After spending five seasons (one as a redshirt) as a student?athlete for the Roadrunners, Jodi Hardin will trade her CSUB uniform for a clipboard when she joins the coaching staff as an assistant in 2008.
Although new to the college coaching circle, Hardin already has extensive club coaching experience with local power Bakersfield Volleyball Club. She has coached both 14’s and 16’s over the past three seasons, leading her 16’s team to a second place finish at the Cross Court Classic in Houston this past spring.
As a player, Hardin ranked among the top outside hitters in CSUB’s storied volleyball history. Despite being slowed by injuries for much of her senior season in 2007, she still finished third on the team in kills (230) and earned all?tournament honors at the University of Arizona Four Points Invitational. She led the team in service aces with 58, a mark that ranks No. 10 on CSUB’s single?season list.
She finished ranked among the CSUB career leaders in several categories, including top 10 finishes in service attempts (No. 6, 1,009), total attacks (No. 9, 2,523) and kills per game (No. 10, 2.87). She also finished No. 12 in total kills (890) and No. 14 in aces (108).
That she has become a coach comes as little surprise given her family background. Hardin’s mother, Kelly, was a highly respected high school and club volleyball coach for many years in Bakersfield. She is currently the athletics director at Golden Valley High School.
Hardin is a Bakersfield native who prepped at Liberty High School, where she played for her mother as a sophomore. A former Academic All?America candidate, she carries a 3.2 grade point average as a math major.
