Williams Learned Resiliency Early in Her Career
Jun 26, 2024 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Redshirt sophomore transfer middle blocker Jordyn Williams, one of the newest additions for Kansas State volleyball, is no stranger to head coach Jason Mansfield. Mansfield, who has an eye for talent, pursued Williams during her days competing at Guyer High School in Denton, Texas, where she earned Under Armour First Team All-America recognition in 2020, and as she won two national championships with Texas Advantage Volleyball.
Funny sometimes how things work out.
Today, the 6-foot-2 Williams is engrained in the Wildcats' program after committing to Mansfield in December and arriving in January in time for spring competition. The fiercely competitive middle blocker appears happy and hungry and has gelled with her hew teammates.
"We have a great culture and it's a great environment," she says. "Transferring, the process is hard and difficult, but they make it easy, going to practice and being surrounded by people who are great on and off the court. It really shows how excited they are to have me here. It's been a great blessing."
Williams transferred to K-State after two seasons at Kentucky where she competed in 46 sets over 17 matches. Last season, she turned in a career-high nine kills at a .500 clip in a four-set victory over Missouri on October 6 and followed that performance two days later with a career-high six blocks against Ole Miss to go with six kills.
Williams produced 62 kills (1.59 per set) during her redshirt freshman campaign for a .331 hitting efficiency, which was good for fourth on the team, while her average of one block per set led the team.
These efforts came after her true freshman season in 2021 was wiped out when she tore her right Achilles during the second week of preseason practice.
"It gave me that drive and determination to come back," she says. "As a freshman, you definitely want to come in and soak it all in and have that experience. I had a different experience than a lot of people. With the injury and after I was cleared after nine months, I had that drive to get back and to get better as a player. It's definitely really hard having that so early in a person's college career, but having the injury so soon helped me to develop and learn quicker and I was able to see things off the court and bring those things onto the court.
"I'm really glad to be back."
Following her second season with Kentucky, she opted to test the transfer portal. Thus arrived the reunion with Mansfield, who guided K-State to a 16-11 record, including a 10-8 mark in the Big 12 Conference, with five top-25 victories.
"Coaches from K-State reached out to me," she says. "It was great to hear so many great things about the program and how well they did last season. I spoke with Jason and immediately wanted to get out there and see the campus and meet everybody. It was the best decision I could've made.
"It feels great. I'm excited to be here. It's the best four months, and I'm really excited to see what the future holds."
Williams' journey didn't begin with volleyball. The native of Lantana, Texas, began her athletic career running track — the 400 meters was her favorite — and went to the Texas Relays each summer. She enjoyed playing basketball. It wasn't until she was 12 years old that she began playing volleyball. She started playing for Texas Advantage Volleyball and became hooked.
"I thought, 'Wow, this is my sport,'" she says. "I knew this was going to take me far and help me get to college and potentially make a career of it. Honestly, in the beginning, I was just drawn to volleyball because I wasn't doing it competitively at first. Me and my parents discussed it, and I was just doing it for fun, me and my core group of friends in elementary, we were doing it for the fun of it. It wasn't until later that I really realized how much I liked it and how far it could take me."
She was named 2017 Newcomer of the year at Guyer High School in Denton, Texas. She earned all-state accolades. She earned All-Academic honors as well.
PrepVolleyball ranked her as the No. 8 player in the country.
"It was really about being better than anybody else," she says. "It was just the one thing I knew I could do really well for myself. It was the one thing I put the most into other than school. I just loved the sport, and I knew with volleyball it was going to take me farther. It made me want to put more into it. That's what made the decision about my focus."
She appreciated her time at Kentucky but simply sought a fresh start. That's when K-State entered the picture.
"I was grateful for the experiences I had at Kentucky," she says. "With K-State, I was looking for something more in terms of my personal development. I wanted to play more and just wanted to build more of what I've been working toward for the last two or three years for myself. I'm thankful for Kentucky, but I'm excited to move forward with K-State."
She has learned plenty about herself along the way.
"I've learned how resilient I am," she says. "As players, we don't give ourselves enough credit. We don't realize how hard some of the things are that we go through, and we don't sit and think about it, but I'm very proud of myself. There are a lot of things I've been through, especially in my college career, having the injury, and maybe not having the exact college career that I thought coming out of high school, and to still move forward and give it all that I have, it's a hard thing to do. I try to give myself credit.
"I'm very thankful to God and my parents for being leaders for me and helping me through it. I don't think I'm here without it. Obviously, no person's experience is the same, but I'm very thankful for mine. I can't wait to see what I do next."
