Jordan Kohl on USA World Deaf title: “The feeling was indescribable” - Articles

When Jordan Kohl was 3, her parents realized that something was wrong. Their daughter wasn’t forming full sentences the way she should and wasn’t able to say certain words. They had Jordan’s hearing tested, and found that she had about 58-59 decibels of hearing loss in both ears. It’s likely that the last thing they considered at that time was that their daughter would grow to 6-foot-3 and 20 years later lead the USA to its first World Deaf Volleyball Championships gold medal. Kohl will be a junior at Texas State, where last season the right side led the team in kills (289), kills per set (2.78) and was third in blocks (61). The 2014 Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year has 60-72 decibels of hearing loss, and the doctors are unable to explain the source of her hearing loss. “She’s a major part of our team,” longtime Texas State coach Karen Chisum said. “She’s a strong left-handed player, was an all-conference player last year, she is a dominating force. The setter knows to make eye contact with her when calling plays just in case. It really doesn’t hinder her at all.” Kohl’s hearing aid restores 50 decibels of her hearing loss, at least until her hearing aid pops out when she gets sweaty or the battery dies. At the World tournament, hearing aids are not allowed, so the team has to develop systems to communicate. “In the deaf games, we’ll usually confirm everything with hand signals,” Kohl said in a telephone interview. “Being hearing...

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