School: Cheltenham
Volleyball
Favorite athlete: Steve Nash
Favorite team: Phoenix Suns
Favorite memory competing in sports: Our first match of the season when we came back from down 0-2 against CB South and won. My teammate and I both went up for the last kill, apparently that confused the other team enough that we won the point and the match.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: During a match in my sophomore year, our team won a game, but I thought we won the whole match. It took me a minute to realize why I was the only person on the court ready to shake the other players’ hands. We ended up losing.
Music on iPod: Kirk Franklin, Jill Scott, Andre 3000
Future plans: Study abroad in college. I really enjoy traveling during the summer, and being able to study in a different country for a semester would be great.
Words to live by: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.’ (Proverbs 3:5-6)
One goal before turning 30: Earn a PhD
One thing people don’t know about me: When I was little, instead of calling my grandmother ‘grandma,’ I would call her ‘momu.’ My sister and I have been calling our grandmothers by that name ever since.
By Alex Frazier
At the end of last volleyball season, many of his peers asked Cheltenham coach Chris Manser how he was going to replace his best player, Brian Sloan, who was first team all-league and third team all-district.
Manser’s answer?
“I already have.”
That replacement has been Jordan Blackwell.
In many ways Blackwell is a lot like Sloan.
Sloan holds the single season kill record of 291, a record that Blackwell has in his sights. He currently has 125 kills in 31 games (through Wednesday).
“He was an amazing player,” said Blackwell of Sloan. “I never thought I’d be anywhere near his caliber, but now I’m going for his record. It’s pretty fun. I always joked with Brian, saying, ‘You better watch out because I’m coming for that record.’ I never thought I actually had a chance of getting it.”
He wasted no time this year.
In the season opener against C.B. South, Blackwell recorded 35 kills (.588 hitting percentage), two aces and six digs in leading the Panthers to a come-from-behind win.
“If he does break that record, he might actually own the school record for kills (currently owned by Yong Yoo who set the standard of 539 in 2006),” said Manser.
Sloan and Blackwell have also been mentors. Last year Sloan guided Blackwell, teaching him everything he knew.
“He took me under his wing,” said Blackwell. “Basically everything I know about hitting come from him and the other upperclassmen on the team.”
This year Blackwell is doing the same for freshman outside hitter Brett Mayne.
“He has four years and by the time he is a junior and senior, he’s going to be amazing,” said Blackwell. “I’m just doing my part to help him develop his game.”
Even if it means he could lose his potential record to him.
“If I get it, I’ll just have to enjoy that time however short it may be,” said Blackwell.
“Jordan’s very willing to help and to teach and pass on what he knows and what he’s learned,” said Manser. “Brian did the same thing for Jordan.”
As an outside hitter, Blackwell’s primary job is to rocket the ball over the net so opposing teams have no chance to return it. At 6-1, he has the height to do just that.
“If we can get the ball to him, there really hasn’t been anybody who has an answer for him at all,” said Manser. “When he gets the ball, he really hammers it.”
But as in everything else he does, Blackwell exceeds the basic job description. He ranks third on the team in digs with 51. That’s normally a responsibility of the setter or backline players.
“I do whatever I can do to help the team win games,” he said.
Blackwell didn’t begin volleyball until 10th grade, if you don’t count the one day of practice he survived in ninth grade.
“I just wasn’t into it,” recalled Blackwell. “I couldn’t see myself playing.”
Blackwell had been a basketball player. For years he had been playing with his friends on the backboard in his driveway. In seventh grade, he tried out for the middle school team but was cut. He made it the following year (he played about 30 seconds the entire season) and then started on the freshman team the following year.
As a sophomore on the jayvee, his coach was Chris Manser, who also coached volleyball.
The two hit it off and Manser kept encouraging him to try volleyball again.
The second time was the charm.
“I decided to do it again,” said Blackwell. “It grew on me. He was a great coach so I decided to go out for volleyball also. He was a big part of my decision.”
“His mom played volleyball and she convinced him to give it a shot,” said Manser. “About halfway through his sophomore year, he was getting varsity time.”
As a junior he dropped basketball after the second or third day of practice to devote all his time to his newfound sport.
