Joanna Weiss had an outstanding high school career at Darien HS. From 1999 until she graduated in 2002 her team won three FCIAC championships, three Eastern Division championships and three State Championships. Her team was 89 and 9 for those four years. Her awards included being named captain in her senior year, twice to the All-FCIAC team and twice to the All-State team.
She was just getting started. She continued her career at Cornell University. To say she made a contribution to their team is an understatement to say the least. The year before she arrived on campus, Cornell had tied for last in the Ivy League. Then in her first two years, 2003 and 2004, Joanna was named the most improved player. In her last three years, Cornell was the Ivy League champions. In her junior and senior years, 2005 and 2006, they earned NCAA tournament berths. In 2005 she led her team with an attack percentage of .406, a school record and the 7th best in the nation. Her career attack percentage was .384, another school record. In her senior year, she set her 3rd school record for individual blocks and the led the team to a team school record for blocks with 562. In those two years, Joanna was First Team All-Ivy as well as All-Northeast Region.