Early yesterday morning, former Bearcat superstar volleyball player Jordan Thompson took home the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics as Team USA beat Brazil to win their first ever gold medal in the indoor volleyball contest. Thompson, the youngest player on the USA Woman’s National team really left her mark on this legendary run to conquer gold. Thompson became the first volleyball player from the University of Cincinnati to play for Team USA and she didn’t disappoint one bit as she made the most of her opportunity. In her olympic debut Thompson made her mark. She led the team in points as Team USA swept Argentina 3 sets to 0. Thompson an opposite hitter for Team USA was just unstoppable as posted a match high 20 points scored including 18 kills on 23 attempts which was good for a .652 hitting percentage, a very impressive olympic debut if you ask me.
Thompson continued to dominate early on in group play as she was the hot hand as she continued to impress, as she recorded an 34 point performance versus China. Thompson in her second match of her olympic career wasn’t playing like the youngest player on the roster, that’s for sure. Thompson was hands down the best player on the court as she just put ball after a ball away, she ended with 28 kills on 50 attempts, Thompson also recorded four blocks as well. Team USA would go on to sweep China (29-17), (25-22), (25-21) behind a Steller performance by Thompson. Thompson tallied for nearly 45% of Team USA’s points alone in this match, which is crazy in the sport of volleyball. This wasn’t the end to Thompson’s hot start for Team USA as she led the way to a 5 set thriller victory over Turkey (25-19)(25-20) (17-25)(20-25)(15-12) where she recorded 15 kills, two blocks and a service ace. Thompson continued to show her talents early on until she suffered a sprained ankle versus the ROC which caused her to miss the last four games of the Olympics including the gold medal match. Thompson was quick to recover and get healthy as she was dressed for the semifinals versus Serbia, as well as the gold medal match versus Brazil, but played a big role for team USA on their journey to conquer gold.
Before suffering a high ankle sprain, Thompson was shining on the big stage as she was gaining a lot of attention from the volleyball world as she just dominated her first four games as she recorded 66 kills, 10 blocks tallying for 77 points for team USA. Thompson scored an olympic high with 34 points due to her play versus China. Thompson showed right there with that performance she was one of the best players in the world at the age 24.
Thompson not only made her mark at the Tokyo Olympics, she also made her mark on the Bearcats volleyball program both on and off the court. Thompson has made an impact on the volleyball program as she was the first volleyball player from the University to not only play in the Olympics for volleyball, but to win a gold medal. Thompson had a whole support system around her as Coach Alvey and the team were watching every match rooting their former teammate on all the way to the end. Thompson made her mark at the University of Cincinnati in 2015-2019 and her legacy continued as she made history this weekend as she took home the first ever gold medal for the United States for indoor volleyball. Thompson has had an amazing support system along this journey as her husband and former Bearcats football player Blake Yager along with the Bearcats volleyball program led the pack to rally for Thompson on her goal to win a gold medal.
The Front Office News staff would like congratulations Jordan Thompson on being able to be an olympic gold medalist, and being able to help achieve USA Volleyball history as they won their first ever Gold Medal.
