Nebraska volleyball and U.S. Women’s National Team legend Jordan Larson was named a full-time assistant coach for the Nebraska volleyball program in June of 2023.
In 2023, Larson's first year on staff, the Huskers went 33-2 and won the Big Ten title before reaching the NCAA Championship match. Opposite hitter Merritt Beason was an AVCA First-Team All-American and the AVCA North Region Player of the Year, while outside hitter Harper Murray was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and an AVCA Third-Team All-American.
One of the greatest American volleyball players in history, Larson was the team captain, Best Outside Hitter and Most Valuable Player when the U.S. won its first Olympic women’s volleyball gold medal in Tokyo in 2021. After the Olympics, she continued to play club volleyball in China and Italy but planned to retire from international competition.
A native of Hooper, Neb., Larson was a standout on some of the greatest teams in program history from 2005 to 2008 and was inducted into the Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020. She helped Nebraska to a top-five NCAA Tournament finish in each of her four seasons. The Huskers went 127-8 during her career with four Big 12 Conference titles and three trips to the NCAA semifinals, including the 2006 national title and a runner-up finish in 2005.
Individually, Larson was an All-American on the court and in the classroom. She was a three-time All-American and a two-time first-team All-American. At the conference level, Larson was a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and the 2008 Big 12 Player of the Year. She was also an Academic All-American as a senior. Larson finished her Husker career with 1,600 kills, 1,410 digs and a school-record 186 aces.
In her freshman season she helped lead the Huskers to an NCAA runner-up finish and was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. She was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-American as a sophomore and led Nebraska to the 2006 NCAA Championship. In 2008, she became the first player to be named Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
Larson is one of only two players in program history to rank among Nebraska’s all-time top 10 in both kills and digs. She earned a degree in communications studies from the University of Nebraska in 2008.
Larson then went on to a decorated international career. She was a three-time Olympic medalist, helping Team USA to a gold medal in 2021, a silver medal in 2012 and a bronze medal in 2016. Larson helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2014 FIVB World Championships, the first-ever major tournament gold medal for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Larson was then named USA Volleyball’s Indoor Female Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2016. In 2017 she was named team captain and led the U.S. to gold medals in four international competitions after that.