Stanford opposite Jordyn Harvey is fired up for the 2025 season
One of the key players for Stanford women’s volleyball is junior opposite Jordyn Harvey. Harvey shared her thoughts on the upcoming season and how she feels about now being an upperclassman. Stanford is coming off their third straight trip to the Elite Eight, hoping that this year, they can finally get back to the Final Four and win a national championship.
With a lot of new pieces on this year’s team and some key pieces leaving like setter Kami Miner, middle blocker Sami Francis, and libero Elena Oglivie, it’s easy for some people to question whether or not this year’s team will have the same juice that they did a season ago. Despite these doubts that others might have, Harvey is confident in this year’s team and feels like they have what it takes to be just as good as last season, if not better.
“Honestly, despite what, you know, maybe other people are feeling, I’m feeling really good, Harvey said. “You know, we are a younger team, we’re new. But, I honestly think new just means new opportunities for us to show what we can do and be great and continue to do great things that this program has done. So I’m really excited.”
A major reason for why Harvey feels optimistic about this season is the fact that Kevin Hambly is their head coach. She loves the way Hambly pushes them in practice to be better, always challenging them to step up their game and be the best that they can be all while being supportive of them as people. That combination she feels is the key to Hambly’s success.
“Kevin, he’s one that will continue to challenge you every single day, which is something I will always appreciate, but then also as a coach that is there for you as a player, but then also as a person,” Harvey said. “And so that’s obviously a reason why I feel like me and a lot of other athletes come here in the first place, but just continuing to have that within the gym every single day has been something that’s made this preseason, I think, a lot better. So, just continuing to be challenged every single day. Pushed by Kevin and all the other stuff on top of that.”
As an upperclassman, Harvey knows that more is going to be expected of her for this season. She’s excited to take on more of a leadership role and help the freshman find their footing as they adjust to the Division I level.
“Honestly, I’ve really loved it,” Harvey said of being an upperclassman. “These freshmen are awesome. Like, as volleyball players, but also as people as well. Immediately when they came to camps, I feel like we clicked really well and I had no, I feel like it wasn’t as hard compared to maybe other programs where I felt really comfortable getting to know them and being a source for them where I could be their help. I can be someone they can look towards.
“Every day like I mentioned, I’m learning from external sources. I still look up to Elia a lot about that. I still talk to past seniors in the past that we’ve had and kind of still will get help from them. But overall, like, it’s something I’ve been really enjoying. Kind of learning and getting to learn them as individuals and as people as well learning myself as an individual and as a player. So, I really enjoy the whole process of, you know, the whole leadership role on and off the court.”
Speaking of Elia Rubin, Harvey is grateful to have her as someone she can continue to look up. As a senior, Rubin has to be the leader of the team and shoulder a lot of responsibility on that front. Harvey feels like Rubin has done a great job of leading out and being someone who she can lean on for support.
“Honestly, like, Elia has been a really great player to look after and I fortunately have had the opportunity to watch her for so long,” Harvey said of Rubin. “Elia, she’s just such a great leader. She’s such a hardworking person, you know, as an athlete and as an individual. And so like, taking a lot of what she says on the court to everyone and things that she said to me as a leader, but then also as a friend, really just trying to be kind of the upstanding and hardworking player that she’s always been. I’ve always referred to Elia as, you know, my player one because she’s always one I can rely on to just give it her all and be someone I can trust to help us win this game every single time. So, just trying to adopt similar, you know, aspects of her game into mine.”
Another person who Harvey has in her corner is Denver Nuggets power forward Aaron Gordon, who just happens to be her older cousin. Gordon recently won an NBA championship with Denver and knows what it takes to compete at the absolute pinnacle of his sport. Harvey feels like it helps a ton to have him in her life to lean on for advice.
“I mean, having someone like Aaron who has competed at such a high level has been, you know, great to have because it’s always someone I can look up to, but then also is like, you know, a familial individual where if there is something wrong, I’m like hey, I feel like what I am going through is super challenging,” Harvey said. “It’s good to have that, you know, person to go to and understand like, you know, challenges are experience at every single level, even at the highest in which a lot of people wouldn’t think all the time. And so having him, you know, see the things that he’s done, which he has done great things, you know, he’s won the NBA championship and has just done a lot of things for himself and especially after this last season, he had an amazing season.
“Just watching how hard that he’s worked and how resilient he has been, has just been really nice to have like such at a personal level, I’d say. Especially familial. So I really enjoyed watching him grow and continue having that relationship.”
Even though she’s now a junior, Harvey still feels like there’s a lot of room for her to grow in her own game. She’s focused a lot on her back row game and being a better defender.
“I feel like two things about my game that I’ve been really focusing on both on court and off court is physically, like as a volleyball player I’m trying to improve, you know, my back row game,” Harvey affirmed. “Obviously, just always being, you know, a threat in the front row, in the back row, but also, you know, being a really good defender. So, you know, I can continuously help this team be better, but then also I am an upperclassman now, so just trying to improve, you know, my leadership role. Kind of stepping into being that person I can be looked at by these underclassmen and by these coaches to be a trustworthy source come game time. So I think those are the two things I’ve been really focusing on this upcoming year.”
With it now being Stanford’s second season in the ACC, Harvey feels like they learned a lot from last season. She personally enjoys the chance to visit new places and compete against some of the top programs in the country. She can’t wait to see how they stack up against those teams this year.
“I mean, honestly, the ACC was super fun last year,” Harvey said. “Great competition, you know, playing against, of course, like big teams like Pitt and Louisville, but we also had some other great competition from other teams that I honestly will say surprised me, but I also think we surprised a lot of other people as well.
“I’m really excited, really looking forward to some of the trips that we’re going on. You know, we’re going to go to some states that some of us have never been to and play against teams that we didn’t get to play a lot against last year. And so, really excited just to kind of go through the whole travel process in which a lot of people say is kind of a little shaky. I’m personally excited for it because, you know, new opportunities to improve in every aspect of everything. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to this ACC season.”
Overall, Jordyn Harvey is fired up about the upcoming season. She loves her teammates, coaches, and the chance to compete against the best of the best. More than anything else, she wants to make sure she gave it her all and did whatever was needed of her to help her team win:
“Honestly, what I love is I get to be involved and I love the fact that I’m always kind of involved in the play. Whether it’s blocking, whether it’s defending, hitting, all of that. There’s always something I can be doing. And on top of that, I feel like the position of being a pin is you have to have a little bit more of a leadership role just given, you know, the position you are on the court.
“And that’s something I’m really, like I mentioned really wanting to step into and that I’ve really enjoyed stepping into and kind of finding myself on this team where, you know, I kind of fit within that. So I’m really excited to continue to do that, especially in big games and big matches and kind of adopt what I believe I can do individually and help this team even more.”
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