Welcome to Louisiana: Christina Jordan
From singing Country Roads to being a hitting partner with Venus Williams to playing No. 1 singles for most of her college career at West Virginia University, Christina Jordan's next chapter of her life starts at Louisiana.
Growing up in Detroit, Michigan, Jordan found inspiration in the game from Williams and her sister, Serena Williams, while watching them on TV at a very young age. Her curiosity in the two world icons brought Jordan to her father expressing how she wanted to be like them.
After admitting her parents didn't know much about the sport at the time, Jordan said she didn't know how to describe her feeling towards the game.
"It was just something that kind of came to me," Jordan said. "My grandma, who is from Poland, played doubles with her sister when she was younger and that might be how this came to me, but I have really just been playing ever since."
Jordan started participating in ITFs around 10 years old and competing against girls that were substantially older than her. After having incredible success at the junior level, playing in professional exhibitions and competing at some of the top prep schools in the country, Jordan knew she wanted to pursue the college route, which led her to West Virginia.
Her success from her prep career followed her to WVU as Jordan was elected to be the Freshman of the Year for West Virginia and clinched the program's first-ever Big 12 title.
Her tremendous success and fortune continued into her junior season as she was blessed with a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a hitting partner with Williams at the Greenbrier Resort.
"This was an amazing experience for me," Jordan said. "I guess she looked me up and saw I was pretty close. The Williams sisters are always doing things for the community and giving other opportunities and I guess she wanted a different ball or feel and looked me up and asked."
However, during the end of her junior season, Jordan suffered an injury which sidelined her into her senior season. Even though she missed some time, she was thankful to earn another year of eligibility.
"COVID-19 was a blessing and a curse," Jordan said. "I get another year to get a new experience, go somewhere else and play for a full year."
With only one year of eligibility at Louisiana, her goal is to help the team as much as she can, something that head coach Stephanie Vallejos believes she will be able to achieve right away.
"I'm incredibly excited to have Christina join our program," Vallejos said. "Her experience at the college level will be an asset to our team. Her excitement to compete will fit in well with the competitive spirit our team has."
Even though Jordan never got to campus during the recruiting process, she has already realized almost everything the coaching staff has preached is coming to life.
"I noticed it's a family-type environment," Jordan described. "In order to perform better on the court, you have to have good relationships on the court. I am just trying to stay healthy and do things the right way."
Quote
Re: Welcome to Louisiana: Christina Jordan
Originally Posted by Turbine
