Paris to Lincoln: Jordan Larson enters her second season on the sideline for the Huskers

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - After a whirlwind week that started at the 2024 Paris Olympics and ended at the Bob Devaney Center, former Husker All-American and four-time Olympian Jordan Larson is back coaching at Nebraska.

Larson returns to Lincoln after Team USA fell to Italy in the women’s volleyball gold medal match. Following the Olympics, Larson was in a car accident in Paris, yet she still made it back to Lincoln for practice three days later.

“She’s sleep deprived. She’s banged up. And she’s hit the ground running,” said Nebraska volleyball head coach John Cook.

“There’s never a day that we come in and we’re like ‘hmm where’s Jordan?’ Her presence is never missing, no matter how much she’s struggling or how much she has on her plate,” said senior outside hitter Merritt Beason.

As a former Nebraska and Team USA captain, Cook has put Larson in charge of coaching up the Husker team captains: Beason and libero Lexi Rodriguez.

“We’re able to learn because she was in our position and she has played at the highest level,” said Beason. “She’s pretty much seen it all at this point.”

“There’s an added weight that comes with representing this program and I think also as you are a captain there’s another layer of weight that comes with that,” said Larson. “It’s kinda how you hold yourself in and out of the court. It’s how you present yourself to your teammates- but also [in a way] that’s true and authentic to you.”

“[I] feel very grateful that she’s a part of this and I think when she says something to our players they really believe it,” said Cook.

Larson plans on eventually taking break in December after the Final Four and before her pro season with LOVB volleyball in Omaha begins in January.

Nebraska holds its annual Red-White Scrimmage on Saturday at 6 p.m. three days ahead of the Huskers’ season opener against Kentucky in Louisville.

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