Sophomore spotlight: Jordan Fox
Washington-state born Jordan Fox made her way to Alpine, Utah in 1998. She transferred to Lone Peak High School in the first part of ninth grade. As a child growing up in Seattle, Fox was exposed to volleyball and learned the sport from her dad. “My dad is very athletic, he would play volleyball with some teams in Washington and I would go watch. He would play with me before and after his games, we would ‘pepper’ on the sidelines. This was when I was in elementary school, I have played every since then.”
This archived article was written by: Jennifer Jarrett
Washington-state born Jordan Fox made her way to Alpine, Utah in 1998. She transferred to Lone Peak High School in the first part of ninth grade. As a child growing up in Seattle, Fox was exposed to volleyball and learned the sport from her dad. “My dad is very athletic, he would play volleyball with some teams in Washington and I would go watch. He would play with me before and after his games, we would ‘pepper’ on the sidelines. This was when I was in elementary school, I have played every since then.”
Fox looks up to her mom and her dad. “As far as technique goes, I really look up to my dad. He is a great player and has always been there to help teach me a lot of what I know. Both my mom and my dad are supportive of me and try to come to every game. They are amazing people and when they aren’t able to make it to a game, it is sad because they make a difference in how I play, just to know they are there. They mean the world to me.”
Although volleyball wasn’t her main sport growing up, she definitely plays like it has been. Fox was an avid softball player ever since she could pick up a bat, she was offered a softball scholarship at Snow College and was going to be able to play both volleyball and softball. Snow’s softball program got dropped, after she verbally committed to them. Coach Brent Martindale then started calling her to play for CEU.
“After I found out the softball program was dropped at Snow I had a hard time deciding between CEU and Snow, it took weeks of tough thinking. I decided that Martindale was the coach I wanted, I like him as a coach and thought CEU would be a good place to come to.
Right after I decided this, Snow got their softball program back, it has been hard not playing. I know it was the right decision, coach has made me really glad for the decision too,” Fox stated.
Fox really made her mark at CEU as a 5 foot – 6 inch outside hitter and defensive specialist. “Her greatest strength is in two-even parts: she is physically strong and she is mentally strong. She jumps well (28-inch vertical) although she isn’t too big, she has the ability and strength to play as well as any of the other bigger girls. She has improved just in the time she has been at CEU. She has lots of energy and at times that could be reckless, but has calmed that down and kept her intensity. She uses strength and keeps her errors down. She is coachable and wants to learn and be pushed. She really wants to win and doesn’t just want to play, she plays to win. Any athlete can be great but without a passion to win they’ll get beat. Jordan is the type of player who funnels her emotions into playing a great game to get the win,” Martindale said.
Fox doesn’t just lift her teammates on the court but off as well. “Off court Jordan wants everyone to be close,” Martindale said. “She finds her family and friends important. She has a lot of love and shows it.”
Fox said, “The girls here are like my sisters. If I need someone to turn to, they are there for me. They make me laugh a lot and we usually have so much fun together.”
The trip to California was Fox’s favorite memory this far in the season. “We got to see different sides of people and had a good time on the road. The ride was 14 hours each way so we definitely got to spend a lot of time together on the bus. But then we walked the strip in Vegas, shopped, went to Venice Beach, and played in the tournament, so it was a really fun trip,” Fox said.
“The team is full of amazing girls,” she said. “I think skill and strength wise, we match up or are better than the other teams we play. I think our one fault that could bring us down is our lack of confidence. That’s what we need to work on. Everyone is constantly telling us that we are the best team CEU has seen in a while and mathematically we can do really well at region. We could take second and I think if we play like we can do it, we can do it!”
After graduating from CEU next semester, Fox hopes to attend a college close to home, continuing her major in radiology. “Weber or UVSC both seem like good schools. If I went out of state I’d like to attend a school in the West, Washington maybe. I’d like to play either volleyball or softball wherever I go. I think I have a better shot at softball just because the first impression coaches have with me for volleyball is that I am too short. I would definitely want to play volleyball but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll try for softball.”
Coach Martindale affirmed, “Jordan is the type of player that can go on. I hope she has a lot of success if it’s what she wants to do.”
