Larson ready to lead U.S. volleyball team to another Olympic gold medal

HOOPER, Nebraska (NBC) — Jordan Larson is an iconic figure in volleyball history. Not just for her home state of Nebraska, but nationally.

“Hooper, Nebraska,” Larson replied when asked where she was from. “HOOPER. Yeah, it’s a small town in the middle of America. We don’t have a street light. We have like a crosswalk, we have an ice cream parlor, we have a bank, we have a community pool. Basically a town of 850 people, if not a farming community.”

“I was a pretty tough kid, I liked to have fun, but also when it came to playing between the lines, I was ready to compete and I wanted to be the best.”

Larson has also competed in several Olympics. She played for Nebraska and is now an assistant on head coach John Cook’s staff.

“When I think about the record-breaking crowds that have broken records in Nebraska, I’m not surprised,” Larson said of Nebraska Volleyball Day. “It’s so cool to see how far the program has come and how much the state supports it, it’s really unmatched. And now they see female athletes in the spotlight, and they have someone to look up to because they look like them.”

So what will the Paris Olympics bring to Larson?

“I hope people see that I’m still the 12-year-old girl who grew up in the smallest town,” she said. “And I’m happy that I don’t have to fight alone, and I hope people see that when they watch me compete.”

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