Olympic Gold Medalists Surprise Metea Valley State Champs

AURORA, IL — Aurora City Hall was filled with pom-poms, applause and surprised faces during Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

State and world volleyball champions — some in person, some virtually — gathered to celebrate the Metea Valley High School girls volleyball team that clinched a 15-25, 25-18, 25-17 victory defeating the Mother McAuley High School in the IHSA Class 4A Girls Volleyball Championship at Illinois State University Nov. 13.

Not only did the girls win the first state championship title for any sport at Metea Valley High, but they also became the first public high school group to receive the Class 4A title in volleyball since 2010, Chief Communications Officer Clayton Muhammad said at the meeting.

Adding an extra touch of sweetness to the already exciting and historic win were two surprise appearances — via celebrity video-sharing website Cameo — from Olympic volleyball players Jordan Thompson and Jordan Larson.

Both athletic heroes of the 2020 USA Olympic Volleyball Team, Larson and Thompson, who at 24 is the youngest member of the 2020 team, earned gold by defeating Brazil in three straight sets at the Tokyo Olympics that took place from July 23 through Aug. 8 this summer.

"A little birdie told me you guys won a state championship. A 40-2 record? What? That is insane," Larson said in a video to the team. "I just wanted to send you all the congratulations — what an amazing accomplishment."

Even as a three-time Olympian and team captain of the 2020 team, she said she was impressed and "super jealous" because she never won a state championship.

"Cheers to you guys," she said. "I hope you really just cherish this moment."

Introducing Larson's video to the audience, Muhammad said: "When you look at Jordan [Larson] and the work that she did not only as the captain of the team but the MVP of the Olympics, we said who can really help to greet our young ladies here in Aurora? We're so honored that Jordan Larson agreed to do that."

But the congratulations and surprises didn't end there. Right after Larson, Muhammad introduced a video from Thompson, who had her own well wishes to share with the team.

"I'm just so proud of you guys. That's amazing," Thompson said. "I can't even imagine all the hours of practice and all the hard work, dedication, time and commitment that you put into this season individually and as a team."

Muhammad told the group after Thompson's video concluded that "she was so happy to do that for you," before continuing to say, "we're here to honor you for all that you have done."

More applauding gave way to photo opportunities for volleyball players with city officials, including Mayor Richard Irvin, their coaches and Metea Valley Principal Darrell Echols. The girls were awarded trophies and personalized honorary street signs to commemorate their historic win last month.

"These girls have not only been amazing on the court, but they're amazing off the court," said Coach Dave MacDonald. "They're awesome in the classroom in the community and do wonderful things. They've been great role models not only for the kids at our school but the younger generation of volleyball players and the younger generation of kids."