Jordan Wilson had rarely played six rotations in her entire volleyball career. Last year, it was expected that a defensive specialist would be on her way out to substitute for Wilson as soon as the outside hitter rotated to the back row. It’s been a boost for both the Arizona Wildcats and Wilson that she is on the floor for all six rotations this season.
“I’ve really been enjoying it,” Wilson said. “It’s something new to me. I did it a little bit in club. I wasn’t really too active back there. I was more of a back-row attacker for them and then had a DS come in. But now being able to be a full six rotations, and playing defense, and getting involved in the back row coverage, all of that, serving, I’m having such a blast.”
“All of that” shows in her improved numbers. Wilson has improved across the board in her junior year.
She is good for 3.71 kills per set, a dramatic improvement from the 2.89 she had last year for Arizona and the 2.87 she had as a freshman at USC. It’s an even bigger improvement over her nonconference performance last season when she provided 2.55 kills per set in 34 sets.
Part of Wilson’t offensive improvements can be attributed to playing in the back row more often. She’s already accounted for 52 back-row attacks through nine matches, which ranks 121st in Division I volleyball. More than 21 percent of her attacks come from the back row. She had just eight back-row attacks in 31 matches last season. The year before, she had 12 in 32 matches.
Her aces per set have gone up to 0.32 from a minuscule 0.1 last season and 0.10 the year before. Simply staying in to serve has caused that bump.
As for her defense, Wilson did not have a single match with double-digit digs last season. Her season-high was four digs, which she reached four times during the 2023 campaign. This year, she already has four matches with 10 or more digs including a career-high 16 against New Mexico State in her last outing. She has improved her per-set digs to 2.89 after finishing at 0.49 last year and 0.59 the year before.
Wilson could still improve on her consistency. She’s had some ups and downs with hitting percentage, but she’s currently hitting .262, a few ticks below her nonconference hitting percentage from last year (.269). She needs to avoid dropping in conference play like she did in her first two seasons when she finished at .223 (2023) and .243 (2022). She has hit .333 or better in five of Arizona’s nine matches this year.
Head coach Rita Stubbs says that her dynamic hitter sometimes wants the “wow” moment and doesn’t think about the “right things,” but she’s very impressed by the improvement even in the three weeks since the season started.
“Being a six rotation player is definitely a transition that many think they’re ready for, and they’re not ready for it,” Stubbs said. “And so in the beginning, the first couple weeks, she had some ups and downs as a result of trying to press too hard, but now she’s settled into the position more she understands it.”
Wilson will have to take yet another step forward when the schedule gets more difficult. Stubbs thinks there could be more bumps in the road when that happens, but Arizona has the depth and Wilson has the ability to overcome them.
“She isn’t really prepared for what’s going to come once we get into the Big 12,” Stubbs said. “And so that’s why we continue to develop the players around so every now and again, she’ll just probably need to breathe…but her progression has been very good.”
The development of her back-row game didn’t just start this fall. Wilson has been working on it all year.
“Rita and I, and all the girls on the team, as well, they pushed me really hard in the springtime for training and for getting me involved in the back row, because I wanted to be on the floor a lot more,” Wilson said. “Of course, everybody does, but I wanted to get more involved with defense. And it’s a whole new world. It’s completely different from defense in the front row compared to the back row. So I really enjoy it. It’s something new, and I look forward to keep going, or to keep pushing forward with it.”
Wilson’s final chances to hone those skills before Big 12 play will come this weekend in the Wildcat Classic. Arizona will face North Dakota State and Southern Utah beginning Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. MST.
If the Wildcats complete the weekend undefeated, they will be one win away from matching their 12-0 start in 2009. That year, they played a slightly tougher nonconference schedule with a few NCAA Tournament teams and 20-game winners sprinkled in. They opened Pac-10 play with a win over No. 13 USC before going on a three-game losing streak.
Arizona went 19-10 in the regular season, ending ranked No. 19. The Wildcats broke a four-year tournament drought but lost to Texas A&M in the opening round for a 19-11 overall record. This year’s team is trying to break a five-year drought.
Lead photo by Madison Farwell / Arizona Athletics
