Indiana University Athletics
‘Connected’ – Jager Delivering an Elite Freshman Season
11/24/2025 10:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Kona has a point to make. The 4.5-year-old bordoodle snuggles up just outside the Wilkinson Hall volleyball coaches' offices and Jaidyn Jager, as good a volleyball freshman as Indiana has ever had on as good a team as the program has ever produced, can't resist petting her, as no Hoosier can.
Connection matters, including with associate head coach/recruiting coordinator Rachel Morris's there-at-all-times dog.
"I truly believe the reason we're doing so amazing is because of how connected we are, how much we love each other," says Jager, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter. "We all want the best for each other. Having that trust means the world to us."
Practice is over, huge home matches with Rutgers (a Hoosier sweep) and No. 1 Nebraska (a three-set defeat) loom, with this week's trips to Illinois and No. 11 Purdue before an NCAA tourney opportunity more than a decade in the making in this most special of seasons -- a 22-6 record and a top-20 national ranking.
Jager can't wait.
"I'm so excited," she says with a light-up-the-room smile. "Ever since I was young, I loved playing up, loving playing against guys, loved playing against such good competition.
"To have the privilege to play at a place like this and to have the atmosphere like this and to have such amazing girls like this, I'm so blessed and honored that I get to do this with the people I love."
Love has helped Jager position herself to become potentially IU's first Big Ten freshman of the year since Sheri Stout in 1989, and while ability is a factor, it's not the only one.
Sports have highs, moments when the adrenaline flows and the crowds cheer, moments when achievement, real achievement, the ones that only the best can attain, come when it matters most.
Jager plays for them.
"There's a certain high I get when it's an intense game and you need to get a point," she says. "I love that pressure. I could not see my life without it."
Head coach Steve Aird loves that she loves it.
"She's never let the big stage, and the big crowds affect her," he says. "She thrives in that space."
The saying goes that what you do is not who you are, but that's not necessarily true for those who are driven, who are committed and passionate. In those cases, when you love it enough, what you do is who you are.
Jager is, overwhelmingly, a volleyball player, but not for the numbers or the individual glory or even the team victories, although there has been plenty of that in this breakthrough season.
It's the relationships, the bonds between teammates and people, the shared joy in things big and small, that resonate the most for Jaeger.
"There's so much fun in winning," she says, "but it's the connections we've made as players on and off the court. We hang out outside of volleyball. We love being with each other."
*****
Opportunity arrives in sold-out Wilkinson Hall. IU is trying to stay within second-set range of unbeaten Nebraska, perhaps as good a college team as the sport has ever seen.
During a furious rally, the Hoosiers deflect a Cornhusker kill attempt. The ball rockets toward the bleachers behind the court, a potential Nebraska point. Jager isn't having it. She sprints then dives to save it, her back to the net, at least 10 feet out of bounds. Arms and body extended, like a football receiver diving for a catch, Jager hits the ball back toward the net well enough for a teammate to drive it over the net and extend the rally.
It is a remarkable display of athleticism and effort reflective of Jager's talent, potential and passion.
Given her youth, so much more is possible.
"So much comes back to she has all the tools," Aird says. "It's all of the stuff that separates the good from the great."
Jager, a top-55 prospect coming out of California's La Costa Canyon High School, has played in all 97 sets this season, one of five Hoosiers to do so. Her 334 kills rank second on the team to senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles's 346 and ahead of senior outside hitter Avry Tatum (309). She leads the Hoosiers with 211 digs.
"She came plug-and play-ready," says Aird, in his 12th season as a head coach and 22nd coaching season overall. "In my career, she's in the conversation for the most complete freshman I've ever had.
"There wasn't a lot of teaching as far as skill. She was very well trained. She's physically gifted. Easy going. Very confident. Very composed. A gym rat. Everything about her game said she was going to be fine."
And so Jager has. She's twice been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, highlighted by IU's sweep of Maryland and defending national champion Penn State when she had 24 kills overall and a career-high 13 digs against Maryland.
"Where she's grown is the day to day, how to be a pro, how to take care of herself, how to scout, how to learn how to dissect teams," Aird says. "She's still in her infancy in that side of it, but her volleyball IQ is off the charts. She's dependable. Her physicality has been great. She's had very few matches where it was like, she doesn't know what's going on."
Did Jager expect such early success?
"I didn't expect anything. I had a bunch of goals for myself and have more I want to achieve being only a freshman. All the work I've put in goes into those numbers. I'm trying to improve them even more."
Bad matches have been few. Jager had just five kills in a loss at Western Kentucky, had 10 errors against seven kills in a loss at Michigan State.
"She's been great in bouncing back," Aird says. "That's such a veteran thing. That's why she's been so consistently good all year.
"The game has been so easy for her, but for the first time in her career, she had some times where it was like, 'Hey, I'm struggling.' But her resiliency in that space has been amazing.
"She has a great frame, a great athletic feel and an amazing volleyball IQ. That combination gave her so much early success.
"None of this is shocking."
When challenges come, Jager says, she uses "self-talk" to encourage herself. Teammate support helps.
"They've helped me so much with self-talk. Again, it's the connection. That's gone into how I mentally feel."
Despite her youth, Jager has thrived amid the wear and tear of a Big Ten season. That reflects her training ethic as well as IU's player development and sports medicine program. Associate athletic trainer Amanda Madsen is at the forefront for volleyball.
"A big thanks to Amanda and everyone who helps keep me in one piece," Jager says. "I could be like, 'My knee hurts a little bit' and -- boom! -- treatment.
"Having all these resources is keeping me together, especially being a freshman and not knowing how much wear and tear college sports will have on your body. Being on top of treatment and prioritizing it has helped."
That's especially true in punishing Big Ten play. The conference features seven ranked teams.
"Everyone on every team is super sore," Jager says. "Especially at this point in the season, I try to power through it."
IU has had four players earn AVCA All-America status, most recently Camryn Haworth in 2023. What is Jager's ceiling?
"She'll get stronger, quicker," Aird says. "The game will slow down for her. Going from club to college, the game is so much faster. She's closed that gap.
"It's details. She'll get smarter. She'll get more confident. More calm. Offensively she has all the tools, but she'll grow in that space. She'll become a good blocker. She'll become a better passer. Defensively she has good instincts. She'll get better. Experience at this level will make her better every year."
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Why is a California native a Hoosier?
"I loved everything about it -- the high level of volleyball, the academics (a business major, she calls the Kelley School of Business "amazing")," Jager says.
"The people are the most important thing. It's OK to not click with everyone, but I did here. I got lucky."
Luck included player and coaching contacts. Jager was a La Costa High School teammate of Tatum, and they both played for Morris there. Plus, Jager's sister Kailyn played for now Hoosier assistant coach Kevin Hodge in California club volleyball.
"I've known Avry and her family for a long while," Jager says. "Both of us have grown so much as people. To reconnect in a place like this, to play with her again, is awesome. Both of us are trying to take as much advantage of this as we can before she (graduates). And what are the odds that Rachel is our coach, too?
"Everything came together perfectly."
Then there's Aird's strong California recruiting connections. The state is known for producing outstanding volleyball players and Aird, who lived there four years, recruits it hard.
"We've always kept tabs on that state," he says. "Volleyball there is really strong."
Jager was a top priority.
"Jaidyn was a player who I think fell through the cracks in the recruiting process," Aird says. "I would safely say she was one of the best recruits in the country. Her club team lost in the national championship match (last summer), and she might have been the best player on the floor."
In a lot of ways, she still is.
*****
Before the season, Aird knew he had a special team, perhaps even better than the 2010 Hoosier squad, led by All-American Ashley Benson, that reached the Sweet Sixteen.
The Hoosiers have met those expectations despite youth that has seen six freshmen get significant playing time. Their 13 Big Ten victories are a program record. They're tied with USC for fourth in the conference and are positioned to finish in the top five for the first time in the 21st Century. Their 22 overall victories are a program regular-season record.
"In the 51 years IU has had a program," Aird says, "this is as good a team as IU has ever had. They've had great players and coaches in the past, but this team is pretty special."
Seniors Alonso-Corcelles, Tatum, Madi Sell and Jessica Smith have set the tone for young players such as Jager, fellow freshmen Teodora Krickovic, Audrey Jackson, Victoria Gray, Avery Freeman, Hannah Leftridge and Charlotte Vinson, and sophomore Ella Boersema.
"I feel honored to play with the people around me," Jager says. "All the younger girls are so grateful to play with older girls like Candela and Avry.
"Everyone has contributed to where we are right now. We want to help the seniors achieve their goals. Their goals have become our goals. That's the main thing."
Was there a eureka moment when potential became reality?
For Aird, it was the 3-2 season opening victory at Miami (currently ranked No. 14), when the youthful Hoosiers rallied from a two-set deficit to win.
"That's a really good team," Aird says. "They have veteran kids who are national team players from different countries.
"We fell behind and didn't blink. We just kept going. One thing I knew immediately was they're going to be resilient: they're going to be tough. They won't just throw their hands up.
"In a lot of the big matches we won, we lost the first game and battled back. That's the league. You have to keep going."
For Jager, the defining moments were early October 3-1 wins over then No. 17 USC and No. 24 UCLA in Los Angeles on consecutive days.
"We all had so many goals for that trip," she says. "Let's go take them down. We all believed it so much. That helped us win. In both, we got crushed in the first set and took them out the next three sets.
"We had so many new people. That's when all of us really connected. That's when I was like, this is going to be pretty good."
And so it has, which circles back to the heart of it.
"It's getting to know everyone," Jager says. "All these connections will last a lifetime."
