Jennifer Petrie, the head coach of women’s volleyball at the University of San Diego, sits down with us in this episode of the 35,000 feet podcast providing an overview of her journey to becoming a coach. She shares how the past season went for her team, some little known facts about her, and her top travel expeditions!

In this episode, we discuss:

• How this past season went for University of San Diego Volleyball team (0:20)

• How Coach Petrie got into coaching (2:39)

• Jennifer’s favorite travel experience (5:29)

• One thing that no one knows about Jennifer (7:34)

• Jennifer’s advice to athletes wanting to play in college (9:44)

• Jennifer’s next adventure (11:53)

The Highs and Lows of the Past Season for University of San Diego Women’s Volleyball Team

Morgan: Hi guys. Welcome back. It's Morgan. Today, I'm sitting down with Coach Jen from the University of San Diego. She's the head volleyball coach there. Thanks so much for joining us.

Jennifer: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be a part of your podcast.

Morgan: Yes. And we're excited to hear about your team and get a look into your life a little bit. And so just one of the questions I wanted to start out by asking you is, can you tell us about the highs and lows of your current season or your past season?

Jennifer: Yeah, this past season, the 2019 season, was really so memorable on so many different levels. Our team, we opened up at the University of Hawaii and had a fantastic opening season. Our preseason was extremely challenging, played a lot of top division one programs in the country, helping us prepare for our West Coast Conference season. And we have some fantastic volleyball teams in the West Coast Conference, culminating with the fact that we were West Coast Conference Champions. But this past season was really one of the highlights of the season. And after that, we made the NCAA Tournament and it was kind of serendipitous because we opened our season at the University of Hawaii and our last match of the season was played at the University of Hawaii.

Morgan: Oh, wow.

Jennifer: So we got to go to Hawaii twice in the same season.

Morgan: That's awesome.

Jennifer: And in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, we defeated Washington State, which was a really exciting match for us. And in the second round we played the host, the University of Hawaii and lost. But with a lot of kudos to them, they have one of the best following in volleyball arenas to play in, in the country. So our athletes really got... The student athlete experience for them throughout the entire season was, like I said, certainly very memorable.

Morgan: Oh, I love that. Thank you so much for sharing those highs and lows. I think it's fun seeing where teams came from and the adversity they went through. So I'm glad your team was able to pull through. And that's fun that you guys got to go to Hawaii.

Jennifer: Yeah, twice. And Hawaiian in December is such a beautiful place to be. So it was a great place to finish off a tremendous season.

Jennifer Petrie’s Journey As A Coach

Morgan: Yeah. Seriously. Well, thank you so much for sharing about that. I guess, how did you even get to be a coach at the University of San Diego?

Jennifer: Right. That's a good question. I'm a San Diego native. So I grew up here in San Diego.

Morgan: Awesome.

Jennifer: Yeah. I played volleyball at William & Mary, which is in Virginia. So it was quite a distance away from life. But volleyball was such a big part of my life. And after graduating from college, I really wanted to continue on with a sport that gave me so much in my young life at the time. And so I applied and I took a job. My first coaching job was at Indiana State University. And so I went there, sight unseen, took the job on the phone and just flew into the airport and tried to find a new home and all of that. And got my feet wet coaching and spent a season working with them in their program. And then was really fortunate to then have the opportunity. I coached for four years at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and had a tremendous experience there. So I spent, gosh, eight years on the East Coast.

Morgan: Wow.

Jennifer: With originally being a San Diego native, like I said. So I was away from home for a long time. And after five years of being an assistant away from home, the first assistant position opened up at the University of San Diego. And that was just like a dream for me at the time. And I was hired by Sue Snyder, who had been head coach at the time. And after two years of being the assistant, she decided to retire. So sometimes in life, you're in the right place at the right time. And obviously I applied for the head coaching job. I was pretty young, still at the time. And I've been at USD now for over 20 years.

Morgan: Wow. That is a cool story. I love how the timing worked out so perfectly because the team's lucky to have you, I can tell the passion you have for the sport.

