Ninja Jorgensen

Ninja Jorgensen started volleyball while a student at Occidental College. After graduation in 1961 she started teaching physical education and coaching volleyball at Glendale High School in California. Jorgensen spent her entire career at Glendale High School, retiring in 1998 after 36 years at the school as head volleyball coach.

She continued to play volleyball after college, making AAU All-American several times and winning a gold medal with the US team at the 1967 Pan American Games. She played for the US at the 1967 and 1971 Pan Ams, at the 1967 and 1970 World Championships, and was on the US national team from 1965-73. In 1963 she was AAU Player of the Year. In club competition she played for the Long Beach Shamrocks, helping them win four consecutive national championships starting in 1967.

Jorgensen was a six-time Open Division All-American. In 2008 she received the Flo Hyman All-Time Great Player award. She worked as an NCAA official, and in 2015 was named to the City Section Hall of Fame for Los Angeles.