(The full text of the above article follows below. For the 1999 article about Jayli written while she was a San Diego Starling, click here.)

Although she stood 6-foot-2 as a high school freshman, Jayli Jackson never considered herself an athlete growing up in the tough neighborhood around Lincoln High.

Least of all, a volleyball player.

And yet, just a few years after discovering volleyball "by accident," Jackson has made a name for herself in the sport's college ranks while aspiring to someday play professionally.

"I kind of feel like the Jackie Robinson of volleyball," said Jackson, a 2001 graduate of the school better known for producing a famous pair of football pros. "Sure, (Lincoln) can produce its Marcus Allens and its Terrell Davises, but it also produces your Jayli Jacksons."

Months into her first year at Florida A&M, a historically black college in Tallahassee, the now 6-3 junior middle blocker already has a conference title, an NCAA berth and a first-round win under her belt.

Before last fall, only FAMU's football team had advanced past the first round in a postseason tournament.

But nothing compares to the feeling Jackson felt when she saw her name at the top of one of the NCAA's statistical lists.

Jackson finished the season as the nation's top hitter in Division I, bettering players from schools such as NCAA-champion USC, runner-up Florida and Final Four team Hawaii. Comparable to a batting average in baseball, Jackson's .473 made her the country's model of efficiency on the court.

"I was overwhelmed," said Jackson, who was named first-team all-conference. "I was just .03 above Sherri Williams from Florida, and it was probably just a tip that put me over the top. It was amazing."

Jackson takes pride in helping FAMU establish a name for itself in volleyball.

Jackson's volleyball roots can be traced to her freshman year at Lincoln, to what was then a small, year-old volleyball club called the Starlings. Co-founded by former national team member Byron Shewman on the Lincoln campus, the mission of the Starlings was to expose inner-city and minority girls of middle and high school age to volleyball and the scholarship opportunities it can provide. While Jackson played for Lincoln, it was with the Starlings where Jackson flourished.

Although Jackson was always fun-loving and good-natured, Shewman says she lacked focus and direction early in her high school career. Falling through the cracks, he said, was almost expected for a girl like her.

"She didn't know what commitment was about," said Shewman, who was first introduced to Jackson by former athletic director Dorothy Robinson. "You couldn't count on her, but you couldn't stay mad at her, either."

And even if her heart early on wasn't on the volleyball court, Shewman and Starlings coach Tod Mattox were two of a handful of people who weren't about to give up on her.

"They saw something in me," Jackson said. "They knew the kind of potential I had. I had to make the most of it."

With every swing of her arms came confidence that helped Jackson on the court and in the classroom. Jackson wasn't willing to settle for being just a Lincoln graduate. She wanted to go to college.

One of five children in a single-parent family, Jackson knew college was financially out of reach without a scholarship. By late in her junior year, Jackson's progress meant she had outgrown the Starlings. Jackson's success at the next level would depend on her receiving high-level training the Starlings then could not provide, and Shewman turned to club coach Ozhan Bahrambeygui.

Then at Sunwest Volleyball Club, Bahrambeygui says he, too, wondered if Jackson could make it in the San Diego elite club volleyball system. But once again, Jackson surprised.

"The chips were stacked against her," said Bahrambeygui, now the head coach at Epic Volleyball Club. "At some point, this girl's inner strength allowed her to survive as a part of team sports. By the end of Year 1, she paved the way for other African-American girls to play club."

When a scholarship opportunity to play at Arizona didn't pan out, Jackson followed the advice of Wildcats coach Dave Rubio and headed to the College of Southern Idaho, which she was able to attend with the help of financial aid.

Although CSI was a national power at the junior college level, it was situated in a small town with four seasons and few people who looked like Jackson. Jackson calls her time at CSI "the ultimate sacrifice," but admits the training she received there put her in a position to catch the eye of major Division I volleyball coaches.

Instead of accepting a scholarship to a volleyball powerhouse, though, Jackson said she looked for the place she would be most comfortable and ended up at FAMU.

"This kid has so much mojo," Bahrambeygui said. "She is in a very elite class of athletes playing collegiate volleyball."

But even on the campus of a historically black college, Jackson is still in the minority. On the Rattlers' 10-player roster, Jackson is the only one not from Peru or Bulgaria. Jackson, though, embraces the experience, and dreams of someday playing with international players in the pro ranks overseas.

"This is my steppingstone," she said.

Of course, first comes getting her degree in juvenile criminal justice and gaining the education she needs to give back to the community where she grew up.

"The criminal justice system at the juvenile level really needs a lot of help," Jackson said. "I can be of assistance in that field because I've seen it firsthand."

Jackson hopes what she's done and will do can inspire girls like herself to dream bigger dreams. Shewman says she already has.

"She was smart enough to see that the way out of her situation was through college," Shewman said. "I can only admire that she stuck with it. I would have never expected she would have accelerated.

"She's our poster girl. Who would have guessed?"

America's Finest Players

Jayli Jackson's achievements were exceptional, but the 2003 collegiate volleyball season yielded numerous achievements by players with San Diego ties. Locals honored in the postseason by the American Volleyball Coaches Association:

NCAA DivIsion I

Name\College\high school\YR.

Katie Wilkins\Pepperdine\Christian\Sr.

     Three-time All-American, WCC's best

Leslie Finn\Clemson\Scripps Ranch\Jr.

     ACC's top hitter; All-America honorable mention

Deva Fowler\Tulane \Uni City\Jr.

     All-America honorable mention

J. Saleaumua\Nebraska\Bonita Vista\So.

     All-America honorable mention ; a complete player

B. Budinger\USF\LC Canyon\Sr.

     All-Region honorable mention, put Dons in first NCAA

L. Downey-Wallace\Kansas St.\Helix\Sr.

     Big 12's top libero is All-Region honorable mention

NCAA DivIsion II

Name\College\high school\YR.

Stacy Dunsmore\UCSD\Vista\Jr.

     All-Region honorable mention, led UCSD to top spot

NCAA DivIsion III

Name\College\high school\YR.

Remley Dodge\Emory\Bishop's\So.

     All-America honorable mention, on Final Four team

Monica Robbins\Emory\Francis Parker\Jr.

     Tri-captain, All-America honorable mention

Two-year colleges

Name\College\high school\YR.

Ashley Jensen\Golden West\Bonita Vista\So.

     All-American, among best JC players