CHAMPAIGN — Chris Tamas texted Jordyn Poulter immediately after he saw the former Illinois setter go down with an ankle injury during Team USA’s final pool play match at the Tokyo Olympics last week.
The message from the Illini coach was simple and to the point.
“Hey, if you can beat Nebraska on a bum ankle,” Tamas wrote to his former star setter, “you can beat the rest of the world with a bum ankle, too.”
Poulter overcame an ankle injury late in her senior season at Illinois to help the Illini beat a top-10 Nebraska team in Lincoln, Neb. It was Illinois’ first win against Nebraska in four years and part of a 17-match winning streak that got the Illini to the Final Four in 2018.
A similar narrative played out in Tokyo.
Poulter sat out Team USA’s quarterfinal victory against the Dominican Republic as a precaution and returned to the floor to help guide the Americans to a semifinal victory against Serbia early Friday morning before a sweep of Brazil on early Sunday morning to secure the first indoor volleyball gold ever for the U.S. women’s national team.
“I guarantee if they asked her to play against the Dominican, she would have played,” former Illinois coach Kevin Hambly said Monday afternoon. “Knowing Jordyn, there was nothing that was going to keep her off the floor. She’s too tough.”
Poulter, who was named Best Setter of the Olympic tournament, wasn’t the only former Illini to win gold after Team USA dismantled Brazil in the championship match. Three-time Illinois All-American Michelle Bartsch-Hackley claimed one of two Best Outside Hitter honors, and assistant coach Erin Virtue set for the Illini in the early 2000s.
Tamas and his family were following along every step of the way from Champaign. His wife, Jen, was on the U.S. silver medal team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and played with current Olympians Jordan Larson and Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson. Both Tamas and his wife also coached U.S. libero Justine Wong-Orantes at Nebraska, and they both played for Team USA coach Karch Kiraly.
The Illinois connections were just the latest.
“We tell people this is a special place for a variety of reasons,” Tamas said. “Most of it is we’ve got good people here, and you’ve got an environment that cares about them. I just think the support here is phenomenal.”
Bartsch-Hackley’s gold medal comes five years after she was the final cut ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics. She followed that up by turning into one of Team USA’s best offensive weapons, with an MVP honor in the 2018 Volleyball Nations League before getting her Olympic moment.
“She’s 10 years on the national team,” Tamas said of Bartsch-Hackley. “That’s hard to do mentally, physically and emotionally, and she’s done great sticking with it.”
Hambly, now the fifth-year Stanford who has guided the Cardinal to two NCAA titles, was happy to see Bartsch-Hackley get a shot on the national team after Rio.
Bartsch-Hackley played on the right side her first three years at Illinois under Hambly, but it was her move to the left — to outside hitter — as a senior during the 2011 season where Hambly started to see her potential as a top international outside shine through. Perhaps it’s no coincidence, either, that Bartsch-Hackley’s final team at Illinois finished as NCAA runner-up.
“I think the thing for me is watching her get better and better every single year,” Hambly said. “When she got that chance, just knowing her, she was going to do whatever it took to not come off the court. She had to grind for it. She had to fight and claw and scratch and work on her game. She made really good choices about where to play professionally. I was just really happy, out of everyone that made it, just extremely happy for her and how much time she put in.”
Hambly saw national team potential in Poulter by the time she was a senior in high school. Tamas inherited Poulter on his first team at Illinois and saw the intangibles, too. Poulter’s rapid rise, though, came because of her approach, which mirrored Bartsch-Hackley’s.
“It’s not easy in the international environment,” Hambly said. “You’re by yourself a lot. It’s a hard deal. Those two have taken it very seriously and really did a nice job of trying to become masters of their craft. Not all kids make that choice.”
Poulter’s choice could secure her future with the national team for a long time. The Aurora, Colo., native turned 24 while in Tokyo. Nothing is guaranteed — particularly with former Wisconsin setter Lauren Carlini in the national team gym along with former Penn State setter Micha Hancock — but Hambly is still high on Poulter’s potential to lead future Olympic teams. Her next chance is in Paris in 2024.
“She would have a huge advantage in any era, any time because of her physical gifts, and she’s become an incredibly skilled and accurate setter,” Hambly said of Poulter. “No one else has been a gold medalist. She’ll be able to carry that with her forever. I think that will help her and give her an advantage moving forward. She’ll have to stay on her game.
“There will be young players coming after her and so will Carlini. I think Jordyn was able to process the way she did because she was competing against Carlini every day. That’s just going to make them both better. If they embrace that kind of thing, which it seems like they have, that competitive gym environment will be great.”
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