"I still love the game immensely. As I've gotten older, there's more pieces that come with it. I'm living on house money, every day is an absolute blessing."
Jordan Larson said those words when she announced her retirement earlier this season. On April 4, a raucous crowd at Baxter Arena in Omaha said goodbye to their local living legend as Larson's LOVB Nebraska fell to LOVB Austin in five sets, ending her professional career that spanned 18 years, three continents, and nearly every honor the sport has to offer.
She didn't go quietly. She never has.
Larson finished her final match with 19 kills, 20 digs and a .417 hitting percentage, a double-double that would be a career night for most players.
But not Larson. At 39 years old, she had been playing professionally since before some of her opponents were in high school. And when Nebraska fell behind, she was everywhere on the court, willing her team forward until there was simply nothing left to give.
It was, in many ways, the perfect encapsulation of a career defined by an unrelenting standard of excellence.
"She's a Kobe, she's a Michael Jordan," said LOVB Austin head coach Erik Sullivan after that April 4 match. "She just is the epitome of what a coach wants their professional athletes to be."
That standard was forged in Nebraska, where Larson grew up in Hooper and went on to become the state's most celebrated volleyball player. At the University of Nebraska, she led the Huskers to an NCAA championship in 2006 and a runner-up finish in 2005, earned three All-American honors and finished her career with a school-record 186 aces. Her jersey was retired in 2017. She was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020.
They called her The Governor for a reason.
From Nebraska, Larson took her game to the world stage and dominated it. Sixteen years of professional play in Europe and Asia. Two CEV Champions League titles. A Club World Championship. MVP honors. Best Outside Hitter awards. Championships across Turkey, Russia, China and the United States.
And then there was the national team, the stage where Jordan Larson shined even brighter. She helped the United States to Olympic silver in 2012 and bronze in 2016. In between, she helped the U.S. win its first-ever World Championship. Three consecutive Volleyball Nations League titles followed. Each one added another layer to a legacy already unlike anything American volleyball had seen.
But nothing compared to the Tokyo Olympics. In 2021, Larson captained the United States to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball — clinching it, even, with the match-winning kill. She was named the tournament's MVP and Best Outside Hitter. Four years later, Jordan was back on the Olympic podium with silver in Paris. Four Olympic medals, by far the greatest individual run in U.S. indoor volleyball history.
"When we throw out the word GOAT, we are truly looking at the best volleyball player to ever play for our country on the female side," said Kirsten Bernthal Booth, LOVB Nebraska President of Business Operations. "There was much more than physical ability. There was drive. She is one of the most humble and kind people."
Her final chapter brought her home. As one of LOVB's Founding Athletes, Larson returned to the state that made her, playing in front of the fans who never stopped claiming her as their own. She joined LOVB Nebraska's ownership group last summer, investing in the franchise and the future of the sport in her home state.
During her final season, she led all LOVB outside hitters in kills and finished top six overall in points, kills and aces. At nearly 40 years old, Larson was still one of the best players in the building every single night.
Nebraska fell just short of the postseason in 2026, finishing 10-10. Larson pushed them there, and when the final weekend arrived with playoff implications still alive, she gave everything she had.
"The last couple of years, we've had some hard conversations about maybe what the team needed, but Jordan always pushed those conversations with love and great intentions," said LOVB Nebraska head coach Suzie Fritz. "I got that from her at all times. She really supported me."
Her reach extended far beyond Nebraska, far beyond the national team, far beyond any single jersey she wore. Fellow Cornhusker Madi Banks wore No. 10 at Nebraska because of Jordan Larson.
"I've literally watched her and looked up to her my whole life," Banks said.
That is the truest measure of what Larson leaves behind. Not the medals, not the records, not the championships, though all of those are extraordinary. It's the players she inspired before they ever shared a court with her. The standard she set that others still reach for. The game she made bigger simply by playing it.
"I've been incredibly fortunate to play this game alongside people who pushed me, challenged me, supported me, and believed in something bigger than themselves," she said when she announced her retirement. "None of it happened alone."
None of it happened alone, and we’re grateful to have seen it happen at all.
