Dominic Hernandez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain Pointe High School for AZPreps365.com

At any given time when the Mountain Pointe girls volleyball team plays their libero, Jordan Woods has to focus on the movement and the screeching her teammates’ shoes make across the floor. 

The roar of the smaller but still lively crowd is drowned out as she focuses on the serve from the other team. Anticipation runs high as the opposing team prepares to serve the ball. 

Woods, the Pride’s senior defensive specialist, or libero, feels the weight of leading the team through these hard times as well as her desire to be the rock that keeps them playing at the best level that they can. 

She tenses up as the ball is hit and she gets even more engaged as the team works in synchronicity. 

Woods has been playing volleyball for 11 years now and continues to improve and enjoy the sport each passing year. She hopes to keep playing in college and learn skills that will help her be successful in the future. 

“I grew up playing volleyball since I was 5 years old at the YMCA till I was 9 years old and then I switched to club volleyball, but honestly just a lot of volleyball,” Woods said. 

She was introduced to the sport from a neighbor who coached volleyball and invited her to come and play on the team. Back then, Woods said she had a shy and sometimes nervous personality, which produced its own challenges.

“My neighbor actually started coaching and invited me to join the team and I saw how serious my cousin took it so that got me very interested in it,” Woods said. 

“Growing up I idolized my cousin for sure because she played in Colorado at a Division II school and we would play in the backyard at Thanksgiving,” Woods said. 

Her cousin, Taylor Woods, really helped her fall in love with the sport and pushed her to be the best player that she could be. Her coaches took notice of her attitude right away in volleyball and saw the potential that she had, including the life skills the sport taught her at a young age. 

“Volleyball made her more disciplined and competitive which transcends into doing good on schoolwork and pushing to keep up high grades.” said her dad, Paul Woods. 

As the years went by, her personality changed and she became more assertive and outgoing, complementing the attitude she had while playing volleyball. 

One of the hardest times in her life was when her grandma passed away when she was in middle school. This became even more of a challenge for Woods as she had to fly straight from the funeral to play in state playoffs and be focused on winning. 

“It was a hard time for me but my teammates were there for me so it was OK,” she said, adding she knew that she had to be strong and having her teammates there for support helped her tremendously.  

Once she reached high school, she took her skills to a new level by improving her play style through hard work and repetition. 

“When she was a freshman being named an MVP of the team and learned how to take charge in becoming a leader of the team,” said Paul Woods, reflecting on his daughter’s athletic growth.  

It was a little bit of a shock for her when she  transferred from Hamilton, where she played freshman year, to Mountain Pointe. The reason that she transferred schools, Woods said, was because she had more friends at Mountain Pointe compared to Hamilton. 

This time period was difficult in that she had to go from being the MVP of her former team to having to learn a new playbook at Mountain Pointe. But as she spent more time on the Pride volleyball team, her confidence returned and she became a strong supporter for her new team.

She ended up being selected to the second All-Region team her junior year, her game kept evolving and her confidence grew each step of the way. 

“She does a good job of being a leader essentially who leads by example of how she plays and is infectious to the whole team to keep them in playing shape,” said Mountain Pointe coach Andrew Yamashiro. 

Leadership has been especially important this year for the team in general as a lot of the seniors are not playing because of COVID-19, according to the coach.

“Kids are looking up to her in that they see her do well and how much she believes in her teammates pushing them to work harder each game,” Yamashiro said. 

He has put more expectations on Woods which she has shouldered to keep the team competitive in all the games they are in. The Pride are 2-10 overall and 0-8 in their section this season, but they try to improve as much as possible each game they play. Despite this record, the team has stayed competitive in most of their games and the players learn from every experience on the court.

The team has had to deal with most of their seniors sitting out this season due to the pandemic. This change has forced Jordan to step into more of a commanding role to keep the team together and playing at a competitive level. While they may not be one of the top teams heading toward the end of the season, the skills they learn will help them prepare for future cracks at getting into the playoffs.    

“Having to be a leader helps me engage more in playing and allows me to be aware of everything going on so I can help my teammates out,” Woods said.  

Yamishiro always looks to Woods to help keep the team motivated and feels the team would not have the same drive to win if she wasn’t there or didn’t put in the effort to try and win. 

As one of the only returning seniors, Woods wants to be a player underclassmen can emulate.  As college approaches, Woods looks forward to playing volleyball as well as pursuing a career in psychology. 

The recruiting process has not been easy for her even with her being one of the top liberos in the state, especially during a pandemic that has caused games to be canceled and practices restricted. But she remains hopeful some college out there will call her name. 

“She would bring consistency in doing her job and being open to learning anything to help her improve her game and any college would be lucky to have her,” Yamashiro said. 

Woods already has her eyes on the next chapter in her life, even as she hopes to keep the sport she loves as part of the future. 

“I view psychology as my way of giving back to the community and helping those in need,” Woods said. 

Growing up with volleyball helped Jordan in so many ways that she can’t imagine what her life would be like without it. Being a leader has helped her with her confidence and set her up to be successful in anything she does. 

In the future as she looks back on her life, she envisions it will be filled with memories of accomplishments and knowing that all this hard work was worth it in the end.