Growing up in the Phoenix area, it can be easy for fandom to gravitate to the closest college.
Just ask Jaelyn Hodge, Arizona’s freshman outside hitter.
“When I was little, I would always be at the ASU games, but now I’m never going to be there unless we play them. I would never come down to Tucson,” said Hodge.
Hodge’s opinion of the Wildcats — and Tucson — changed when she visited the UA for a volleyball camp before her freshman year at Queen Creek High School. Hodge was shy and introverted, but broke out of her shell after she felt comfortable around the Wildcats’ coaching staff — especially former UA assistant Gregg Whitis, who head coach Dave Rubio claims “is the only person to make Jaelyn laugh.”
That connection paid off when it came time for Arizona to recruit Hodge. She committed to the Wildcats as a high school sophomore, saying she wanted to stay close to home.
“I’m very close with my family, so that was a big reason why I wanted to stay,” she said.
The 6-foot Hodge has already carved out a significant role this season, and will be relied on even more when the Wildcats (2-6) host Oregon State on Friday and Sunday. Outside hitter Paige Whipple, one of two seniors on Arizona’s roster, will miss the weekend’s matches due to a back issue that Rubio referred to as a “genetic disposition.”
“Unfortunately, it popped up. We’re hoping it calms down a little bit and then she could play next week,” Rubio said. “But at this point with back issues, it’s week-to-week.”
Rubio calls Hodge “an exceptional athlete. She’s quick, fast, explosive, good arm.” She recorded her best attack-percentage (.350) as a Wildcat on in Sunday’s loss to Oregon.
Hodge transferred from Queen Creek to Chandler Basha for her senior season, then led the Bears to a Class 6A state championship. Despite sitting out 23 matches because of the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s transfer guidelines, Hodge registered 397 kills with a .476 kill percentage. She recorded 33 kills in the state title match win, putting her career total at 954.
Hodge was named Arizona’s 2019 Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year, and was rated by PrepVolleyball.com as the 20th-best recruit for the 2020 recruiting cycle.
Hodge is the highest-rated prospect to sign with the Wildcats since Whitney Dosty in 2006.
“It’s been unusual for us to get a player at that level and that talent. Typically, those players are going somewhere else,” Rubio said. “And it’s really rare for us to get a player like that from in-state, because typically those players are going out of state as well. … We’re fortunate Jaelyn chose to go to Arizona.”
Hodge is joined on the court by fellow freshman Sofia Maldonado Diaz, who had a breakout performance against No. 11 Washington earlier this season. Her 25 kills were the most by a freshman since 2007. With Hodge, Maldonado Diaz, middle blocker China Rai Crouch and setter Emery Herman all playing as freshmen, the Wildcats’ future appears bright.
“Those four players, along with a couple of littles that came in their freshman year, are really the future of this program and have the ability to play at an elite level,” Rubio said.
“To me, the opportunity for them to see playing time is going to provide an opportunity to get better. Everything to us is pointing towards the fall. As much as we’d like to win right now, we just need time on the clock. …
“Every day I go into practice knowing we’re going to be one of the top-level and elite teams; it’s just a matter of when it’s going to happen. … I know in time, we’ll be exceptional.”
Rubio believes Hodge could follow in the footsteps of ex-Wildcats Jennifer Abernathy and Kim Glass, who won a silver medal with the U.S. women’s volleyball team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
“If she continues to progress the way she is, I think she’ll be one of the top outside hitters in the conference,” Rubio said.
“She can take it as far as she wants to take it. If she wants to go international and be a pro, if she wants to be on the national team, all of those things are in front of her; it’s just a matter of if those are the things she wants to pursue.”