Redshirt sophomore transfer middle blocker Jordyn Williams, one of the newest additions for Kansas State volleyball, is no stranger to head coach Jason Mansfield. Mansfield, who has an eye for talent, pursued Williams during her days competing at Guyer High School in Denton, Texas, where she earned Under Armour First Team All-America recognition in 2020, and as she won two national championships with Texas Advantage Volleyball.
Funny sometimes how things work out.
Today, the 6-foot-2 Williams is engrained in the Wildcats' program after committing to Mansfield in December and arriving in January in time for spring competition. The fiercely competitive middle blocker appears happy and hungry and has gelled with her hew teammates.
"We have a great culture and it's a great environment," she says. "Transferring, the process is hard and difficult, but they make it easy, going to practice and being surrounded by people who are great on and off the court. It really shows how excited they are to have me here. It's been a great blessing."
Williams transferred to K-State after two seasons at Kentucky where she competed in 46 sets over 17 matches. Last season, she turned in a career-high nine kills at a .500 clip in a four-set victory over Missouri on October 6 and followed that performance two days later with a career-high six blocks against Ole Miss to go with six kills.
Williams produced 62 kills (1.59 per set) during her redshirt freshman campaign for a .331 hitting efficiency, which was good for fourth on the team, while her average of one block per set led the team.
These efforts came after her true freshman season in 2021 was wiped out when she tore her right Achilles during the second week of preseason practice.
"It gave me that drive and determination to come back," she says. "As a freshman, you definitely want to come in and soak it all in and have that experience. I had a different experience than a lot of people. With the injury and after I was cleared after nine months, I had that drive to get back and to get better as a player. It's definitely really hard having that so early in a person's college career, but having the injury so soon helped me to develop and learn quicker and I was able to see things off the court and bring those things onto the court.
"I'm really glad to be back."
Following her second season with Kentucky, she opted to test the transfer portal. Thus arrived the reunion with Mansfield, who guided K-State to a 16-11 record, including a 10-8 mark in the Big 12 Conference, with five top-25 victories.
"Coaches from K-State reached out to me," she says. "It was great to hear so many great things about the program and how well they did last season. I spoke with Jason and immediately wanted to get out there and see the campus and meet everybody. It was the best decision I could've made.
"It feels great. I'm excited to be here. It's the best four months, and I'm really excited to see what the future holds."
Williams' journey didn't begin with volleyball. The native of Lantana, Texas, began her athletic career running track — the 400 meters was her favorite — and went to the Texas Relays each summer. She enjoyed playing basketball. It wasn't until she was 12 years old that she began playing volleyball. She started playing for Texas Advantage Volleyball and became hooked.
"I thought, 'Wow, this is my sport,'" she says. "I knew this was going to take me far and help me get to college and potentially make a career of it. Honestly, in the beginning, I was just drawn to volleyball because I wasn't doing it competitively at first. Me and my parents discussed it, and I was just doing it for fun, me and my core group of friends in elementary, we were doing it for the fun of it. It wasn't until later that I really realized how much I liked it and how far it could take me."
She was named 2017 Newcomer of the year at Guyer High School in Denton, Texas. She earned all-state accolades. She earned All-Academic honors as well.
PrepVolleyball ranked her as the No. 8 player in the country.
"It was really about being better than anybody else," she says. "It was just the one thing I knew I could do really well for myself. It was the one thing I put the most into other than school. I just loved the sport, and I knew with volleyball it was going to take me farther. It made me want to put more into it. That's what made the decision about my focus."
She appreciated her time at Kentucky but simply sought a fresh start. That's when K-State entered the picture.
"I was grateful for the experiences I had at Kentucky," she says. "With K-State, I was looking for something more in terms of my personal development. I wanted to play more and just wanted to build more of what I've been working toward for the last two or three years for myself. I'm thankful for Kentucky, but I'm excited to move forward with K-State."
She has learned plenty about herself along the way.
"I've learned how resilient I am," she says. "As players, we don't give ourselves enough credit. We don't realize how hard some of the things are that we go through, and we don't sit and think about it, but I'm very proud of myself. There are a lot of things I've been through, especially in my college career, having the injury, and maybe not having the exact college career that I thought coming out of high school, and to still move forward and give it all that I have, it's a hard thing to do. I try to give myself credit.
"I'm very thankful to God and my parents for being leaders for me and helping me through it. I don't think I'm here without it. Obviously, no person's experience is the same, but I'm very thankful for mine. I can't wait to see what I do next."
Players Mentioned
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