Feature | Ryla Jones: ‘She doesn’t quit’

Playing the middle blocker position means you are in the opponent’s face all game, matched up, trying to out-power, out-smart and out-duel the other team. It’s not a position for the weak. It’s not a position for the quiet — it’s a position built for someone who isn’t intimidated by anything. 

Pitt volleyball first-year middle blocker Ryla Jones hasn’t shown any signs of intimidation in the several months she’s donned a Pitt jersey. Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley, who has dealt with trials and tribulations of her own, continuously notices that Jones displays a never-give-in attitude.

“She doesn’t quit,” Kelley said. “I have definitely gotten through some adversity and I think I have never quit, and [Jones] definitely shows that even in tough times, she’s just not going to give up.”

It’s hard to transition from high school and club volleyball to collegiate volleyball — harder even to compete for a starting position on the preseason No. 4 team in the country as a first-year. But Jones doesn’t shy away from the pressure and competition. It’s something she moves towards.

Growing up in a household with a twin and three other siblings will make a person love competition. Growing up in a household with four siblings who all eventually play Division One athletics will exponentially increase said love for competition.

“There was always something we were trying to compete at and see who was better,” Jones said. “Especially being on a [volleyball] team with my twin, we are always going at it with each other. She was a right side, so I always wanted to block her all the time.”

“With my big sister playing volleyball at Maryland, she was No. 1 in the Big Ten for blocking, so I was always trying to one-up her, but she kind of always had that edge on me,” Jones said.

The Panthers’ competition for who will earn the second middle blocker position is still undecided, according to head coach Dan Fisher. The Panthers’ head coach already acknowledges Kelley as the first middle blocker, but Jones is competing with first-year middle blockers Bianca Garibaldi and Dalia Vîrlan. 

Jones seems to have the inside lane to win the position as she has started all three of Pitt’s matches so far this season. But nothing is guaranteed in college athletics, and the Fort Washington, Maryland, native knows she still needs to grow in various parts of her game. 

Most notably, Jones works tirelessly at improving her read blocking, which is when a middle blocker has to read where the setter is going to set the ball so they can put themselves in the best possible position to earn a block. 

“I’ve been working all summer on read blocking,” Jones said. “It’s kind of one of the harder skills to develop as a middle blocker, but I feel like if I keep working at it, I’ll just be able to get it. It’s come a long way over time because I didn’t usually read block in club and high school, but [Pitt has] been really pushing me and helping me find ways to improve my game in that area.”

Sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford last season had to deal with the same learning curves that Jones is dealing with this season. From getting used to living on a college campus to understanding what is needed from a collegiate athlete, Stafford went through it in 2023. 

The Torrance, California, native notices the similarities between her and Jones and is aware of how badly she wants to make a difference for Pitt.

“She is very similar to me. In the practices, we will be going back and forth. We have such fiery personalities,” Stafford said. “She just really wants to play and she loves the sport. You can see it in how she puts the work in during practices and how much she really cares about volleyball.”

But that clear love for volleyball wasn’t always the case. She was a two-sport athlete in high school, playing club basketball and club volleyball, but decided on volleyball over basketball because to her, an offer from Pitt volleyball was irrefutable. 

But Jones, from a “basketball household” where both of her parents played overseas, still has that basketball mentality of going after every loose ball alive and well in her volleyball game. 

“Blocking is one of my favorite parts of [volleyball], just like going to get it. [That] probably came from basketball,” Jones said.

The go-and-get-it play style also comes from Jones’ mentality, and it is apparent to Jones’ teammates who notice that she is a “go-getter.” That go-getter and extroverted mentality that Jones brought to campus when she arrived in January as a 17-year-old early enrollee reminded Kelley of who she was as a first-year early enrollee playing for Florida in 2021. The two may have not figured it all out as 17-year-olds on a college campus, but they were both self-confident. 

“First thing I noticed [about Jones] was she was really outgoing,” Kelley said. “As a freshman coming in, there’s been two different spectrums of shy, quiet and like, ‘Oh, she knows who she is,’ and I think that is the thing I connected to her with.” 

The connection the two middle blockers have with one another is sibling-like.

“It kind of felt like [Kelley] was a big sister to me,” Jones said. “She is really similar to my sister Rainelle who was at Maryland. She’s been such a good help, like helping me get better mentally, physically, and just really helping me learn all the skills that she sees that I need.”

Kelley helped out Jones from the get-go partially because she sees the potential that the Top 100 recruit has. 

“When [Jones] first walked into the gym, I told her, ‘You are going to be great one day, and I am going to help you do this, and I want to win a National Championship with you,’” Kelley said.

Hearing that vote of confidence from someone Jones used to admire while watching collegiate volleyball in high school helped the already self-confident first-year immensely.

“It’s crazy seeing one of the people I used to look up to have such confidence in me,” Jones said. “It gave me more confidence. It just felt really good in my heart that she believed that for me.” 

Jones isn’t even close to what her peak is. But with the workhorse mentality the first-year middle blocker has, the sky is the limit.

“I think she is a beautiful human being and has a lot to grow,” Kelley said. “I am excited to watch it for the next few years.”