DENVER – University of Denver Director of Volleyball Operations Jeffery Hicks added to his immense amount of experience with USA Volleyball, helping secure a gold medal with the USA Women's Sitting Volleyball at the 2021 Paralympics Games in Tokyo earlier this month.

Hicks, who is no stranger to the USA Women's Sitting National Team, has now won back-to-back gold medals with the team, also picking up one in 2016 in Rio De Janeiro with the team.

"The Paralympic movement is one of the greatest events I've been blessed to experience," Hicks said. "It all starts with the people. These athletes and staff are what makes everything worth the five-year wait and sacrifice. Tokyo 2020 was so well-organized, and the Japanese community were so giving."

The Americans with preliminary rounds, facing three opponents in Rwanda, China and the RPC.  USA started strong, knocking off Rwanda in straight sets. A tough Chinese team handed the team its only loss of the tournament, a 3-0 defeat. For Hicks and the team, it was a teachable moment and turning point at the tournament.

"Our only loss was to China in preliminary play which made RPC a must-win to qualify," Hicks said. "I feel our team plays lights out when their back is against the wall. We really stepped up to beat RPC 3-0 to advance on and continue our goal of winning the gold."

In semifinals, USA started with a highly-talented opponent in Brazil, the third-ranked team in the world rankings. The Americans, though, were more than up to the task, handling the Brazilians their only loss of the tournament and effectively ending their dreams of capturing the gold.

"Against Brazil, we won 3-0 with the second set being our most dominant, winning 25-11." Hicks said. "Continuing on to the Gold medal match was such a relief as we didn't even know if we would make it after our loss to China."

With the victory against Brazil, the team set itself up for a gold-medal rematch with China. Despite the early loss in the preliminary rounds, Hicks and the team showed their resolve, setting the tone early with a dominant 25-12 first-set victory. The Americans locked down a second-set win, before the Chinese fought back to take the third. But USA showed its determination, securing its status as the best in the world with a fourth-set victory to get the gold medal, making it back-to-back first-place finishes at the Games.

"It's still hard to put into words the feeling of winning the gold," Hicks said. "I'm proud of the grit and commitment this team had to persevere through so much adversity that many people don't know we had leading up to the Paralympics. I've known most of these athletes for over eight years now, and to go on this journey with them is what made winning it so much more fulfilling. This team is a part of my family and there was so much love shown for each other, and when you take on challenges together, we grow together."

Besides just being able to be part of such a prestigious event, the Paralympic Games offered Hicks the opportunity to see and learn more from a variety of cultures from around the world.

"Living in the Paralympic Village allowed me to fully absorb the cultures coming together," Hicks said. "Our team had a wonderful experience and competed well in the games. It's a great experience to work with some amazing coaches while at the Paralympics. We got to connect with not only our staff, but staffs of many other sports and you grow from taking in their experiences as well.

"The biggest takeaway would be building relationships with our athletes and staff, allowing us to develop a deeper connection within our athletes. That's the overall goal: to greatly impact and lift up our athletes to their maximum potential." 

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