, my dad was coaching one of my teams, and he didn't really know much about volleyball. He knew, like, the basics and that, but that's all you really need to know when you're younger. And, we had to do this drill, and there was, like, 10 of us. It was five on each side, and just consecutive passing back-and-forth and you run around to the other side once you pass it. And, we couldn't do it. We sat there doing that the whole practice. And so, that's one thing that always sticks with me because we were all miserable. We couldn't figure it out. And, it's, like, crazy to think now I can pass with just three people back-and-forth, consecutive, no problem whatsoever.
Other than that, that's probably the earliest one. But then, the next thing would be middle school. I know I was really nervous for tryouts. I made it, I was playing, I played middle all the way through middle school. But, my seventh grade year, after school season, one of a new coach who was my club coach for a very long time, she asked me to come play up with some eighth graders. And so, I ended up playing older for a lot of the beginning of my club career. But, yeah.
Q: If you could have any meal right now, what would it be?
A: Funny you asked this, my mom just took my grandparents to Ono Poke for the first time and told me that, so that sounds really good right now. If we're talking about, like, heavier meals or, like, nicer meals, I can always do pasta or, like, steak. But, for right now, probably just an Ono Poke bowl.
Q: What’s the best thing about your school team?
A: My favorite thing about the team is probably the chemistry and connection we have with each other. Personally, for years past, the connection hasn't really been that strong, so the seniors this year decided to make it fun and exciting and everyone be close together. And, obviously, we've done a pretty good job of that.
Another great thing about our team is we are a very comeback team. Now, that's not always ideal, but, whenever we're down, we tend to work together to fight out of the hole or come back and win the game, which is really cool. So, I would say we have a lot of fight and determination, as well as being very close together.
Q: What are you planning/hoping to do beyond high school?
A: I am planning on playing beach volleyball in college. I'm still undecided on a college right now, but I'm planning on studying health sciences and pre-occupational therapy. After college, my ideal goal is to become a pediatric occupational therapist.
