This year’s NCAA volleyball tournament was an unexpected family reunion for the Fry clan.
Both Sam Fry, a senior at Notre Dame, and Jordan Fry, a redshirt freshman at Kentucky, were making their first NCAA tournament appearances. As fate would have it, the sisters’ teams were sent to the same subregional, hosted by the Wildcats in Lexington.
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The host team entered the postseason ranked fourth in the nation in RPI. They were a lock to make the tournament with a 29-4 record. The younger Fry saw minimal action in her first season of eligibility, but learned behind a veteran team.
“Our team was super talented this year so we had pretty high expectations. It was really crazy. I think we could have gone to the final four. We had a really special team,” said Jordan. “We always knew that this team had a lot of potential. Practices were twice as competitive as the year before.”
Being part of a nationally-ranked college volleyball power was not anywhere near Jordan’s radar just five years ago. She dreamed of playing soccer in college. Then, she suffered a severe concussion and realized she was burnt out on the sport. She decided instead to follow in the footsteps of her older sister, Sam.
“I was reluctant to start something new that late. My family is a super-huge volleyball family. I’m glad I made the switch,” said Jordan. “We have really great coaches at Kentucky. My redshirt year was really integral in getting me acclimated to the speed of play at the college level.”
While the top-seeded Wildcats won their first-round match against Eastern Tennessee State, the ninth seed Fighting Irish fell to eighth seed Western Kentucky. The sisters were one match short of facing off on the volleyball court for the first time, but still shared in a memorable weekend.
This season marked Notre Dame’s first trip to the tournament since 2012, and came via an at-large bid. Once the bid was announced, Sam Fry was ecstatic. When it was announced that her team would be travelling to Lexington, she was doubly thrilled.
“We were definitely surprised to get in. We were really happy that we made it to the tournament. It was the icing on the cake of our four seasons at Notre Dame. We were in the process of building the program. To finish it off by making it to NCAAs was a great way to finish our careers,” said Sam. “I didn’t expect to be playing at Kentucky if we made the tournament. My mom was going crazy. I’d always talked to Jordan about how cool it would be if we actually played each other. I’d been following her team the whole season. It was a cool thing to see her play in person.”
The younger Fry had not seen her sister play in two years. For the bracket to work out the way it did was a gift that both sisters will always cherish.
“I was super proud of her and really excited. It was really so crazy, I couldn’t believe it,” said Jordan. “All my teammates know how close I am with my sister. I never thought that would happen in a million years. We would joke about maybe playing each other in the tournament. That would have been awesome if we played Notre Dame, but it was super special to get to watch Sam’s last game. It was bittersweet. She’s always been a great leader for me.”
Having several family members and former coaches present was a comforting conclusion to Sam’s college volleyball career. She played her last match in front of her sister, parents, and many other relatives who made the short trek down I-75.
“It was really special having all my family there and having Jordan there to watch my last game,” she said. “Honestly it couldn’t have worked out any better. What are the odds?Even though we lost, I could not have asked for a better ending.”