There's a dad living in Zionsville headed to his fourth Olympics as USA volleyball star

There is a 37-year-old husband and father of two living in Zionsville who spikes volleyballs with a force that reaches 65 miles an hour, serves at a Herculean 75 miles per hour and jumps 41 inches off the court.

He is the No. 1 opposite/outside men's volleyball hitter in the nation, a literal superstar in the sport and he's headed to his fourth Olympics.

If Matthew Anderson played pro basketball or pro football, he would be a household name. In volleyball circles, he is a household name , in the United States and around the world. But in a suburb 15 miles northwest of Indianapolis, he goes mostly under the radar.

Anderson plays 50 weeks out of the year, including overseas during the national team's off season, his past tours sending him to Russia, South Korea, Italy and Turkey.

As Anderson heads to Paris this week to try to help Team USA take home a gold medal (he led the 2016 team to a bronze in Rio) he has no idea if it will be his last. But a fifth Olympics appearance in Los Angeles at the age of 41 is definitely not out of the question.

"He is still playing incredible volleyball," said his wife, Jackie, "and getting bigger contracts than ever before."

'Hey, we got an offer for you'

Anderson was raised in West Seneca, a town just outside of Buffalo, New York, to a volleyball family. His grandfather played in the senior games and two of his older sisters played in college. He played all the sports growing up, basketball, baseball and soccer.

But he didn't pick up volleyball until he was 15 and had become dreadfully bored with soccer.

"They put me at goalie, and I was just like, 'This is boring. Yeah, I don't want to do this,’” Anderson said. A family friend convinced him to try volleyball. He loved it and quickly decided to focus on the sport year-round.

"It was something that I was, well, I guess you could say relatively good at from the get-go," he said. "But I obviously had a huge (learning curve) to be to where I am now."

Where he is now? Anderson grew from a 5-10 freshman in high school to a 6-7 senior who led his West Seneca High team to a state championship in 2004 and a 17-0 record his senior season.

By the fall of his freshman year at Penn State, he was a 6-10 beast. In his junior season in 2008 he helped lead his team to a national championship win against Pepperdine, the second in the program's history. Anderson was named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player for his 29-kill performance.

That summer, Anderson was invited to practice with the national team then went to Japan for a training session. There he got his first professional volleyball offer. A talent scout had come to the training and talked with an agent.

"The last day there in Japan, I got an email that said, 'Hey, we have an offer for you,'" said Anderson. "And I thought it was the older guys playing a joke on me. I had no idea."

Anderson still had another year to play in college and wasn't expecting to leave early, but the offer was legit. After some soul searching, he decided to leave Penn State, finishing his career with 1,212 kills and 82 aces. Both rank in the top 13 in the school's history.

But by the time Anderson had made his decision to go pro, that Japan offer had been taken by another player. A team in South Korea was happy to step in and put Anderson on its roster.

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Sixteen years later, many teams later and ready to represent Team USA in Paris, he is still playing the best volleyball of his life.

"Matt is the first one in the gym always and the last one to leave," said Jackie. "His success is earned because he is so, so dedicated."

'What it means to play for Team USA, that never leaves me'

Anderson is adamant -- "Oh yeah, 100%," he says -- that Team USA has a shot at a medal, even the gold. Going into the summer, they were ranked No. 2 in the world, then dropped to No. 6 after some tough matches.

"That wasn't us playing. I think I would still consider us one of the top few teams in the world," he said. "And I think that we have a really good chance to win."

The excitement and passion of representing his country, even 12 years later, doesn't wane, Anderson said. From his first games in London where the team lost in the quarterfinals to the 2016 bronze medal in Rio to the postponed 2020 Olympics where the team didn't make it out of pool play, he has soaked in every single moment.

"It's a huge honor. The weight of what it means to play for Team USA, that never leaves me," he said. "The way I look at the Olympics, it's my biggest job. This is what I've been working for. There's enjoyment and there is pride and happiness and a lot of stuff, but it's work. So, I'm there to work."

And, hopefully, bring the gold back home -- to Zionsville.

How did he end up in Zionsville? Love

Jackie Anderson grew up in Indianapolis, went to St. Matthew and Cathedral High where she played volleyball. She remembers watching the Rio Olympics in 2016 having no idea she was watching her future husband.

A year later, during the summer of 2017, she was in Chicago babysitting her younger sister one night when she got bored and decided to expand her Bumble dating app search. Anderson happened to be with Team USA for a tournament just outside of the city and his profile popped up.

Jackie saw he played volleyball professionally and reached out to one of her best friends, an Olympic gymnast, to see if she knew anything about him. Her friend responded, "He's a really good guy."

Jackie sent Anderson a message on Instagram, and they started talking. They met a month later in L.A. where she was working, and he was training. On their first date, they hung out, played gin rummy and watched "Jeopardy."

"It was a really great first date, but he was pretty reserved," Jackie said. Anderson made it clear he needed to focus on volleyball and was moving to Japan. Jackie had no idea if he liked her or not.

A month and a half later, back in the United States, Anderson reached back out and invited Jackie to his sister's wedding. She met the whole family on their second date and the romance blossomed.

"People slowly found out we were dating, and It became very apparent if you're in the volleyball world, Matt Anderson is the top," she said. "You know his name."

When the two decided to find a home, they gravitated to Indiana where Jackie had grown up. Her mom had gone to Bishop Chatard and her dad to Roncalli. Both her parents went to Butler.

"We wanted to raise our kids near family," Jackie said. She found a house in Zionsville in 2019, fell in love with it and purchased it. "We chose it because we wanted some land and loved the school district and the small-town feel."

When Anderson came home from playing in Russia to see their home for the first time, he proposed to Jackie in a magical moment.

They were married in 2020 on their Zionsville property with a fairy (as in fair-themed) tale wedding, complete with corn dogs and a Ferris wheel.

As Anderson plays in the Olympics this week, Jackie and their two children, 4-year-old Jamie and 2-year-old Juno, will be in Paris as his biggest fans, cheering him on.

"He is just always striving to be the best he can in all aspects of his life, not just volleyball," Jackie said. "He is always putting 100% into being the best father and husband, too. I feel really lucky. I could not be more proud of him."

Anderson and USA men's volleyball team play their first match July 27. The Olympic games will be televised on NBC.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow . Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com .

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: There's a dad living in Zionsville headed to his fourth Olympics as USA volleyball star