Bringing a wealth of knowledge of the game to the First Coast, Jacksonville University volleyball welcomed
Jordan Armstrong as assistant coach in February 2020.
"I am extremely excited to welcome Jordan to the Jacksonville Volleyball family," stated Couture. "Jordan brings an incredible knowledge of the game that will be invaluable for the success of our student-athletes. He shares my vision for a student-athlete centered culture here at JU and his ability connect with players will help propel everyone in the program to reach their full potential. His experience at a variety of levels made him an obvious choice to help build a culture of excellence here at Jacksonville."
Joining the Dolphins after a four-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Akron, Armstrong helped facilitate a turnaround of the Zips' program, from an 8-20 record in 2016 to a 17-12 record in 2019 and the team's first Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament appearance in seven years.
While he primarily worked with the development of setters, middle blockers, opposites, and the team's offensive and blocking systems, Armstrong also recruited players on a national level, worked closely alongside the compliance and academic services departments, served as the technical coordinator for video and scouting reports, and served as director of the Zips' girls volleyball camps and clinics.
With Armstrong on staff, Akron saw success with several Zips earning postseason honors. Among those accolades were 2019 MAC First Team Selection (Emily Weigand) and 2019 All-MAC Honorable Mention (Alexis Adleta), as well as 2016 MAC All-Freshman Team (Elya Karsner). Off the court, the Zips earned 26 Academic All-MAC selections, as well as Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team selections in 2016 and 2017, as well as the AVCA Team Academic Top 25 for both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
"It's a great day to be a Dolphin! I would like to thank Head Coach
Maggie Couture, Athletic Director
Alex Ricker-Gilbert, Associate AD
Whitney Curtis and the rest of the Jacksonville University Athletic Department for welcoming me to JU," stated Armstrong.
"I am fortunate to have worked alongside [Akron head coach] Tom Hanna, the UA student-athletes, and the entire University of Akron Athletic Department over the past four seasons. An additional thank you to my family, friends, and mentors for their never-ending support. I am eagerly awaiting this new opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of our student-athletes here at JU, while also helping them in exceeding expectations both on and off the court."
For the past three summers, Armstrong has also served as an assistant coach for the USA Volleyball High Performance Program, working with the Boy's Future Select (2017), Girls Select National Skills (2018), and the Boys Select A2 (2019) programs. Additionally, he has served as the head coach of the Ohio Valley Region High Performance Girls Select Team, which competed at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Under his tutelage, Armstrong's teams improved from a 10th-place finish in the National Select Division in 2018 to first place in 2019.
Prior to his time at Akron, Armstrong served a pair of stints as the volunteer assistant coach at both his alma mater, Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne (IPFW), and at the University of Kentucky. At both stops, Armstrong assisted with the development and training of setters, middle blockers, opposites, team blocking, and served as the technical coordinator for video exchange and scouting reports.
No stranger to the game, Armstrong was a standout for the Mastodons' men's volleyball team. Among his accolades, he served as a team captain; earned the IPFW Men's Volleyball Coach's Award (2014); the IPFW Dr. David R. Skelton Award (2015); and was a four-year member of the MIVA All-Academic Team (2012-15). Professionally, he was a 2015 AVCA Diversity Award Winner and was a 2018 AVCA Diversity Award speaker. While at Akron, he also worked to establish the universities charter to the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society for student-athletes (2019).
A 2015 graduate of IPFW, Armstrong earned his bachelor's degree in business marketing and management with a minor in communication studies. He later earned his maters of education in sport administration and leadership from the University of Akron in 2018.
