Idaho recruit sets girls for win

Twin Falls, Idaho is a long way from Tallahassee. However, Jessica Bond, a business management student, said she feels right at home on the Florida A&M Woman’s Volleyball team.

Bond has been playing competitive volleyball since the fourth grade. She received offers from Western Montana, Willamette University and Florida A&M.

“I got a scholarship, which is always nice, and plus they have a good program,” Bond said.

“They won eight MEAC Championships and that’s always a good thing to have; a winning program.”

Bond is the team’s primary setter, and since she has came on board the team has seen major differences in their play.

“It is a big difference between last year and this year,” said Chelsea Pennick a junior from Orlando. “I think that we are more persistent. It’s great to have a setter that is just a setter.”Being the setter on the team is like being the captain. You have to be able to be heard, and be able to lead your team, and that is what Bond does.

“Off the court, she is friends with everybody, and on the court she is still the same,” said Avianca Manning, a sophomore photography student from Panama City, Fla. “She is vocal, which makes her like the quarterback. Without her calling the plays, it would be like not having a setter at all, like last year.”

Bond is also credited with being a great team leader.

“She is a soft spoken person and leads by example,” Pennick said. “Whenever we need something she knows how to get it done. She knows when to set to certain people.”Since the beginning of the season, Bond has only gotten better.

Even as the season winds down to an end and playoffs are around the corner, she is not slowing down.

“As the season goes on, I keep progressing and getting better and better,” Bond said. “It is getting easier and easier to play because I get more in tuned with the other girls.”

Bond has played in a total of 73 sets and has set 792 sets thus far in the season. On Sept. 19, Bond set a career high of 60 sets against the University of Central Florida.

The team looks forward to playoffs and wants to go in more confident than ever.

“We are more comfortable with each other,” Bond said. “We are able to run our game faster, do more combinations and pick up the speed and pace.”

Not only does Bond enjoy volleyball, always enjoys wake boarding during the summer.