University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers in the Pros: Jessy Jones
3/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Jessy Jones played for Gopher Volleyball from 2004-2007 and helped the Gophers reach the National Championship game in 2004. Jones finished her career as a All-Big Ten selection in 2007 and is now playing professionally in Turkey. Since graduating, Jones has played professionally in Puerto Rico, Azerbaijan and Turkey and married former Gopher football player, Nick Tow-Arnett. Check in with her in this recent Gophers in the Pros.
Gophersports.com: You've played on a few different professional teams over the years. Can you talk about your experience on playing internationally?
Jessy Jones: This question makes me feel super old! I have played in Puerto Rico for five full seasons and one play-off season. Puerto Rico is a shorter season (starting in January and ending mid-may) so I opted for that season. I was blessed to be able to also watch my now husband and former Gopher Football player, Nick Tow-Arnett, play football in the fall! I love Puerto Rico and it is like a second home to us. Really, the people, food, and island are just amazing! One of our goals is to one day own a small little vacation apartment in Rincon, PR.
I also played one season in Vienna, Austria with a USA training team. We were basically all the USA players that were trying to do everything we could to get a chance to be selected for the London Olympics. Two of my teammates that year actually went to make the London 2012 Olympics, Courtney Thompson & Tama Miyashiro! That year was amazing. Playing with that incredible group of women and learning so much more about the game of volleyball from USA coach Jamie Morrison was just such a huge blessing! It felt like college again. I wasn't as immature and oblivious of the opportunity in front of me that I was truly allowed to appreciate every moment and soak it all in.
I have also played two separate seasons in Baku, Azerbaijan. I loved my time in Baku and would not trade it for anything. Living in countries that are so different from the USA or even Europe you really learn a lot about yourself and you really appreciate the simpler way of life more. I sure did miss Chipotle and Whole Foods! But, I fell in love with Black Tea!
GS: You're now playing in Turkey. What can you tell us about your current team?
JJ: Turkey feels a lot like Baku. Azerbaijan is modeling their country after Turkey and you can tell. Everything is so familiar.
I actually had a lot of reservations about coming to Turkey this season because of ISIS terror attacks in Turkey. Nick and I prayed a lot before making our decision to come and play in Turkey. What swayed our decision is after speaking with our pastor. We could not be more excited that we trusted in the Lord and made the decision to come to Turkey. The Turkish league is believed to be the best league in the world to play in so I have been blessed with the opportunity to play against a lot of the best players in the world.
My team struggled a little bit in the first half of the season. It was my team's first year being in the 1st league and it's a huge jump and some of my teammates needed to make some changes and get a little more experience playing at this level. Now we are fighting for the chance to stay in 1st league for the next season and my team is doing really well and coming together!
GS: What has been your favorite professional volleyball experience so far?
JJ: I would have to say 2012 in Puerto Rico. I was playing with Courtney Thompson and Angie Pressey again (year before we played in Vienna together). We had an extremely tough regular season and ended up taking sixth out of 10 teams. We were picked to win the whole thing at the beginning of the season but we just couldn't make it work. However, we never gave up. With someone like Courtney Thompson on your team, giving up is impossible.
When playoffs came, we again struggled in the first round (round robin between four teams...play everyone twice). We lost to Ponce the first time around and in order to move on (top two teams from each bracket move on) we needed to beat them not once but twice. We beat them at their place (which is huge because their fans are very committed). We had to play a tie-breaker at a neutral gym. We won the tie-breaker as well. It was awesome. We moved on to semifinals where we had to play Mayaguez (another team we lost to during the regular season). This time it was a best of seven series. We won four matches in a row! We lost to this team every time we played them before. Now we were in the finals against Caguas. Caguas is like the Yankees of this league. They have the most money, best Puerto Rican players, and always win. We went on to beat Caguas in four straight matches and win the first championship for our city of Catano! The final match had over 10,000 people there. It was insane.
What I learned from that season is that usually the most amazing endings to a story have the craziest and most frustrating journeys. Our team never gave up and just kept working harder and smarter. I remember the morning after winning we all just looked at each other with eyes twitching and ice on just about every part of our bodies saying, "Did that really just happen?"
GS: How did Gopher Volleyball prepare you for the professional game?
JJ: Playing for the Gophers prepared me so well for playing in the pro game because our coaches stressed the fundamentals. Dave Boos taught us how to watch video and break down the game. Mike Hebert taught me so much about the psychology of the game and how important it is to have the right mindset throughout the game. Mike also taught me so much about the importance of team dynamics and chemistry. I think that is the toughest part about the pro game.
GS: Minnesota has some student-athletes that are just starting out their professional careers. What advice do you have for them?
JJ: Email me! I would say they should try to find someone they trust and has been where they are thinking about going and talk to them first.
It is very different and it is not for everyone. You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I would say that if you are a player that is very dependent on their coaches for success you will have a hard time playing pro. When you play pro the coaches expect you to perform without their instruction, although there are certainly exceptions. I think that if you are playing at the U under Hugh McCutcheon, he has groomed you to be independent of him while on the court. You know what you did wrong and how to fix it. Now the thing you will have to do is fix it without a coach telling you need to. You will need to take the extra reps and ASK for them.
The other biggest piece of advice is that coming out of college you really don't realize how much you were forced to do to play at the level you were playing at. You also do not realize how much of a blessing it is to have a strength coach at your side pushing you everyday like Coach Y (Sara Wiley). You have to do that much AND more the more you age. The hardest part is training in the off season alone. You don't have your teammates or Coach Y. It only You. But if you want to stay healthy and get better every year that is the most important three to four months of the year. You jump high now because of everything Coach Y has made you do. If you stop, your game will suffer. PS, I still love you Coach Y!
If anyone needs any advice I am here. Or I can find someone who has played in that area of the world for you. I actually was just talking with Hannah Tapp! I have learned so much through my 10 years of playing pro and I do think I would have never learned that much about myself by staying "comfortable." Push yourself to do the things you are scared to do, they always end up being the best decisions.
GS: What do you do when you are not playing pro? Are you considering retiring soon?
JJ: I am currently running volleyball camps in the summer time! Also my family is opening up a huge amazing horse facility in Jordan, MN. It is called Golden Gate Equestrian Center.
I will be retiring in the next two years. This year was going to be my last year but I became the best blocker in the Turkish league so it has gotten me some attention. I might play just one more season! However, I want to start a family with my sweet husband and settle down in Minnesota! We are also hoping long term to open up a sports complex in MN.
God Bless! And thank you to all the sweet Gopher fans and staff for molding us into pretty cool human beings! Thanks for always supporting us with or without a winning season! I will always hold the U and the volleyball program and fans in a special place in my heart!
