Malden's Jada Townsend signs with Lyon College

MALDEN – Green Wave four-sport standout Jada Townsend put pen to paper Wednesday to continue her athletic and academic career on the volleyball team at Lyon College in Batesville, Ar.

Townsend is active on the Malden volleyball, basketball and track and field teams, as well as the cheer squad.

She's developed a love for each over the course of her career, and while she's been playing basketball from a young age, the camaraderie of a volleyball team is hard to beat, according to Townsend.

“I wanted to try more sports in high school and I chose to do volleyball,” Townsend said. “After you go up and get a good kill, it's just really exciting. When you get a kill, you turn around and go to your friends. In basketball, when you shoot a shot you go back there by yourself.”

“That's another thing about volleyball, the team chemistry, the bonding, the growing love,” she added.

Malden's Jada Townsend (5) goes for a kill�during a 3-1 loss to East Prairie in the semifinals of the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 Tournament at Portageville on Oct. 24, 2022.Dennis Marshall, Standard-Democrat

As a starter for the volleyball and basketball teams both her junior and senior years, she's seen three different volleyball coaches and four basketball coaches come and go.

She said that it's admittedly been frustrating at times throughout the “ups and downs,” but as she developed a chemistry with her teammates and came into her own on the court, it was all worth it.

The basketball team improved from a three-win season her junior year to a 10-11 season this winter. The volleyball team also added four more wins, including a second place finish in conference and third place in districts, to their tally from her junior season.

For her efforts on the basketball team, Townsend was awarded All-District and All-Conference honors to cap off her senior season.

Malden�s Jada Townsend (5) attempts a shot while surrounded by Senath-Hornersville defenders in the opener of the Bootheel Conference Tournament Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 at Hayti High School.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

The recruitment process wasn't so simple for Townsend at the beginning of the year, however.

“When I first started volleyball season I was convinced I didn't want to do it,” she said. “I wanted to quit the team. But I talked with (Coach McKenzie Stevens) and she said that the recruitment process would be really good for me.”

After thinking it over, one night Townsend sent a text to Stevens that she was ready.

“When I set it up one night, I didn't think I'd get any offers with it being late in the season,” Townsend said. “I'm a senior and everybody else has put theirs in. But one day my mom called me during school and said 'You just got an offer for volleyball,' and all I could say was 'Oh my gosh.'”

“I was so excited and didn't know what to think,” Townsend said. “I was smiling in class for the rest of the day.”

Townsend used to play as middle hitter, but this season the lefty took on the right side. Her presence was immediately felt, and she has the height and the talent to be an immediate addition to the Lyon roster as well, according to fourth-year assistant volleyball coach Lyndsay Davidson.

“We needed Jada so much,” Davidson said. “We needed a strong block this year, and she was great at the net. She stepped up and was great at the net. She played middle, but even if she played in the back row, she could play it defensively just as well.”

“She's a lefty, so that was definitely something excited we got to work with,” she continued. “Having to pull her from hitting left side, right side and middle, her senior year she was able to play all three. She was always a strong player, but her senior year she definitely stepped up when we needed her.”

After Townsend attended a volleyball camp at Lyon College three weeks ago, that was confirmed.

“It's big,” she said of her visit. “It was different. It's three hours away and I'm used to like SEMO where everyone is around each other. It's on a hill, and I don't know anyone else there. But it feels like home there. It felt natural once I was there.”

Her decision to enter the recruitment process, and the subsequent offer from Lyon in particular, turned out to be the perfect storm when evaluating her long term goals.

“I want to be a veterinarian and they just got a new vet school, so that's definitely another reason I want to go there,” she explained. “I was thinking about seeing just how far I could go with athletics, but I love animals so I really want to work that in. Maybe I can run a little business and play sports as well.”

As she takes on her final high school track season, she's also thinking about being a two-sport athlete in college as well, as she's not quite ready to leave the track behind.

She said she hopes to make the cut to go to state for the track team this spring, but looking at the relationships she's built in such a short time in high school will be even harder to leave behind.

“This year will be the hardest for me,” she explained. “I have to leave behind everyone that I've gotten close with. I didn't really get close to anybody until my senior year, but meeting the new people will be hard after developing those bonds.”

Coaches and teammates of Malden's Jada Townsend congratulate her on signing a letter of intent to play volleyball at Lyon College Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat