Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Jorgensen helping lead Raiders toward C-USA berth
11/6/2019 1:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Thanks to a boatload of recent success, Middle Tennessee's volleyball team is entering waters it hasn't waded in some time.
It might have been hard to imagine before the season that a major piece taking them there would be a freshman who came from across the Atlantic.
With a 3-1 drubbing of Conference USA foe LA Tech on Nov. 3, the Blue Raiders notched their fifth win in a row for the first time since 2011 and now sit in good position to make the C-USA Championships for the first time since 2013. Their 5-5 conference record marks their most league wins since they had six in 2015.
In every match this season, freshman Amalie Jorgensen has found her name etched into the starting lineup, and she's really started to make her presence felt over the winning streak.
The middle blocker ranks first on the team with 11 solo blocks this season and second with 76 total blocks. She's also upped her season average of .77 blocks per set to .88 in conference matches, and over the last five overall, she's tallied 23 total blocks to go with 37 kills, including a season-high 11 against UAB.
"She's extremely coachable and always has a good attitude," third-year head coach Chuck Crawford said. "Blocking-wise, she just has a feel for the ball … she's just a kid who gets it. Offensively, in the last few matches … she's really showed she's starting to understand the U.S. game.
"I think her overall personality is what adds to the team. She's just not afraid."
Like most European volleyball players who come to the U.S., Jorgensen had to go through a bit of a learning phase.
International volleyball is a little different from the American style, most notably in that only six substitutions are allowed per set, compared to 15 in the U.S. That makes rotations quite different.
"I've heard a lot about American volleyball, so I knew some of it," Jorgensen said. "I feel like there's more focus on each team and a good warmup here."
Not only did Jorgensen have to get acclimated to the different style on the court, but she had to get comfortable in a new environment that's quite different than her home of Odense, Denmark. She'd only been to America for her visit to MT in February before coming in the fall.
"I visited here in February and saw it was very different from Denmark," she said. "I noticed there are many, many good places to eat.
"When I got here, everyone was at my dorm and helping me with stuff, like giving me pillows and blankets. It was really nice."
Luckily, Jorgensen had some teammates to fall back on during her first few weeks.
Senior Dora Peonia (Italian), sophomore Samira Lawson Body (German) and junior Urte Neimantaite (Lithuanian) already had been through a lot of what Jorgensen was about to experience. They helped her with just about everything in the transition, whether that was communicating on the court or getting used to Murfreesboro.
"Dora and Samira and Urte have helped me a lot," Jorgensen said. "They really understand what it's like, because it really is different. We have other cultures … and we can understand each other."
Jorgensen and the Blue Raiders didn't quite click on the court right away. They lost their first six matches of the season, never quite putting a full performance together.
They started to connect from there, though, rattling off wins in five of their next six.
Following a win against nonconference foe UT Martin on Oct. 22, MT found itself starting to claw back into the C-USA race with a matchup against a very solid North Texas awaiting.
The Blue Raiders fought for a 3-2 victory, handing the Mean Green one of just two C-USA losses so far this season. Jorgensen had a season-high 11 blocks to go with six kills, maybe the best all-around performance of her young career.
The spark carried over to the next three matches, giving the Blue Raiders five straight wins and putting them in the driver's seat for a C-USA Championships berth.
"I think, in the beginning, this was a new team, and we were trying to get used to each other," Jorgensen said. "We won against North Texas, and I think that made us confident. I think that was the secret, to win a good game and know we could do it."
At 12-13 overall and 5-5 in C-USA, Middle Tennessee is inching towards several milestones, including its most wins since going 17-13 in 2013.
Keeping the good juju going has been Crawford's main focus.
"It's faith, honestly, and trusting in God," he said. "At some point, you realize as a coach you're not in control. It's putting faith in God, for me personally, and trying to keep the atmosphere in practice fun and light-hearted.
"The expectation in practice is still really high, and they know that, but keeping them who they are is how we keep this going."
With four matches left, the Blue Raiders only need once more victory to clinch a berth in the conference tournament. If they get there, it could be their freshman from Denmark helping to lead the way.
It might have been hard to imagine before the season that a major piece taking them there would be a freshman who came from across the Atlantic.
With a 3-1 drubbing of Conference USA foe LA Tech on Nov. 3, the Blue Raiders notched their fifth win in a row for the first time since 2011 and now sit in good position to make the C-USA Championships for the first time since 2013. Their 5-5 conference record marks their most league wins since they had six in 2015.
In every match this season, freshman Amalie Jorgensen has found her name etched into the starting lineup, and she's really started to make her presence felt over the winning streak.
The middle blocker ranks first on the team with 11 solo blocks this season and second with 76 total blocks. She's also upped her season average of .77 blocks per set to .88 in conference matches, and over the last five overall, she's tallied 23 total blocks to go with 37 kills, including a season-high 11 against UAB.
"She's extremely coachable and always has a good attitude," third-year head coach Chuck Crawford said. "Blocking-wise, she just has a feel for the ball … she's just a kid who gets it. Offensively, in the last few matches … she's really showed she's starting to understand the U.S. game.
"I think her overall personality is what adds to the team. She's just not afraid."
Like most European volleyball players who come to the U.S., Jorgensen had to go through a bit of a learning phase.
International volleyball is a little different from the American style, most notably in that only six substitutions are allowed per set, compared to 15 in the U.S. That makes rotations quite different.
"I've heard a lot about American volleyball, so I knew some of it," Jorgensen said. "I feel like there's more focus on each team and a good warmup here."
Not only did Jorgensen have to get acclimated to the different style on the court, but she had to get comfortable in a new environment that's quite different than her home of Odense, Denmark. She'd only been to America for her visit to MT in February before coming in the fall.
"I visited here in February and saw it was very different from Denmark," she said. "I noticed there are many, many good places to eat.
"When I got here, everyone was at my dorm and helping me with stuff, like giving me pillows and blankets. It was really nice."
Luckily, Jorgensen had some teammates to fall back on during her first few weeks.
Senior Dora Peonia (Italian), sophomore Samira Lawson Body (German) and junior Urte Neimantaite (Lithuanian) already had been through a lot of what Jorgensen was about to experience. They helped her with just about everything in the transition, whether that was communicating on the court or getting used to Murfreesboro.
"Dora and Samira and Urte have helped me a lot," Jorgensen said. "They really understand what it's like, because it really is different. We have other cultures … and we can understand each other."
Jorgensen and the Blue Raiders didn't quite click on the court right away. They lost their first six matches of the season, never quite putting a full performance together.
They started to connect from there, though, rattling off wins in five of their next six.
Following a win against nonconference foe UT Martin on Oct. 22, MT found itself starting to claw back into the C-USA race with a matchup against a very solid North Texas awaiting.
The Blue Raiders fought for a 3-2 victory, handing the Mean Green one of just two C-USA losses so far this season. Jorgensen had a season-high 11 blocks to go with six kills, maybe the best all-around performance of her young career.
The spark carried over to the next three matches, giving the Blue Raiders five straight wins and putting them in the driver's seat for a C-USA Championships berth.
"I think, in the beginning, this was a new team, and we were trying to get used to each other," Jorgensen said. "We won against North Texas, and I think that made us confident. I think that was the secret, to win a good game and know we could do it."
At 12-13 overall and 5-5 in C-USA, Middle Tennessee is inching towards several milestones, including its most wins since going 17-13 in 2013.
Keeping the good juju going has been Crawford's main focus.
"It's faith, honestly, and trusting in God," he said. "At some point, you realize as a coach you're not in control. It's putting faith in God, for me personally, and trying to keep the atmosphere in practice fun and light-hearted.
"The expectation in practice is still really high, and they know that, but keeping them who they are is how we keep this going."
With four matches left, the Blue Raiders only need once more victory to clinch a berth in the conference tournament. If they get there, it could be their freshman from Denmark helping to lead the way.
Players Mentioned
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