It’s been only four months since Jazmine Orozco stepped up as a member of Pepperdine Women’s Volleyball team, and she has already become the first in the history of Waves women’s volleyball to be named NCAA player of the week. She received the award on Sept. 19, two days after earning the West Coast Conference player of the week honors. That was the first weekly conference award for the Waves this season.
Orozco, an outside hitter, recalled that she has played sports since a very young age, mastering skills in not just volleyball but also many other sporting disciplines. “I’ve been playing sports for as long as I can remember,” Orozco said. “I played soccer for a long time, ran track, high-jumped and even tried basketball for a season. But I started playing volleyball in the 6th grade and I pretty much never looked back.”
Orozco played for Illinois prior to transferring to Pepperdine for the 2012 season. During her career at Illinois, Orozco was named to the NCAA Austin Regional all-tournament team in 2010, and was titled the best attacker of 2006 and 2008, and MVP in 2007 while playing for USA Volleyball.
“A few moments stand out in my mind as amazing experiences, all for different reasons,” Orozco said. She mentioned participation in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament with Illinois as one of the major highlights of her sporting career. Illinois reached the championship match before being defeated by UCLA (3-1) in San Antonio, Texas. Illinois was ranked No. 3 among the qualifying teams. “I don’t think I can pick just one, but the Final Four experience last year was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of before,” Orozco said. “It’s right up there, for me, with playing for the Junior National Team for the first time, which motivated me to keep competing and to play in college.”
As of now, Orozco enjoys the Malibu views and at the same time is trying to keep up with intense practice schedules and demanding classes. “I’ve only been at Pepperdine for about four months, but I’ve known about it for much longer,” she said.
“I visited here in high school and really loved the campus, and the environment in general. So far it’s been a pretty smooth transition and I’m thankful for how welcoming the community has been.” Even though she has a very busy schedule, Orozco loves playing guitar, volunteering and watching football during her free time.
“I’m one of those people with such a broad range of interests, I’d be happy doing a lot of things. Right now I’m just focusing on the season and my school work,” she said. Majoring in psychology, Orozco is “hoping to focus on child and developmental psychology” after graduation. “I would like to continue on with grad school, and hopefully get my masters in clinical psychology,” Orozco added. “I’d love to focus on child psychology, [and] work with kids, families and especially kids with intellectual disabilities.” Despite her passion for psychology, Orozco does not exclude the opportunity of playing volleyball professionally.
“I am very open to the idea of playing overseas after college, if that option opens up,” she said. As a Wave, Orozco helped Pepperdine to move up to No. 14 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Top 25, as she led the team to victory over Portland on Sept. 22.
The game went extremely well, as Orozco registered her seventh double-double of the season with 14 kills and 14 digs. Moreover, she has reached double-digits in kills in all but two matches in 2012.
“I think our team has come a long way together in such a short time this season,” she said.
“I am just looking forward to being a part of this team as we continue to grow and play together. The physical aspects of the game really come together the more we are able to do that.”
