Allison Jacobs Volleyball Star on the Rise

Jumping up for the kill, Allison Jacobs slams the ball over the net for the match point as the crowd explodes in cheers. The Wildcats win the game.
It’s moments like this Allison loves most. She lives for competition. At just 16 years old, she is a tri-athlete who loves the thrill of winning.
She first got into sports in elementary school when she tried out soccer for the first time. “Sports is my family’s thing, we just grew up doing it,” Allison said.
She went on to play varsity soccer as a freshman at West Ranch High School, along with varsity track doing high jump and long jump, but then decided to focus on her true passion: volleyball.
Allison started playing volleyball as an outside hitter in fifth grade and has loved it ever since.
She became the first player in school history to start as a freshman on varsity in 2016, collecting All-Foothill League Second Team honors. In 2017, she was an All-Foothill League First Team selection in a season highlighted by a career high 36 kills on the road against rival Valencia High School.
It was the end of her freshman year when she was recruited for college volleyball, something that usually doesn’t take place until junior or senior year. While Allison had many options to choose from, she followed her heart in her decision to commit to UCLA. The 5’11” outside hitter is an impressive early addition to the 2020 class for coach Michael Sealy. “It’s been a dream of mine since second grade to play there,” she said, “After my visits I just knew it was where I belonged.”
Her parents both attended UCLA. Her dad played football and her mom was a student. In addition, she will be following in the footsteps of her older sister to the school, who graduated from West Ranch in 2016 and joined the Bruins volleyball team her freshman season.
“It was stressful of course making that big of a decision so young, but I’m confident I made the right choice,” Allison said.
Allison also competed in the USA Volleyball High Performance championships in the summer of 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and earned third place with her team.
At 15 years old, she competed in the junior division, a group that typically includes 18 and 19 year olds. She was even named to the all-tournament team.
This summer she was selected out of 20 girls that competed for a spot on the 12-person roster for the NORCECA Girls U18 Continental team, to play a Honduras-based tournament. Training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the girls had two-a-day practices for the following 14 days with only one day off.
As captain of the team, Allison led the girls to victory and they have been slotted to play in Worlds in Egypt next summer. “The bummer is I have to make the team again next year to go,” explained Allison, “But if I continue to work hard, I know I have a shot.”
Now as a junior, Allison can’t wait to take the next steps in her athletic career. While in the midst of her high school season, she is eagerly awaiting the start up of her club season, where she plays for Legacy. Looking even further down the line, she is ready to play at the college level with the support of her parents and future teammates. 

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