Last year, over 450 miles stood between St. Louis, Mo., natives Jamie and Stefanie Joyner.
This year, the sisters are only a few feet away.
Mississippi State junior opposite hitter Jamie Joyner was a standout performer last season for the Bulldogs, averaging 2.23 kills per game with her 219 season total. While Jamie was guiding the Bulldogs to one of their best seasons in program history, younger sister Stefanie was busy captaining the volleyball ship of Mehlville High School in St. Louis, Mo. As a senior at MHS, Stefanie paced the Panthers with 273 kills, 273 digs and 41 blocks. Upon graduation, Stefanie had chalked up 701 career kills, 938 digs and 270 blocks.
In the pre-college years, Jamie and Stefanie never really made it a goal, or even thought it probable for that matter, that they would be beside each other on a college court, playing for the same team.
The sisters agree that it was just something that “sort of, happened.” Now, the sisters are reunited in Starkville, as the second set of sisters on the MSU Volleyball court.
Hungarians Orshi and Eva Kriegel held their inaugural reunion on the court last season.
“It was really exciting when Stefanie decided to commit to MSU,” Jamie Joyner said. “It meant we wouldn’t be away from each other nearly as much as we had been. Now, we get to play on the court together again, which is a big thing for us.
“We get along really well, and we’re really close. Having her here is not only like having a sister here, but a best friend as well.”
Though Jamie is excited to be playing volleyball alongside her sister again, and Stefanie says the feeling is mutual, Stefanie claims that Jamie isn’t the main reason she chose to play volleyball for the Maroon and White.
“I didn’t really want Jamie to be a part of the decision,” Stefanie said. “Just because we’re sisters doesn’t mean we’re the same person, and it doesn’t mean we have to be at the same place all the time. Her being here helped a little, but it wasn’t why I chose to come.
“I looked at a lot of different schools because I wanted to make sure that this was the place for me. After looking at many different kinds of schools, nothing could compare to Mississippi State. So I ended up here,” Stefanie added.
A natural comparison always tends to arise when any pair of athletes is known as just that: a pair.
Being siblings doesn’t help the matter, either.
The Manning quarterbacks-Eli and Peyton-come to mind as a prime example.
Orshi and Eva Kriegel were compared and contrasted last season, and Jamie and Stefanie will probably be measured by each other’s standards this season.
“Knowing that I might have to ‘live up’ to Jamie made it a hard decision to come here,” Stefanie said. “But I think that she’s here to push me, making me better because she is a great athlete. Jamie’s always very inspirational, telling me to work harder and to be the best I can be.”
Jamie says she doesn’t feel any pressure to try and outplay her younger companion.
If any pressure is felt at all, Jamie says that it’s just pressure to be a role model to Stefanie.
“I feel more support from her than pressure,” Jamie said. “She’s there for me, no matter what. I know that she’s not going to judge me, and that she’ll always have my back.
“We kind of made an agreement that we weren’t going to judge and be negative towards each other. That would push us apart more than anything.”
Off the court, though the Joyners don’t live together, the sisters are inseparable.
They hang out together, go out together, eat together and have a lot of the same friends in Starkville.
Jamie says they don’t do it just because they’re sisters, and they’re “supposed to hang out together.” They just do it.
So far in the young 2006 season, Stefanie has been sidelined with a right arm injury, and has seen no action.
Head coach Tina Seals says Stefanie is listed as on a day-to-day basis and could see action at any point in the near future.
“Both are incredible people,” Seals said. “They have good morals and good study habits. They work hard. They are a coach’s dream. The only difficult thing right now is Stefanie being injured. We’re hoping to get her back soon and feel her presence more on the court.”