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Flyer VB Star Jamie Peterson: Winning Where it Counts
Flyer VB Star Jamie Peterson: Winning Where it Counts
BeckysTXA
Published by BeckysTXA
11-18-2019
Smile Flyer VB Star Jamie Peterson: Winning Where it Counts

Talk to any freshman Division I student-athlete two or three months into their college careers and they all use the term “time management”. They thought they were busy in high school, but Division I time management is a whole different level. It takes focus, commitment, and a support system to juggle academic requirements, the ‘business’ of playing a sport, and a little time left over for a social life. Student-athletes have to get the proportions right or it's crash and burn.

It was no different for Dayton redshirt sophomore volleyball player Jamie Peterson. In 2016, she arrived on campus as the nation's #73 recruit, breaking into the Flyers’ rotation in the third week of the season and ultimately starting 27 of 32 matches. Peterson was learning to play the game at a high level while perfecting time management, but an injury setback required shoulder surgery her sophomore year that resulted in a medical redshirt just as her star was bright and getting brighter. The 2018 comeback season was going to be a big one. In September, she gave birth to her precious son, Carter. Suddenly time management -- and priorities -- changed again. Making it work took everything Jamie had, but this time it was less about a comeback and more about recognizing the blessings in her life and around it.

“I am so thankful for UD and the volleyball program, not only for welcoming Carter, but for embracing my situation and what my daily life includes now,” Peterson said. “Everyone from top to bottom has helped. The coaches, the trainers, my teammates have all welcomed Carter. I got an email from Neil Sullivan [UD’s VP/Director of Athletics] that was nothing but gracious and supportive."

The reinforcement provided by UD goes well beyond emails and pats on the shoulder however. It became an all-hands-on-deck approach to providing an environment where Peterson can achieve her goals in the classroom, on the court, and most importantly as a mother.

"They [UD] have helped me find resources to make all of this work," she said. "They could have thrown up their hands and walked away saying they couldn’t help. Instead I will finish my volleyball career and my education at UD as a young mom. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for their support. It’s something I will never be able to repay. The support I’ve received from UD means everything to me and my son. Not many young moms can say they have that kind of support.”

As a mom-student-athlete -- in that order -- everyday is packed full. Jamie and Carter live off-campus in an apartment and the little man wakes her up around 6:30 am. They have breakfast, she packs and prepares for both, and out the door they go.

The itinerary begins with a drop-off at the babysitter by 8:45 am. She's back on campus taking classes from 9 am to noon. A quick lunch is followed by volleyball practice at Frericks Center from 12:45-3:45 pm. From there, Peterson jumps in the shower, picks Carter up, and heads home.

This is their time to “hang together”, but it must also include her classwork, Carter’s bath-time, dinner, and the venerable dog-and-pony show of putting a young child to bed. It's a 24-hour commitment and Peterson couldn’t do it without a loyal support system that starts with her family. Her parents Jim and Jenny, and two sisters Kayla and Becka, are a vital backbone taking none of the credit but assisting in ways vitally important to the process.

“My support system to make this all work is vast,” Peterson said. “First it begins with my family -- especially my sisters and mom. Everyone is within an hour away and they are there for me for everything. Whatever Carter and I need, they are there. If I need to just go to the grocery store, they are there for me in 15 minutes. On the weekends, for (volleyball) road trips, my mom takes care of him when we are out-of-town. I could not do this without my family.”

Jamie's sister Kayla was a Division II volleyball player and Becka played softball at Wright State. They know firsthand the time commitment and demands of a student-athlete and are perfect compliments to Jamie's get-it-done personality.

Peterson also tapped a familiar Flyer name to babysit Carter while she was in class and at volleyball practice -- teammate Margo Wolf. Wolf finished her playing career last fall and had only classwork to manage in her final spring semester. Her availability to babysit while Peterson was at practice was a perfect fit for the trio.

“My teammates have been both amazing and awesome in their support,” she said. “Last spring Margo was there for me. I paid her to babysit Carter and she was so good with him. Everybody on the team just rallies around him and offers so much help. It’s not only the amount of support but it’s how vested everyone is in both me and him.”

Peterson's academic and athletic circumstances are already covered by Title IX. Typically, an individual has five academic years to complete four athletic seasons -- the additional year to account for potential injuries or other setbacks. Female student-athletes that have a child during their collegiate careers can receive a sixth year, if needed, requested, and ultimately approved by the NCAA. With her medical redshirt and "pink shirt" seasons behind her, Peterson has two more years of eligibility. The NCAA normally requires 12 credit hours of classes every semester to remain eligible but reduces that to nine credit hours during the semester of childbirth. Peterson is majoring in Sports Management and has mapped out her full-time academic requirements for the next two years, is on the glidepath to graduation, and plans to take masters classes in Business Administration in her final season.

