Nike Hot Seat: Olympic gold-medalist setter Jordyn Poulter

This is the Nike Hot Seat, a continuing series of interviews with Nike-sponsored volleyball players. Previously in the Nike Hot Seat series: Molly McCage, Dani Drews, Justine Wong-Orantes, Jordan Larson, Zoe Fleck, Chiaka Ogbogu, Morgan Hentz, Kara Bajema and Claire Chaussee.

Jordyn Poulter, from Colorado but with strong family ties in Illinois, had a great career at the University of Illinois, culminated by a trip to the 2018 NCAA national semifinals her senior year.

Now in the midst of a pro career, she set the USA to the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. We talk all about that experience and — let the story be told — the loss and recovery of her gold medal.

This past December, Poulter sustained a season-ending knee injury that put her on the sidelines for her Italian club, Igor Gorgonzola Novara. She’s back in California rehabbing:

VolleyballMag.com contributor and former Northwestern defensive-specialist Emily Ehman is a volleyball analyst for the Big Ten Network, ESPN and Volleyball World.