Jordan Larson
I think it's just being good every single day and being there for my teammates. I know that I can't do it alone, and they can't do it alone, and we've got to lean on each other.Collection: Alone
The smile helps me keep a positive attitude and go on to the next play.Collection: Attitude
I had big dreams and my parents allowed me to travel and go to these traveling teams, and to make it known to kids that if you really put your mind and your heart into what you want to do, that anything is possible.Collection: Dreams
At the end of the day, that's all I hope for, is that I can sleep well at night knowing that I did everything that I could.Collection: Hope
I think we really try to focus on acknowledgement. Like acknowledging, OK, that was not such a good play, but at the end of the day it's only one point really in the perspective of the match, and you have a chance to replace it with a good one.Collection: Chance
I think it's about failure recovery and how you perform at a high level in front of a lot of people. I think that sets you up for success on the big stage.Collection: Failure
It's so awesome to see a lot of the young talent really grow and compete every single day.
Istanbul is an unbelievable city, just really beautiful and the people are really, really nice.
I think that's the greatest thing about team sports is that you're not in it alone.
Japan is one of my favorite places to play. Not just because they love volleyball, but the people are so nice and they're so clean and organized.
It's been an amazing journey so far for me, in the places that I've gone and the people that I've met.
There will always be someone out there that is better than you, and you have to accept it and focus on improving yourself.
I'm trying to go out there having the mentality that I'm the best out there and nobody can stop me.
You think about all the years that a USA volleyball team has been in the Olympics and have tried and have fallen short. Then to feel like you're pushing for something and you're trying to find that edge and then you finally do it, it's like, Whoa, it worked!'
I've been playing professionally now for over 13 years - played in China, Turkey, Russia, and just was a part of the inaugural season in the States.
I still feel like that girl making my first junior national team. And here I am 12 years in.
I come from the University of Nebraska where volleyball is very well-known.
I chose the Pink Fund because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and I was pretty young in high school. At the time when she got re-diagnosed, my family had to move and they lost a job. Times were tough a little bit financially. The Pink Fund allows money to be raised to help women in need. I'm really excited to be able to represent that.
It's been a dream of mine to play in the States ever since college. Being able to play pro here is amazing.
I've thought about it a lot: How do I want to leave my legacy? And what do I want to leave behind when I'm done with the sport and with USA Volleyball.
In Rio, we took the bronze, but I thought we gave everything we had, and that's what we walked away with.
All of the major events are fun. Obviously the Olympic Games is top.
I really enjoy Turkey, where I live.
I'm not going to play volleyball until the retirement age.
I had been in Russia for five years and had a pretty successful run, and I just kind of wanted a change. I wanted to see different things. They're pretty equal leagues, but there was less travel involved in Turkey.
Russia is a very big country, so we were traveling a lot more. Turkey isn't as hard on my body, so that was a nice change.
After college I was like, Oh, I want to play pro,' but I didn't know exactly what that meant.
I'm just not getting any younger.
I've been playing consistently overseas for 12 years straight with no real offseason. I also have other endeavors in my life that I want to see. Getting married, having children, those kinds of things. The older I get, the more challenging those become.
All I know is Coach Cook said I'd be a pretty good sand player because I have all the shots.
I try to wake up at the same time every day and go through my workout routines and then golf on the other days.
I played a lot of sports growing up - soccer, softball, basketball, track - and started playing on a club team when I was 12. That's when I fell in love with volleyball.
In high school, I think I served almost an entire match by myself.
I'm the only person who can talk volleyball all the time.
I feel pretty good right now at the age of soon-to-be 31.
I just love that I've been on a lot of teams that maybe talent hasn't been our top thing, but we found a way to win, and I think that just shows that anybody can play the sport and really have fun doing it.
You can't really win without serving and passing, you got to hit the ball in the court.
Brazilian fans are awesome. They create such an awesome atmosphere.
Especially at home, people tell me that my serve is their favorite thing about the games.
It's you and the ball against all the passers and you're just trying to place it the best you can. But sometimes, I don't even know where the ball's going.
What was important to me was that I represented Nebraska.
I've been able to play at the highest level for a really long time, and I've done it to the best of my ability.
I think I'm ready and excited for Rio in 2016.
I actually did a mini-season in China before and I was able to come back to the national team and kind of knew what I needed to do to get my body right.
I'm not an emotional player, an emotional person.
We had to learn that in London and in Rio that we just weren't enough at that point. Did we believe it in that moment? Absolutely. We had to go one extra step to figure it out.
I make fun of one of my teammates because she's like, I'm going to retire.' And that was after the Beijing Olympics. I don't know. I don't want to put all of my eggs in that basket because who knows what the future holds.
Physically I feel like I put in great work in the weight room.
I've dedicated a lot of time to this sport, and to see my time coming to an end, it's kind of sad.
Sometimes when you're constantly playing volleyball there is no time to decompress mentally and physically.