Jenna Gray

Gray was born to Brian and Debbie Gray and grew up in Shawnee, Kansas.[2] She grew up as part of a very athletic family. her father played collegiate baseball at the University of Kansas, while her mother ran track when she was at Kansas State. an older sister played volleyball for Virginia. A cousin, Riley Pint, was a baseball pitcher who became a first-round draft choice by the Colorado Rockies in 2016.[3]

She played volleyball all four years  while attending St. James Academy High School, as well as earning two varsity letters in track and field competing in  javelin. She won two state titles in javelin, and holds the Kansas state record in Class 5A for a javelin throw—162 feet.[4] She helped her team win the State title in volleyball three times. Gray was named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Kansas, and The Stars All-Metro player of the year.[4] Gray had 3771 assist in her four years of high school volleyball.[5]

One of Gray's teammates at St. James Academy was Audriana Fitzmorris. When both were 12 years old, the NCAA Volleyball National Championship was played in Kansas City and both attended. Gray remembers the conclusion “When the confetti fell after match point, I would get chills every time," Gray says. "I would say, 'That could be me one day.'"[6] Both Fitzmorris and Gray were looking into college to further their volleyball careers, but they were largely looking at different schools with different coaches. Stanford expressed interest in Gray, but she initially thought they were really interested in Fitzmorris, and simply being polite to her.[7] However, Stanford was interested in both players, and made offers to each of them. Both accepted, so they continued as teammates through college.[8]

Gray started off her college career with a bang. She helped the team to a 21– 7 regular season record and an at-large invitation to the 2016 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament. Stanford was seeded 6th overall and faced their first major test In the regional final, when they upset third-seeded Wisconsin 3-2, after being down 2-0 early in the match, to earn a spot in the Final Four.  In the semifinals, Stanford faced second-seeded Minnesota but again came through with the upset winning 3–1. In the championship game, Stanford faced fourth-seeded Texas and completed their third straight upset, winning 3–1.[9] Gray was named to the all-tournament team.[2]

In the spring of her freshman year, Gray also competed on the track and field team, and earned second team All-America honors.[3]

In her sophomore year, she again helped lead her team to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament, improving their regular season record to 26–3  and earning the number three overall seed in the tournament. Stanford breezed through the regional losing only one set in the first four matches. This meant that Gray and her teammate Fitzmorris would  compete in the same Arena, the Sprint Center where they had watched the 2010 National Championship. However, Stanford faced the second overall seed Florida in the semifinals and failed to advance with Florida winning 3–2.[10]

Gray also competed in the javelin, with an NCAA throw of 187-11, good enough to place her as No. 2 on Stanford's all-time list.[3]

As a junior, Gray helped her team to a 28–1 regular season record and the overall top seed in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament. Stanford advanced to the Final Four, where they beat BYU in the National semifinals 3-0, then prevailed in a hard-fought match against Nebraska winning 3–2, to win the national championship for the 8th time in the school's history.[11]  Gray was again named to the all-tournament team.[2]

In the spring track and field season, she earned first team All-America (javelin) honors.[3]

In her senior year, the Stanford team had a 24–4 regular season record and earned the number three overall seed in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament. Stanford won their first two matches without dropping a set but then struggled against unseeded Utah in the regional semifinals, finally prevailing 3–2. They would not lose another set, beating Penn State 3–0 to advance to the Final Four, then beating Minnesota 3–0 to reach the championship game and sweeping Wisconsin 3–0 to win their 9th national championship and the third championship in 4 years.[12] Once again, Gray was named to the all-tournament team.[2]

Gray won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best collegiate female volleyball player in 2019.[13]