2018 during her redshirt junior season Thompson was continuing to dominate the volleyball world and showed what she is capable of and how special a player we were witnessing. Thompson was named a 3rd team AVCA All-American selection, AVCA All-Region, was named Unanimous Player of the Year in the AAC for the second time, Thompson was also a AVCA National Player of the week two times in the 2018 season. Thompson was so dominant during the 2018 season she also earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors eight times in her junior season. For people wondering, Thompson was a dominant player all the way around the court for the Bearcats as she led the nation in kills, points, kills per set and points per set, This shows how dominant Thompson was at the net for the Bearcats, as she continuously found ways to put the ball away for the Bearcats. Thompson averaged 6.27 sets per set her junior campaign where she recorded a miraculous 827 kills for the Bearcats, and anyone who knows volleyball will understand how good of stats those are. Thompson showed why she was Olympic bound at an early stage in her Bearcat career. Thompson broke multiple Bearcat records that she still owns to this day that include kills in a single season, the most points ever as a Bearcat volleyball player as well as the American Athletic Conference which is very impressive. Thompson also holds the record for most kills in a single match for the Bearcats as well as the AAC. The previous school record for kills per set was 5.34 and 635 kills. Thompson didn’t just shatter those records, she made the untouchable for years to come. Thompson didn’t also just break school records with 827 kills her junior season, she set a record that hadn’t been touched since 2008 when the point scoring method got introduced to the sport. Thompson also recorded 800 kills for the first time in nearly 14 years when she was the first player in all of college volleyball to record 800+ kills in a season. Thompson was showing how dominant and effective she was on the court and how talented she actually was. For volleyball fanatics like myself you just sit back and acknowledge those stats a d just have to say wow, 827 kills isn’t easy to come by especially at the college level. Volleyball is one of those sports where once teams see how dominant someone is they try to change defenses and will do anything possible to shut those kind of players down weather its from triple blocking up at the net to playing a certain rotation on the swing, but no matter what Thompson was just to smart and experienced when it came to her style of play and volleyball knowledge. Thompson was not only starting to etch her legacy as a Bearcat, she was making sure it would be untouchable for many years to come as she wanted it to be known she wanted to go down as one of the best players in the bearcat volleyball program if not the best player. During her junior season Thompson not only let the team in kills where she recorded 827 kills, she also led the team in service aces when her float serve gave a lot of defenses across the nation trouble in the serving aspect where she recorded 46 service aces, Thompson also recorded 29 assists, she also averaged 2.42 digs per set, and 0.49 blocks per set. A tremendous Junior season for Thompson wasn’t going to stop Jordan Thompson from taking the next step and continue to be the dominant force and the spark of the Bearcats volleyball team.
Thompson had a Big offseason ahead of her senior campaign as she took an incredible opportunity that she earned prior to her senior season and that was to play for the USA Nation Team in the Volleyball Nations League where she would go on and qualify to be 1 of the 14 players to make the roster all five weeks of pool play when it came down to it. Team USA eventually would go on to win the Volleyball Nations League Championship where Jordan Thompson played a huge role in that time where she led the team in points during the Teams Olympic Qualifying Tournament. This opportunity not only set the star volleyball player up for a big senior season, but to get and see some of the best competition day in and day out from players all around the world. Coming off an incredible opportunity like that many her teammates where probably spending as much time as they could with her picking her brains with what she learned through that amazing opportunity to represent her country.
Thompson’s senior season came in 2019 where she led the Bearcats to their first ever NCAA tournament run where they made history for the Cincinnati Volleyball Program as they made it all the way to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament that included a five set thriller over No. 5 ranked Pittsburgh. Thompson led the way for the Bearcats and not only did she break some of her own records on the way, she etched her name in to NCAA history. During Thompsons senior season as a Bearcat she earned a whole list of honors that included AVCA First-Team All-American, Cosida Third Team Academic All-American, she was also named the AVCA North Region Player of the Year, Thompson also was unanimously selected as the AAC Player of the Year. Thompson also finished her Bearcat career 7th all-time in kills in NCAA history, which is very impressive and shows how dominant of a player she is on the volleyball court. Thompson’s senior year she showed she was the leader of the Bearcats where she led the nation in kills, points, kills per set and points per set. Thompson went out with a big bang her senior season as she became the bearcats all time leader in Kills when the team played East Carolina University on September 27th. On Jordan Thompson’s senior day versus East Carolina University she went out swinging and locked in, Thompson recorded 50 kills, which broke her own school record as well as the AAC single match record for kills. 50 kills is very impressive for anyone who watches volleyball, knows how uncommon it is to see a player record that many kills ever in the sport. That is why with her 50 kill performance on senior night she became just the 6th player in NCAA history to record 50 kills in a match. Thompson became the only player in bearcat history to average more than 5.0 kills in a set every where she averaged 5.4 kills per set her senior year. Thompsons stats her senior season were very impressive as she recorded 798 kills, 329 digs, 48 aces, 43 blocks. Thompson recorded a double double in digs and kills 16 times her senior season, as well as 30+ kills six times that season.
Since graduating from Cincinnati in 2019 , Thompson has flipped the page to her next chapter of her playing career as she began her professional volleyball career overseas in Turkey. Thompson has also been a member of the USA Woman’s National Team since 2019 as well and is looking to show why she is one of the top players in the world this summer when the volleyball teams hit the court at the Tokyo Olympics starting on July 25th at Ariake Arena in Koto City, Tokyo Japan. She will be joining former Bearcats assistant coach Erin Virtue (2007-2010) as Virtue is a member of the coaching staff for the Woman’s National Team. Thompson has made a very big impact on the volleyball program as she is now going to be the first Bearcat to ever play in the Olympics when she steps onto the court for the first time in late July. Having a player like Thompson was Cincinnati is huge for the Bearcats as they look to bounce back to a regular season this fall and do it normally compared to the 2020 season. Jordan Thompson not only was the best volleyball player for the program of Cincinnati during her tenure as a Bearcat, she was an even better and mentor for most of the Bearcats roster that is still here on campus today. The former Bearcat will have a whole city supporting her in late July, but she will have a special group in the Bearcat Volleyball Program that will hold a special place and be rooting for her the most as she looks to take home the gold and become the first Bearcat volleyball to not only play in the Olympics, but to ever win a gold medal.
The Front Office News wants to send our congratulations to Jordan and her family on this awesome accomplishment in her volleyball career. To Jordan, the city of Cincinnati is behind you and will be rooting for you when it comes time to take home the gold medal in late July!
