Growing up, many young aspiring athletes have dreams to play at the collegiate level, but few achieve this goal. Even fewer out of those competitive athletes attend a division one school, seeing as there are 347 D1 schools across 49 states. These colleges typically have the best of the best athletes in the country. 

AHS senior, Jordan Hopp, has been playing volleyball for the past 10 years. She has been starting varsity at AHS since her freshman year of high school. Hopp knew that she wanted to be a D1 volleyball player ever since she was in eighth grade and it was a goal she knew she was going to achieve. Hopp remarked, “I knew I wanted to be a power five conference, so ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, or PAC 12.” There are 65 schools in the Power Five. These conferences generally have the best athletic programs, therefore making them extremely competitive. 

Hopp explained during the summer before her junior year of high school, “I traveled around all summer long doing camps and I put my name out there. When I went to the Iowa State camp I performed the best that I could and they offered me a scholarship.”  The Iowa State Cyclones are in the Big 12 Conference along with other schools such as Baylor, Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Hopp also stated that much of her family attended Iowa State College, so she is familiar with that school but never expected to be playing there. 

D1 players must have a lot of determination and passion for the game they play. Hopp stated to be a player in this division it takes “A lot of hard work, not giving up on anything, good nutrition, having the mentality that you can do it and you will do it.” High school volleyball and college volleyball have many differences. Hopp noted, “Moving from the levels of high school to college, it’s very fast and the ball is played higher in college. The speed is totally different. It’s more aggressive, the girls can hit way harder, everybody is just good.”

The most influential person in volleyball for Hopp was Coach Angie Heimstra. She saw enough potential in Hopp to pull her up in eighth grade to do open gyms with the high school girls. Hopp explained, “She was there with me every step of the way. When I became a freshman she never let me take a playoff and always pushed me so hard. She gave me my shot at starting as a freshman. She believed in me and made me believe in myself. She helped me have self-confidence in becoming a good volleyball player. Hopp remarked that Coach Jessica Kaiser also helped in making her the athlete she is today. She said that Kaiser, “pushed me even harder to become a better athlete all around.” 

When asked what she was excited and nervous about Hopp stated, “I’m excited to just play in general, I’m excited to live with my friends that I’ve met from there and have a good time with them. The coaches are the best ever. I’m excited to start working out, growing as a player and a person.” She went on to say, “I’m nervous about, obviously, the academic aspect of it, I’m nervous about the fact that everyone is good so you have to work really hard. But I know I have those girls and my coaches there, and it’s like a little family.”

Although Hopp has not yet graduated and moved on to play at Iowa State, she has already worked with the program. She said, “I have gone to their camps and they work you to death, it’s insane. Sometimes I will go down there and practice with the girls and they’ll run us through how they practice things like drills.” She added that at the camps it is very brutal. Those attending the camps will go through three sessions a day and the sessions are at least two to three hours long. 

Jordan Hopp will be playing volleyball at Iowa State University as a middle blocker. She added, “I’m excited. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get to where I am today and I want to thank everyone that has been here with me, my coaches and family for supporting me and my teammates.”