“He came up to me and said, ‘My heart’s not in this anymore. I don’t want to do it,’” said Manser.
“I changed my focus,” said Blackwell. “My heart was in volleyball after that first year, and it wasn’t in basketball. I still love playing basketball but just not for the team.”
It’s a testament to his athletic prowess that Blackwell has come so far in such a short time.
“He’s very athletic,” said Manser. “He could probably play any sport he wants. He can jump and he’s really, really strong.”
If Blackwell breaks Sloan’s record, he will certainly be proud.
“The record would be nice,” he said. “I can’t lie.”
If he doesn’t, he won’t sulk, as long as he knows he helped the team along the way.
“If the team does well, I could care less about the record,” said Blackwell.
He has always been a team player. He missed two games this year due to college visits, and he was duly upset that he couldn’t have been there to help out the team.
As a captain, Blackwell admittedly likes to lead by example.
“I respect everybody on the team and for that I believe they give me respect too,” he said. “I’ve grown into the role of captain and I enjoy it too.”
The respect was clearly mutual when everyone on the team voted for him, even the new players that didn’t know him.
“He’s not a vocal leader,” said Manser. “He is a team leader in every sense of the word. He demands the best out of his teammates and helps set a high standard for our younger players. The kids look at him and see how he plays and how he handles his business, not just on the floor, and they have a lot of respect for him as a result.”
Blackwell is by no means a one-dimensional athlete.
When he’s not practicing volleyball, he’s likely to be sitting at a piano working up a new piece, or playing cello for the high school orchestra.
He started playing piano when he was about six years old.
“My family is a very musical family,” he said.
Recently, Blackwell had the pleasure of being asked to be the rehearsal pianist for the Cheltenham Adult School Orchestra, even accompanying it in a big winter concert.
“It was a very nice experience,” he said. “I always wanted to play with an orchestra, but I never thought I’d have the opportunity to.”
In fifth grade he decided to learn a second instrument. How he became a cellist is an interesting story.
After attending a presentation of instruments in his elementary school auditorium, he was very excited about taking up the sax.
“I really, really wanted to play the saxophone,” he said.
He was given a piece of paper and asked to write down his choices for instruments he wanted to pursue.
He heard—or thought he heard—one of the teachers saying that it was rare to get your first choice, so you should put your second choice first and your first choice second.
Which he did.
He wrote down cello first and sax second.
“I was all excited and getting ready to play the saxophone,” he said. “When the letter came out, it said, ‘Jordan Blackwell, you’re going to be playing the cello.’”
So, today he is the first chair in the concert string orchestra and the saxophone remains untested.
He has orchestra practice every other day and performs in two concerts a year.
“I’ve enjoyed it,” he said.
His accomplishments don’t end with athletics and music. He also ranks in the top 10 percent of his class. He takes all honors or advanced placement classes, including AP calculus, physics and Spanish.
He is a member of the National Honor Society and vice president of the Spanish National Honor Society.
For the National Honor Society, he satisfies his community service obligation by volunteering in the first grade at Wyncote Elementary School once or twice a week.
“I try to do it as much as I can,” he said. “The kids are great. I have so much respect for the teacher. I don’t think I could do that every day.”
With such an impressive resume, it’s not surprising that he has been considering some of the most prestigious colleges in the country.
He has been accepted on academic scholarships to Georgetown, American, George Washington, Emory, Carnegie Mellon and Boston University. He should be hearing from Boston College, Harvard, John Hopkins, Penn and Princeton by the end of this week
However, Blackwell has narrowed his choices to just two—Emory and Georgetown.
He has until May1 to make his final decision.
“I visited both of those campuses and they’re amazing,” he said. “It’s going to be a hard choice.”
He doesn’t plan to go out for volleyball, except as an intramural sport, and he is undecided on a major, so those are two factors that often help a student decide are non-factors.
“That makes it a lot harder,” he admitted.
His favorite subject is Spanish, but he is leaning more toward the sciences, perhaps pre-med.
One thing he is looking at is a study abroad program.
“I really do want to take a semester in a different country,” he said. “I’m just trying to do my research and make the right decision.”
If it’s anything like the one he made to play volleyball, he’ll be set.
