Jennifer Denton earns scholarship to play volleyball at Division
I university
All of her life, people would tell Jennifer Denton that even
though she was good at volleyball, her 5-foot-6 frame wouldn’t
allow her to play college ball at the NCAA Division I level.
This week, the former San Benito High athlete and All-American
setter from West Valley Junior College is having the last laugh.
Denton arrived in Ruston, La. to get ready to attend Louisiana Tech
University where she will finish out her final two college seasons
with the Bulldogs courtesy of a full scholarship that was offered
to her in March.
Jennifer Denton earns scholarship to play volleyball at Division I university
All of her life, people would tell Jennifer Denton that even though she was good at volleyball, her 5-foot-6 frame wouldn’t allow her to play college ball at the NCAA Division I level.
This week, the former San Benito High athlete and All-American setter from West Valley Junior College is having the last laugh. Denton arrived in Ruston, La. to get ready to attend Louisiana Tech University where she will finish out her final two college seasons with the Bulldogs courtesy of a full scholarship that was offered to her in March.
“I’m really excited. I was always told that I wasn’t good enough to play in college,” Denton said. “Now I’m the only one left of the players that I grew up with who is still playing. It’s really pretty here, but it’s very, very humid. It’s whole other world from California.”
It’s also a goal that almost never came to fruition, and one that took a major detour.
After graduating from San Benito High in 2003, Denton had planned to attend Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont where she would play for the Division II team on a full scholarship. But that all changed two weeks before her high school graduation when Denton and her twin sister, Jaclyn, were involved in a car accident. Denton was knocked unconscious and also suffered a neck injury as well as damage to a disk in her back.
After a lot of physical therapy and encouragement from others, she forged on and went to Notre Dame late that summer but only lasted two weeks, as the pain was so intense that it forced her to quit the sport.
Months later, she was in Burbank working as a makeup artist. Then one day the phone rang and Jason Dupler, the head coach at West Valley College, was on the other end. He had seen her play many times in the past and was impressed by her talent.
Since Denton was by then feeling better, she opted to leave Tinsel Town and head north to Saratoga where she played the next two seasons for the Vikings.
In her first season (2004) Denton flourished under Dupler. By the end of the season the setter was named the MVP of the Coast Conference-South, made the All Nor Cal team and the All-State Team. What topped her first year at West Valley off was her nomination to the All-American Second Team squad.
The following year, Denton picked up right where she left off.
In 2005, she was named MVP of the conference for the second time, made the prestigious All Nor Cal team as well as the All State squad. She would have made All-American for the second year in a row had she not missed a few big games and a tournament that season as the result of an illness that sidelined her for a month.
Even without the All-American nomination for a second time, Denton was a hot item for a number of major college recruiters coming out of West Valley.
“I had a lot of offers,” she said. “This one seemed the most competitive. I didn’t want to play D II and this university plays in the WAC (Western Athletic Conference), which means that we’ll play San Jose State, Fresno State and Hawaii, so my parents will be able to go to a lot of games.”
On Oct. 19, the Bulldogs travel to San Jose to face the Spartans, and on Oct. 21 Denton and company will be taking on Fresno State.
There should be a number of family members and friends rooting for her at those games.
“I’m so proud of her,” said her mom Nancy. “My husband and I and the whole family are all proud of her. She was determined to fight through all the pain to do it. The head coach at West Valley was really her support system. He worked so hard with her and was so good. In fact, he’ll be an assistant this year at Stanford.”
The foundation for Denton’s college career was laid early. She started playing the sport when she was 11-years old. By the time she was 12, she was already playing on the San Benito Volleyball club team that was made up of local kids from Rancho San Justo Middle School.
At 14, Denton left the Hollister club system and traveled north to Morgan Hill where she played the next three seasons on the Golden Oak club team. Between playing for the Balers and the club team, Denton was now making volleyball a year-round commitment.
In her junior year, she played on the Vision Volleyball team in Saratoga.
Denton initially became interested in the game because her older sisters Kristina (Class of 2000) and Stephanie (2001) were heavily involved in the sport as was Jaclyn, who was also a First Team All-League player in high school courtesy of her prowess as an outside hitter.
Over the years, Jennifer also toyed with softball and basketball and competed on the Baler track team her freshman year but always got the most enjoyment form volleyball.
“I like the competition and being on a team,” Denton said. “It’s good to have team sports. Volleyball is fun too, and when you know how to do it it makes it really easy.”
But playing setter isn’t easy.
“I’d compare it to playing quarterback in football,” she said. “I call all of the plays and I touch the ball all of the time and I’m in on every play.”
Denton has always played the setter position.
In high school, she was on the league championship Baler team every year she suited up.
In both her junior and senior years Denton made the First Team All-League squad. Her senior year she was also named to the All-CCS (Central Coast Section) team.
At Louisiana Tech she plans on making the most of her opportunity.
“I have a lot of drive,” Denton said. “I know what it’s like to have everything taken away from you. I’m really motivated and I play every game like it’s my last one because you never know when it is your last one.”
Denton hopes that her last game isn’t for a long, long time. After college she hopes to play for a top European team for a few years before trying out for the two-player AVP Beach Volleyball Tour in the U.S.
“I’m going to try and see how far I can go with it,” said Denton, who hopes to get a Masters in criminal psychology one day. “I’ll need to find a tall playing partner though.”
But she won’t need to find a bigger heart.
