Two more wins for Louisville and Jones

Jamaican Aiko Jones blasted 13 kills on Sunday as the University of Louisville battered Syracuse University to go six straight in this season’s Atlantic Coast Conference volleyball competition. Quieter on Friday night when Louisville cruised past Boston College, Jones nevertheless continued to shine.

Boston College, the institution that granted legendary Herb McKenley a track scholarship in September 1942, was swept away 15-25, 20-25 and 13-25 in Louisville on October 7, with Jones chipping in with four blocks. Notably, blocking was one of the areas Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly pinpointed as a focus when the conference schedule began.

“I think we need to keep getting better at our blocking and defence and we need to diversify our offence. So those are a few things on the court that we’re looking to improve”, coach Kelly told The Gleaner last month.

Jones, a redshirt senior, hit Syracuse hard on Sunday with her 13 spikes. The losers had nowhere to turn as Jones’ teammate Claire Chausee also had 13 kills. In the end, Louisville prevailed 25-16, 25-18, 25-18.

The weekend double has advanced Jones and her teammates towards a defence of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) volleyball title and eventually a run at the NCAA title. Last year, Louisville reached as far as the semis. Reminded last month that her team got to the final four in 2021, Kelly cautioned, “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we have high goals and we hope we can make another deep run. We realise how fun that was and how exciting it is, and it kind of makes you want more.”

Louisville are number two on the NCAA women’s volleyball ranking list.

Jones gained international experience playing for Jamaica at the 2017 Caribbean Senior Championships. In addition to being a star on the court, the former Wolmer’s Girls’ School captain was named to the All-ACC Academic team, the ACC Honor Roll and the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.

Hubert Lawrence