Still, Temple junior middle blocker Jordan Pickett is looking to improve her already strong game.
“I think I’m quicker now. Not as quick as I’d like to be,” Pickett said. “I’m working outside of school on agility and stuff. I’m working on my vertical because that’s a big thing to do because I want to play college ball, and you at least have to touch certain heights. I’m not there yet, but I’m on a pretty good path I think.”
Despite not graduating until next year, Pickett has had informal contacts with many schools, including Southern California, Idaho, Houston and North Texas. But of more immediate concern to Pickett is the Tem-Cats (21-15) preparing to play No. 11 Round Rock (24-6) in a Class 5A bi-district volleyball match at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Burnet.
With seven seniors on the team and next year’s team shrouded in uncertainty, Pickett knows the time for a playoff run is now.
“This run and us playing together is something that’s going to be with us forever,” Pickett said. “I think we’re going to keep it in our minds what we have to do. I know we can do it.”
Pickett’s play will go along way to determining how the Tem-Cats do. But her gaudy season numbers aren’t enough, said Temple head coach Susie Hughlett, adding that’s what makes her a great player.
“Jordan has come out of her shell this year,” Hughlett said. “To me, she has stepped up and she’s taken a leadership role. She’s meticulous about learning things and wanting to know what she’s doing wrong, how to improve her game all the time to become a very explosive hitter, a very smart hitter.
“The goal for her is to improve every game, and she does everything in her power to do that.”
And on a team full of seniors, Pickett has managed to establish herself as a leader.
“I knew as a freshman when she was up here she was a little shy, but at the same time her skill level was really high,” Hughlett said. “I knew she had the skill level to be a leader - ‘Follow me, I know what I’m doing out here.’”
Entering the year, Pickett set out to improve her defense. Both Hughlett and Pickett said she has improved, although Hughlett has had to taken her out of the back-row rotation the past couple matches. She said she wasn’t sure if Pickett would be back in the back for the playoff match.
“I don’t know that I played MVP or anything, but I’ve definitely gotten better, gotten quicker on my steps,” Pickett said. “I know how to read the ball better and things like that. My block has been alright, so it’s easier to get used to watching a hitter.”
Pickett said she hasn’t been as quick as she’d like lately. But when she is, Hughlett said she’s a force all over the court.
“I think she’s going to pull it all together,” Hughlett said. “She’s big, she’s tall she can cover a lot of area. I like to have kids that are tall in the back row. Up until now, she’s been playing pretty stout defense.
“I wanted to put her on the back row all year long, and I think her playing club helped her,” she said. “Her goals are probably never going to be met, knowing her, because she sets very, very, very high goals. Nothing to her is ever going to be perfect. In my mind, she’s gotten a ton better. In her mid, I’m not sure she’ll meet her goals because, to be honest, she only wants perfection.”
So even with the slew of graduating players and only three juniors on the roster, Hughlett isn’t too worried about where next year’s leadership will come from.
“The kids look at her as an emotional leader,” Hughlett said. “She’s always trying to keep people up. She’s always trying to encourage. It goes a long way to the kids we have know and I think it will go a long way to the kids we’ll have next year as well.”