The Flyers celebrated Senior Day over the weekend and it wasn't lost on Peterson that her freshman-year roommate Jordan Albarran was being honored. Without any twists and turns, they would have been honored together. As Albarran's career comes to a close however, Peterson's is just starting to take off. Her second full season on the court after nearly two seasons away from it has been outstanding. This week she will be named a First-Team All-A10 honoree and a favorite for A10 Player of the Year alongside VCU’s Jasmin Sneed. Both conference stars were named to the 2016 A10 All-Rookie Team.

She also spends 2-3 hours a week studying video of players like Sneed to improve her game. Sneed plays middle blocker and leads the nation in blocks per set (1.61) and the A10 in hitting percentage (.464).

"I usually spend an hour on an off-day watching video," she said. "I’ll do that on Monday. Then on game day, as a team, we spend about an hour watching video and going over the scouting report looking at key things we will need to execute to win.”

The tale of the tape on Peterson's stats this year are impressive. She leads the conference (8th nationally) in points per set at 6.14. By comparison her closest competitor is 4.84. Peterson also leads the conference in kills per set (5.23) and is 3rd in aces per set (0.41). Peterson has taken more than 35% of Dayton’s swings this season. Against VCU this past weekend, she took 42% of the cuts. She's also a strong blocker for her position at left outside hitter. Part of being a great player is self-evaluation.

“We have a video review system that is self-accessed,” Peterson said. “Any player, from any place, can activate the system at any time to review video, comment on things they see to improve their game, or if they see something of note for a teammate. You can tag the video and leave comments for both coaches and teammates. And each player usually leaves comments on one or two things they want to work on to improve and get better."

The technology tools also help the Flyers scout the opponents and prepare accordingly. During last week’s video session, Peterson took note of Sneed.

“She works really hard, every play,” she said. “There are not many balls she doesn’t get to. Her footwork is really good. She doesn’t fail in her step. She knows what direction (the set is going) and she is there. Anyone who blocks can learn from watching her.”

Dayton also went up against Cincinnati's Jordan Thompson -- the nation’s leader in kills per set and points per set -- a couple weeks ago. Peterson said she is working to be more like Thompson.

“The first thing I noticed is how aggressive she is with her attacks,” she acknowledged. “Her game has no passive swings. You aren’t going to see her using tips or roll shots to avoid blocks. When she goes up, she goes up to score -- not just keep a ball in play. No matter what the block is doing, she knows she can beat it and she does. Her game is all about power and beating the block to score. I learned a lot from her. I’m working to use my tips and role shots less, especially early in a match. I want to be more aggressive, more often, when I attack."

Being the best at your craft also means being unpredictable at times. One-trick ponies are easier to scout and defend, but even a power hitter can bring a diversified style on the court that's hard to counter.

“I’m working on expanding my range of shots," Peterson admitted. "It was clear from watching video of Thompson and the scouting report that she has perfected every shot. Cross-court, deep corner, down-the-line, cut shots, high angles, and even the tip and roll shots, even though she doesn’t use those much. I need to widen my range of shots to hit more areas of the court and to beat any block.”

While best-known for her hard swings Peterson is also working to improve other skills beyond hitting that's made her one of the best six-rotation players in the country.

“I’m working on my passing game,” she said. “This is a new role for me. I haven’t been asked to pass much before coming to Dayton. But as a six-rotation player I need to be a more-steady passer for my team. Other teams are targeting me with their serves. They are game-planning to make me execute as many touches as they can, especially in serve-receive, to tire me out and make me less effective as a hitter. I need to fire on all cylinders in all aspects of my game for my team."

Another focus point has been developing good habits of being consistently consistent from match to match. Although Peterson's hitting usually survives the cutting room floor of the post-game highlight reels, she's working on her other strengths to take some of the pressure off her own touches and those of her teammates.

“I’m also working on my serve. It’s been hot and cold this season," she readily admitted. "I need it to be more hot. To be more consistent for the team. To be able to get on more service runs. To be a greater serving threat so my teammates don’t have to defend behind my serving.”

Although Peterson is working on all of these areas of her game during the season, she is looking forward to this spring when there is more time to dedicate work in each specific area.

