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The Tokyo Olympics likely marked Larson's final appearance with the USA national team

One day after becoming the leaders of the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile, Vero Volley Monza gave their supporters another reason to be confident in the team’s success in the 2021-2022 season as the club announced the signing of Tokyo Olympics MVP Jordan Larson.

The 35-year-old American outside hitter will join the club for the remainder of the season and will significantly strengthen the roster led by head coach Marco Gaspari, who recently saw Serbian outside hitter Brankica Mihajlovic terminate her contract after dealing with several injuries.

Larson, who has played professionally in Puerto Rico, Russia, Turkey and China and was recently announced as an assistant coach with the University of Texas in the American collegiate system, is excited about her first experience in the Italian League.

“I’m really excited to be joining the Italian League for the very first time,” Larson commented. “A lot of my teammates have played there and they enjoyed it, so I’m really excited to learn what it's’ all about. I know Monza have really big goals and all I want is to come and help the club achieve those goals with the other players. I’m not trying to do too much, but just to help where I can. I’m really excited to join the team.”

In Larson, Monza get one of the most talented and accomplished players in international volleyball. She has been with the USA national team for 12 years and has won three Olympic medals in the period – gold in Tokyo, silver in London and bronze in Rio. The veteran has also led the Americans to victories in the three first editions of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (2018, 2019 and 2021) and also to the top of the podium of the 2014 FIVB World Championship.

At the club level, the American has won two editions of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship and two of the CEV European Champions League. Larson has also four national league titles in Russia and had national Cup triumphs in Russia, China and Turkey.

“We are very happy that Jordan has accepted our offer,” Monza’s sports director Claudio Bonati said. “With her, our roster will make a great leap in terms of quality as we’re talking about an extraordinary athlete, with a fantastic background and huge experience. We’re very confident she’ll fit in nicely in our roster and will help us accomplish our goals.”

Larson will be the second American on Monza’s roster, joining middle blocker Dana Rettke, who was signed last month.