8 — Thursday, November 7, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Fall 2017, in New Bremen,
Ohio — population of 2,973 —
then-Michigan commit Paige
Jones brought home the first
state championship for her
high school, simultaneously
setting state records for kills
in the state tournament (72)
and kills in a match (47).
Fall 2018, in Ann Arbor,
Michigan
—
student
population of 46,716 — Jones
looked to prove herself as a
freshman on a new stage, one
much larger than ever before.
Now
in
2019,
the
star
sophomore outside hitter has
shown that her skills translate
to the next level — and since
her first start, she has just
kept getting better.
For Jones, this process all
began in fifth grade, when she
started playing club volleyball.
The club she joined was in
Columbus — a three-hour
round trip drive three times a
week.
Fortunately,
Jones’
hard
work paid off, and it showed
in her play. She was a menace
on the court for opposing
teams, and was already being
recruited in her freshman year
of high school.
Michigan
didn’t
begin
recruiting Jones until her
sophomore year, but by the
end of it, she was committed.
“I came here for a visit and I
just fell in love instantly with
the campus,” Jones said. “It
was not like any other campus
that I visited. It was a true
college town. I just felt like I
was at home.”
***
Jones wasn’t as obvious
a recruit as it may seem. At
6-foot-1, she was undersized at
her outside hitter position. It
was a concern Michigan coach
Mark Rosen took into account.
Rosen’s
attention
was
turned toward her by his
assistant coach Sean Byron
and associate head coach/
recruiting coordinator Leisa
Rosen — but Mark was still
uneasy.
Byron
and
Leisa
had to approach the head
coach, adamant about their
judgement on Jones’ skill.
“Mark, you need to just
go watch her for a whole
day,” Byron and Leisa said,
according to Mark. “Just go
to a tournament and sit on
her court. And just watch her.
Don’t watch anybody else, just
watch her.”
“So,
I
went
to
the
tournament and I just sat down
and I watched her,” Mark said.
“And literally halfway through
the day, I texted both of them
and said we have to have this
kid. She’s awesome.”
From then on, Michigan’s
recruitment
of
Jones
was
aggressive because they knew
how great a fit she would be.
“I think a lot of people
missed on her,” Mark said. “I
think probably a lot of people
had that same inclination I
did of, is she going to be big
enough? And they didn’t take
the time to go sit and watch
her.”
Her ability to adapt — aided
by her years playing track
and basketball in addition to
volleyball — certainly helped
in her transition from high
school to the Big Ten, one
of college volleyball’s best
conferences. The team was
able to get in the gym early
in the summer, helping Jones
shift from high school to
college play. But one of her
most important assets in the
transition
was
then-senior
outside hitter Carly Skjodt.
Jones was able to learn from
her as a role model, on and off
the court.
Jones went on to finish her
freshman year with strong
numbers.
She
ended
the
season with 402 kills — second
most on the team, only behind
Skjodt — and led the team with
39 serving aces.
But those are just numbers
to Jones. Her main goal is to
keep developing.
“I’m not the best I can be,”
Jones said. “You can never
really be the best that you can
be. I just keep coming into the
gym working hard every single
day.”
Just like in high school,
her effort has shown in her
progress. This season, she
leads the team with 303 kills
and 30 serving aces, and she
has 178 digs, 28 blocks and 14
assists. But most notably, she’s
improved her hit percentage.
Jones ended her freshman
year
with
a
.195
hitting
percentage, not what the team
was looking for at the outside
hitter
position.
This
year,
she’s improved tremendously,
hitting at .260 through 22
games.
“She still gets kills like
crazy, but her efficiency has
gotten so much better,” Mark
said. “She’s continued to get
better.”
Jones is only in her second
year as a Wolverine, but her
skills and hard work offer a
hint of how good she may be
after two more years.
“I think she has the potential
to be one of the best outside
hitters in the country,” Mark
said. “I wouldn’t really want to
put any limits or expectations
on her because I think she
could be the best ever.
“Who knows?”
***
For Jones, success stems
from her beginnings. And
she believes it is of utmost
importance to give back.
“Every single time I go
home, I make sure to go
into school, visit all my old
teachers,
visit
the
team,”
Jones
said.
“Just
making
sure I go back to the roots
where it all started and just
get back. I think that’s super
important. Because without
them, without the people in
the years prior, I wouldn’t be
where I am today.”
Jones’ impact on New
Bremen and its residents
should not be understated.
She puts in the time and
effort to leave a positive
influence on the town, and
it shows.
“Everybody knows who
Paige is, everybody wants
to be like Paige. She’s just
a great role model,” said
Diana Kramer, her high
school coach. “Not only do
I still have a relationship
with her, but she still has a
relationship with my four
kids,
with
everybody
in
town. Everybody loves to
see her.”
Kramer goes on to tell
a story about her second
grade classroom. The kids
were writing bio poems and
the last line is “who dreams
of”. A little girl in Kramer’s
class wrote “who dreams
of breaking Paige’s records
playing volleyball.”
That’s the type of lasting
impact Jones has left — a
second
grader,
12
years
younger than Jones, wants
to emulate her.
“She’s made an impression
on a lot of people,” Kramer
said. “She’s just a really good
person. She cares deeply
about people. She’s very,
very
humble.
She’s
very
competitive, but she finds
ways to make the people
around her better people.”
Jones holds the town of
New Bremen and its people
dear to her. She puts in her
time to visit and further
develop
the
culture
she
helped foster. The town
itself is definitely important
to her, but what ties her to
the town is something she
holds closer to her heart
than anything else — family.
She
struggles
to
even
explain how important they
are to her, attributing a large
part of her success to what
her family has done for her
and the time they’ve given
up to help her. When asked
about them, she is answering
before the question is even
finished.
To
any
observer,
it’s
obvious where her giving
virtue comes from, and she
carries her family’s values to
this day.
Paige Jones left her mark
at New Bremen, and now
she’s well on her way to
doing the same at Michigan.
Her numbers are big and her
leadership shows, but she
knows she has even more left
to give. All you need to do is
just watch her.
“
Photo courtesy of Diana Kramer
NICHOLAS STOLL
Daily Sports Writer