“In the spring, the practices are split between sessions for attackers and defenders,” she said. “We will have sessions to work on only serve-receive. I will be able to work with Alyssa [D’Errico, UD Associate Head Coach] one-on-one and learn from her to improve my game. We are so fortunate to have Alyssa as a resource. She has played this game at the highest levels and to be able to learn from her is so valuable and will improve this area of my game.”

Peterson also addressed the intangible element of leadership every championship team needs to be successful. A committee of one usually never works and UD is working with all players to develop complimentary leadership skills that elevate everyone's game.

“The leadership within the team is more a system that balances everyone out versus one single leader,” Peterson said. “Anyone who has seen Maura [Collins] play can see she is the ‘go-getter’....an absolute spit-fire on the court that gets us fired up. Bridget [Doherty] is the steady and composed player that keeps us focused. Brook [Westbeld] is our vocal leader. It’s her job to take the temperature of the team and as an All-American, her voice carries a lot of weight.”

And Peterson herself?

"I’m the player the team relies on to lead by example. It’s my job to execute at a high level and lead others to do the same."

Reaching a high level has been a process all season. Prepare. Play. Learn. Sometimes those lessons have been difficult. The Flyers went 1-7 against the RPI Top-50 and 3-8 against the Top-100. Dayton is currently #51 after dropping a heartbreaking five-set match to VCU for the A10 regular season title -- a goal UD sets for themselves every season. The second goal is winning the A10 Tournament Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. With the A10 Tourney this weekend at Rhode Island, is this year’s team ready to write their own legacy?

“The VCU match set a lot of fires on this team,” Peterson said just hours after the loss. “Are we disappointed? Yes. But we know we did not play our best and that has us fired up and committed to working harder this week. They are a better blocking team than us, but we know we can play better in the block. We know we can match their block and slow them down. They have two good middles. We think we can cover half of those we missed so they will have half as many kills when we get touches. That’s just one thing we saw that we know we can fix this week. We know we can play better and more consistent. We know we have to work hard this week to shore-up the little things that broke down. We will grind it out this week to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We’ll be ready."

Additionally, as Dayton’s best player this season, Peterson has a personal challenge now that the season has moved into the “win-or-go-home” stage. It’s been almost three years since she played volleyball under the season-ending tournament pressures.

“My freshman year I didn’t play very well in the tournaments,” she said. “We had older players that did, so it worked out, but I’d say I disappeared during matches. I’ve matured the last couple of years and I’m excited about the chance to step up and help my team win in the postseason. I’m a competitive person. I like to play under this type of pressure. It’s a different spotlight and one I welcome.”

It's a busy week for the Flyers and no one has more on their plate than Jamie Peterson. The West Liberty native has developed a system to manage three jobs at once -- mom, student, and athlete -- and perform all of them at an elite level. She isn’t learning life skills out of a textbook -- she's living it. If she maintains her heading, Peterson will take her UD degree in Sports Management/Business Administration and pursue her passion of managing sporting events and operations. Until then, she's smart enough to recognize the most important hurdle is the one directly in front of her.

“As Dayton, we know we always get the best of everyone, because they are playing the best when they take on UD."

Opponents feel the same way about her. Getting back on the court has been cathartic in many ways, but Carter has been the one that now defines her most. As she spikes thunder in front of her son, for her son, for her teammates, coaches, family, and Flyer fans, she does so knowing her journey has been no comeback at all because no one left her corner. Like a great serve-receive and perfect set, Peterson plans to capitalize on the team effort around her and finish with the best she's got -- on the court, in the classroom, and as a mother.
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  #1  
By BeckysTXA on 11-18-2019, 02:02 PM
Chris R and I have talked about doing a feature on Jamie since the first month of the season. I thought about doing it last week, but decided a phone interview after the VCU match seemed to be the right time since we would know the outcome of the regular season title and also get her comments on the upcoming conference tournament.

The phone call was pushed back later in the evening on Sunday because Jamie was busy with an NCAA film crew at Frericks yesterday. So there was no waiting until Tuesday to complete the article and get it posted....scooped them. Go UDPride.

But I am looking forward to seeing what the NCAA puts out. Always great for the program and university.
Last edited by BeckysTXA; 11-18-2019 at 02:05 PM..
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  #2  
By Figgie123 on 11-18-2019, 02:48 PM
There was a young man with a hand held steady cam walking around the court yesterday with a jacket that said 'NCAA digital'. Must have been related.
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  #3  
By The Fly on 11-18-2019, 04:07 PM
Very interesting and informative piece of writing on a remarkable young woman. Well done!
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