Everything you need to know about Jonni Parker can be gleaned from a single play she made during Ohio's Division III high school state championship last year.

Jonni's team, the Miami East Vikings, had won the first two sets of the match before their opponent, the Tuscarawas Valley Trojans, stormed back to win the next two. The Vikings responded valiantly in the fifth set and were three points away from winning their first state title since 2012 when a bad pass by one of Jonni's teammates appeared to be heading out of bounds on their side of the court.

"The ball was going to a spot where I didn't think anyone could get to it," Miami East's second-year head coach Dan Peterson said. "Then Jonni comes out of nowhere."

Sliding on one knee with her back to the net, Parker hurled her 6-foot-1 body across the floor and managed to whip the ball over the net before landing on her back. It was an incredible display of hustle and skill.

But Jonni wasn't finished. In less than a second she got back on her feet and sprinted toward the net. She arrived just in time to make a point-winning and momentum-sustaining block.



"It's a play you can't repeat," Peterson said. "It's one of those examples of athletes being athletes."

Jonni's athleticism stuns opponents, fans, and her fellow teammates to such a degree that people often forget -- or completely overlook -- that she has dealt with a hearing disability almost her entire life. She has worn hearing aids since she was 4 years old. The disability hasn't stopped her to this point, and there's no reason to believe it will stop her in the future. Those who know her only expect the best. 

Rarely missing any of Jonni's games, her sister Paige has seen Jonni make all sorts of spectacular plays during her high school career, but she was particularly impressed by the one she made in last year's state championship.

"When she made that play, I felt like I couldn't breathe for a minute," Paige said. "That's the type of athlete she is. Even if it's not a state championship game, she's going to make that play. Even if the score is 20-3."

The only one not in awe of the play was the player who made it.

"It might sound weird," Jonni said during a recent phone conversation, "but I don't find that play to be all that great. It's just something that I always try to do. I learned that I should never give up on a play and go after everything. If you can go for it, go for it. That's something I've been taught, so it was just a natural instinct for me to go after it."

Jonni finished the match with 26 kills, 15 assists, 14 digs, and a Division III Ohio state tournament record five aces. Of far more importance to her, her team won.

"I was speechless," she said. "It's hard to describe a moment like that. Being defeated [in the state championship] the year before gave us so much more drive and grit throughout the year to keep pushing. It was unbelievable."

"I Liked Being Able To Control The Game"

Jonni grew up playing basketball and softball. Volleyball was her sister Paige's sport. After playing in high school and on Junior Olympic club teams, Paige went on to play for the College of Wooster.

Forced to attend her sister's matches when she was little, Jonni made the most of it.

"Even though she was seven years younger, she was always in the stands watching," Paige said. "She wasn't on an iPad. She wasn't in a coloring book. She was in the stands, watching and cheering and yelling and learning, and I think that really helped her. She always said, 'Volleyball is Paige's sport. I'm never going to play.' But then she shot up. She was always the tallest in her class. We said, 'Why don't you just try it?'"

When Jonni was 11, she finally gave in and tried out for the Dayton Juniors Volleyball Club. She made the 13U team, and she's been playing the sport ever since.

When Jonni first started playing, she wanted to be an outside hitter just like her sister, but her coaches at Dayton Juniors noticed she had good hands, so they encouraged her to try setting. Jonni didn't enjoy the position at first but grew to love it with time.

"I got to make more of the decisions," she said. "I liked being able to control the game more than most people could."

Jonni started playing for Miami East's varsity as a freshman. Despite her youth, she was made a captain and led the Vikings to the district finals.

When Dan Peterson joined the team as an assistant coach the following year, he was immediately struck by Jonni's athleticism.

"Obviously, she sticks out physically among her peers," he said. "That was my first impression: 'We've got a really good athlete here.'"

After getting to know her, Peterson realized that Jonni's athleticism was just one of many traits that made her such a valuable member of the team.

"She's very driven," he said. "She's a really good person to have in the gym because of her work ethic. But the biggest thing that stuck out was her leadership ability. People gravitate to her."

Thanks to the latter characteristic, Jonni has been Miami East's captain all four years of her high school career. For the past three seasons, she's also won the Cross County Conference player of the year award (and in all likelihood will win her fourth at the end of this season), and for the past two seasons she's been named First Team Division III All Ohio.

Because she's tall and athletic, it would be easy to think that success has come easy for her, but doing so would be to ignore Jonni's hearing disability, about which she's answered questions to coaches her whole life. 

"It's A Never-Ending Thing With Her"

While she was being recruited by colleges, some coaches tried to make the fact that Jonni plays with hearing aids a much bigger deal than it actually is. Her high school coach was quick to dismiss the idea that they bother her in any way.

"They're not a factor at all," Peterson said. "Quite honestly, about 90 percent of the time I forget that she even wears them. We communicate just fine. It hasn't impacted us one bit."

The only time Jonni's hearing aids have ever posed a problem are the rare occasions when a battery has died during a match and she's had to play without them for a couple points while her mom or sister puts in a new one.

If Jonni's hearing loss has affected her at all, it can be argued that it's actually been in a positive way.

Her mom Jill McCullough believes that it's actually made Jonni's other senses sharper.

"They say that when you lose one of your senses, your other senses are heightened," she said. "She just does things that are amazing. It's like she sees stuff that other people don't see or she's got eyes in the back of her head."

