Jenny Johnson Jordan Named UCLA Beach Volleyball Head Coach
June 05, 2023 | Beach Volleyball
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LOS ANGELESย --ย UCLA Athletics has announced Jenny Johnson Jordan as the next head coach of the Bruins' Beach Volleyball team. Johnson Jordan, who spent the last 10 years as an assistant and associate head coach for the Bruins, becomes just the second head coach in the program's history.
"These past 10 years have been nothing short of amazing in helping to build this program with Stein Metzger," Johnson Jordan said. "I have had the privilege to be a part of the rise and history making moments with this team and now I am deeply humbled and honored to have this opportunity to continue leading it forward. My passion for coaching has always centered around providing holistic care and mentorship for the young women under my care. We have some tremendous young women in our program and my commitment in helping them become the best versions of themselves, both on and off the sand court, remains stronger than ever."
Alongsideย Metzger, Johnson Jordan helped guide the Bruins to the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Championships and three Pac-12 Championships (2018, 2021, and 2023). The Bruins have also made appearances in all seven NCAA Championship tournaments.
"After going through the interview process and speaking to our student-athletes, it became clear that Jenny possesses all of the qualities needed to be the next head coach for our outstanding beach volleyball program," said UCLA's Alice and Nahum Lainer Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond. "She has earned this opportunity to lead as she embodies the qualities of being a great teacher and communicator. She is passionate about the game and cares deeply about the student-athlete experience. I have no doubt she will be successful in leading our elite beach volleyball program."
The Bruins have produced 22 AVCA All-America selections, including four in 2023 (Lexy Denaburgย andย Maggie Boydย on the first team andย Abby Van Winkleย andย Peri Brennanย on the second team). UCLA also produced the first-ever four-time first-team All-America selections in Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara (2016-19). Additionally this season, UCLA tied its own Pac-12, and NCAA record for wins in a single season with 40 (2018).
Johnson Jordan represented the United States at the Olympic Games (2000), and together with Metzger (2004), produced another Bruin Beach Volleyball Olympian in Sarah Sponcil (2020). Sponcil is part of the nation's-leading 20 beach volleyball Olympians to play collegiately at UCLA.
Johnson Jordan served the first seven seasons (2014-20) as an assistant coach and was promoted toย associate head coach on July 13, 2020. Sheย was inducted into theย UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 5, 2018.
After guiding the Bruins to back-to-back NCAA titles on May 5, 2019, she was named the AVCA National Assistant Beach Coach of the Year on May 9, 2019.
Johnson Jordan played with the Bruins from 1991 to 1995 and was a two-time team captain on the women's indoor volleyball team (1994-95). She was a member of the 1991 UCLA National Championship squad, as well as the NCAA runner-up teams from '92 and '94, earning All-Tournament Team honors in 1994.
She played in 127 matches and 406 sets in her four seasons, recording 1,212 kills and 1,214 digs, ranking as one of 12 Bruins to post at least 1,000 career kills and digs. Johnson Jordan, who sits eighth in school history in digs and 21st in kills, also had 93 service aces and 225 blocks. She led the Bruins in aces in 1993 and 1995, as well as digs in 1995.
Johnson Jordan earned a pair of Volleyball Magazine All-America Honorable Mention accolades in 1994 and '95. She was also a two-time All-Pac-10 Conference First Team honoree ('93 and '95) and a two-time Pac-10 All-Academic selection.
Following her playing days at UCLA, Johnson Jordan played on the beach, competing in the sport's grandest stage. In 2000, with partner and former Bruin Annett (Buckner) Davis, she finished fifth in the Sydney Olympic Games. She also served as an alternate for the 2004 Athens Games, and during that year with Davis, became just the second team in the world to compete in 100 events together.
Elsewhere on the beach, Johnson Jordan has played on the Pro 4's, FIVB, WPVA, BVA and AVP Tours. In 1997, she won the FIVB 4-Person World Beach Championship at UCLA. Two years later, she won a Silver medal at the FIVB World Championships. A winner of 10 professional beach titles worldwide, Johnson Jordan ranked in the Top 10 in points every year she competed on the BVA and AVP Tours and was honored in 2002 with the AVP Special Achievement Award.
Johnson Jordan has been a High Performance Coach for USA Volleyball and is also USAV Beach Cap Certified. In 2012, she became the first beach volleyball coach at her alma mater, Windward High School, and that year was also the head coach for the LAVA girl's club volleyball beach program.
Johnson Jordan, who graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's in communications in 1996, comes from a rich tradition of Bruins and athletic pedigree. Her father, the late Rafer Johnson, was an Olympic gold medalist in the Decathlon in 1960 and a silver medalist in that event in 1956. Her mother, Betsy, also attended UCLA, as did her brother Josh, a former javelin thrower, and uncle Jimmy, a former football player who went on to a career with the San Francisco 49ers and is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame.
Johnson Jordan is married to former UCLA All-American wide receiver Kevin Jordan (class of '95). The couple has two children, Jaylen and Kory.
"I'd like to thank Martin Jarmond and Kenny Donaldson for their commitment, faith, and support of me and for passing me the baton of leadership over this program," Johnson Jordan added. "Thank you to our extended village of staff and supporters for their continued investment in the success of this program, and to my family for always being a source of strength for me."
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