In a recent interview with host  , Nebraska sophomore middle blocker Andi Jackson shared her inspiring journey from playing in a small barn gym in Colorado, known as The Diff, to competing at the highest level of college volleyball. Joined by her longtime mentor Trisha, Andy opened up about humble beginnings, tough training conditions, and the life-changing lessons that shaped her both as an athlete and as a person.

“ I’m Andi Jackson. I’m a sophomore middle blocker from Bright Colorado. I play for the Nebraska Corn Huskers, and this is my amazing Mentor Trisha and I met her playing Club volleyball at the diff in Colorado It means a lot to me that she describes me that way.

The diff is very small, it is a small barn, and I remember I would hit it and it would go and hit the back wall and like Ricochet back because it’s pretty small in there. We didn’t have water on that part of the property so we have a porta potty in the back there’s no running bathroom but it was more about what was happening inside the facility than the facility itself. My last year there was a heater put up top and so it’ be either really cold or really hot but if you wore sweatpants in a hoodie then you were good and on the hot days they had a big fan you could turn on in the corner and it was super loud so you couldn’t hear each other but um it was just those things that made it so special and so I don’t regret it at all.

Some people would not play there because it was anap Barn it’s not a fancy place but it’s a special place and I think some um lives have been changed in there which is the most important thing. At the time the diff was a very well-known Club in Colorado and everyone wanted to play there so I was like I’m just I’m some scrub I’m like have barely played volleyball I’m not not going to make it and I saw Andy jump off off the ground and I was like we got to put that kid on team.

I think she’s competed since the wom like you she was a great competitor she may not had the skills when we were at tryouts but she could compete and then I did the try out um I remember I was packing up my stuff and I just went to thank the coaches and Carrie who was my 15’s coach she came up to me and she was like we we want you to be a middle on this team. But I remember the first year she played for us she developed very quickly we were at Crossroads which is a really big tournament in Colorado and so the co two or three guys coach on the other side and they were triple blocking her I know what you’re talking about and she was so mad that they were triple blocking her at the age of 15 and she came off I’m going to make their hands hurt if they’re going to block me they’re going to pay for it and I was like oh my gosh this girl is such a competitor I love her.

I had started to make a name for myself in Colorado slowly, and um I remember this club had called me. They were like we really want you on our 16th team maybe it was my 17th year I can’t quite remember every year any yeah well it was a lot. Trisha was getting calls they were calling my mom they were calling family friends like it was a pretty big thing. It started to feel overwhelming but it was also very flattering and I always wanted to hold it open-handed because I wanted what was best for Andy and if it wasn’t at the diff then I was going to be your biggest fan wherever it was.

Coming from such a small Club you’re not recognized very easily and that was something that that I really struggled with was because I was putting in so much work and I was a better player than I had been when I first joined and she was going to the recruiting process I felt very protective of her like she’s she’s special. Huddle played a significant role in my recruiting genuinely like huddle is the reason I got recruited you can take huddle film and clip it and show five of her attacks and that’s all a coach needs to see.

Playing at the diff it really made me realize that yes volleyball is super important to me but at the end of the day it’s who can develop me not only as a player but as a person as well while I’m there.