Jonni's mom also recounted a story about a kid who made fun of Jonni's hearing aids when she was little, and she suggested that the incident (and others like it) may have engendered her daughter's amazing work ethic.

Paige agreed that such grade school bullying may have contributed to her sister's desire to outwork everyone else.

"When she was younger, it was really hard for her," she said. "There's been a few instances where she's come home a little frustrated. She doesn't want to be defined by her hearing loss, and she's used that to push herself even harder."

Paige was so inspired by the way her sister overcame her hearing disability she studied audiology in college and went on to get a doctorate from Northwestern University in the same field.

Paige also credits Jonni's desire to keep up with her when they were younger for fueling Jonni's work ethic.

"When I worked on a skill, she practiced with me," Paige said. "Growing up with a big sister and hanging out with all her big sister's friends, she always wanted to play with us and we were like, 'Okay, but you better keep up.' And she always did. Jonni always wants to be in the gym and believes there's always something else you can work on. She wants to be the best."

Jonni's ambition began to take root in high school. As a freshman, she started getting lessons from Paco Labrador, the Division III head coach who has compiled an amazing .862 winning percentage in 14 seasons at Wittenberg University.

She also started playing for the famed Munciana Volleyball Club in Yorktown, Indiana, which required her to make a four-hour round trip twice a week. In July, Jonni's 18-Open Munciana Samurai team won an AAU National Championship in Orlando, Florida.

Jonni's desire to improve her game has become even more pronounced over the course of the past year.

"She's really worked on her hitting," Peterson said. "Last year, she was just rearing back and firing and ripping balls everywhere. This year, she's hitting her spots more. That obviously benefits her because she doesn't have to go all out every time. She can place her shots a lot better."

Another aspect of her game she's recently improved is her serve.

"Her serve has always been deadly," Peterson said. "But when she came back this year, we noticed a little more movement to it. She's always looking to get better at something. It's a never-ending thing with her."

"They're One Of The Best Programs In The Country"

As you might expect given her athleticism, drive, and success on the court, Jonni was a highly touted recruit, ranked well inside the top 20 for the class of 2018.

Two years ago, she made a verbal commitment to play for Ohio State, but soon began to have second thoughts.

"As time went on, I wasn't 100 percent sure about my decision," she explained. "And I felt I needed to do what was best for me and go elsewhere."



The weeks leading up to her decision to inform Ohio State head coach Geoff Carlston that she was re-opening her recruitment were extremely stressful for her.

"We had some very long early-morning talks when it became evident that she wasn't comfortable with Ohio State anymore," Peterson said. "We talked about what's best for her and what's best for her career. It was a tough time because she's a person that wants to please everyone."

Paige provided a similar picture of Jonni's feelings during this time.

"She was very quiet and not herself for a couple weeks," she said. "She knew [re-opening her recruitment] was something she had to do, but she didn't want to do it because she didn't want to let anyone down. She definitely struggled with it because she hates disappointing people. I'm proud of her for standing her ground and for doing what she thought was right."

Once Jonni re-opened her recruiting, the stress surrounding the decision began to dissipate. Having all of the top Big Ten schools scramble to enlist her services had to have helped. In the end, Penn State won out.

It's only fitting that one of the top recruits in the country would choose to attend a school that's won seven national titles.

"They're one of the best programs in the country," Jonni said as she described her campus visit. "When I first got to the gym, I loved the atmosphere, the energy that the players brought to the court, watching practices. I just felt like it was the best fit for me. I felt like I was going to work hard, get better, and hopefully bring home a national championship."

"She's A Difference-Maker"

Next year at Penn State, Jonni will be reunited with Kendall White, the Nittany Lions' libero and a former Munciana teammate of Jonni's.

Jonni will also be joined by another highly regarded recruit and setter, Gabby Blossom, which puts the Penn State coaching staff in a comfortably awkward position. With Penn State running a 6-2 and senior Abby Detering slated to graduate in the spring, Jonni and Gabby will likely be competing to fill Detering's spot.

Of course, given Jonni's skill set, there's also a chance she could be used as an attacker. In the end, the quandary over how to best employ Jonni on the court is a "problem" most schools would love to have.

Jonni, for one, isn't losing too much sleep over it.

"I'm going to try to work the best I can to get that position and I'm hoping that they will use me right away," she said. "I don't like to be on the sidelines. I like to be on the court all the time. But however they choose to use me, however I can help the team, I'll do."

Thanks to her insatiable desire to get better, Jonni appears poised to have a fruitful career at Penn State.

When asked to predict how it might go, Peterson said, "I have no doubt that she will be successful in whatever she does there. If you told me that she was going to be an All-American, I'd say, 'I had no doubt.' What separates her is her work ethic. Once she gets to college and she can focus on playing volleyball even more, I think she's going to really take off."

When asked the same question, Paige provided a similarly optimistic response.

"She's the type of person who will work hard to be on the floor," she said. "She's a difference-maker. She likes to be the go-to person on the court and if she's not, she's asking coaches what she needs to do to get better. She's someone that the players look to for help in tough situations. She's never satisfied, which I think will help her to do very well at Penn State."

Jonni's work ethic is an integral part of her personality and one of the keys to her success.

"I love challenges and learning new things and getting better," she said. "I want to be the best version of me I can possibly be. I want to be one of the greatest."

By Storms Reback

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