Jennifer: Yeah. And just living in a lot of places across the country and seeing a lot of different places and then ultimately being able to live where my family is and I grew up and it's my hometown. So I'm pretty fortunate.

Morgan: Yeah. That is a blessing, especially because East Coast and the West Coast are pretty different places to live.

Jennifer: Absolutely. Absolutely. There's a lot of beauty and a lot of great things to see across the country, but I can't deny that the climate and the beauty of San Diego is hard to surpass.

Jennifer Petrie’s Most Memorable Travel Experience

Morgan: Yeah. Well, you're where you're supposed to be. So thank you so much for sharing that story about how you came to be a coach there. What's one of your most memorable travel experiences that you have?

Jennifer: That's a great question and it's hard to narrow it down. Part of my coaching philosophy, and what I tell recruits, as well as current athletes, is that some of the best traveling that we can do is to their hometown. And so across the years, we typically like to open up in our preseason when we have some flexibility with who we schedule, we try to go places where the girls are from. And that makes it very memorable because not only are we playing in front of their friends and family, but we get to see a piece of their life.

Two years ago, we were at the University of Washington and we had three athletes from Washington on our team. And so we went to their homes and got to see what they grew up, their home [inaudible 00:06:55], their neighborhoods and their schools. And it's just kind of exciting to be able to travel where it means something to somebody else.

Morgan: Cool.

Jennifer: So, that's a big part. We've been to all sorts of places. We've been to Purdue with a player from Indiana. We've been to Texas a few times. We've had a lot of kids from there, Colorado, Minnesota. So just anytime we recruit somebody, they all get very excited about the opportunity to go back and show off a place that they're from. So, that's been a big highlight over the years.

Morgan: Wow. That's cool. I've not heard of that much going back and making sure those girls get time to go back and play there. So, that's awesome. That sounds fun. I feel like with traveling, you learn a lot about your team and also the places you're at.

Jennifer: Yeah. We spend so much time together and for them to be able to showcase a little piece of them from their past, it's pretty great.

Something Noone Knows About Jennifer Petrie

Morgan: I love that. What is one thing that no one knows about you that you can share with us?

Jennifer: Oh gosh. Well, let's see. I have three lovely children. And not a lot of people know, I mean, some people do, but being a mom in this profession as a child and certainly having time when, you know, pregnancy and childbirth, is such a fleeting time in somebody's life. And I actually had the opportunity with the support of the University of San Diego and my staff to take off two complete seasons. And so I stepped back, I had my children in the summer and we start our season in August. And I just decided that I needed to put some focus in my family and took a step back for an entire season. And then came back in December when they were finished and carried it [inaudible 00:09:01]. I feel very fortunate to have that opportunity and to have that support as a woman in a profession where it's hard to step away.

Morgan: Yeah. No, it's true. I have a lot of respect for you for doing that because it just shows that your priorities, like family and sports, it shows your priorities and how those connections you have in life are so important.

Jennifer: Yeah. I think that everybody should realize that the things that make life great, those times with your family and your loved ones, they're fleeting. And when you have that opportunity, you can take them and when you come back... I mean, from my profession, I feel so many of us think that if I step away, there will be chaos and you just got to have some trust in your support and your staff and that when you come back, it'll all be just the same.

Coach Jennifer Petrie’s Advice to Those Who Want to Pursue University Sports

Morgan: Yeah, exactly. And it worked that way for you. You came back and you're successful. But yeah, that's awesome. Thank you. If you're an athlete wanting to play for a team or university, what would your advice be to them.

Jennifer: Yeah. This is an interesting time, too. There's so many athletes right now. With the fact that we are all challenged with staying at home and being a little bit remote learning and remote teaching and being sheltering in place during this unstable and uncertain time, we've had that question a lot. Our response, the connections that you have created and that you want to create are so important right now. You need to continue to reach out to programs and to coaches that you have an interest in. Continue to get to know the programs, make sure that you reach out to the staffs and if you have any video or now you have time to create video and highlights and can continue with that communication, because you don't want to... When coaches right now, we're not out recruiting, we're not getting to see people on a weekly basis. Making yourself relevant on a weekly basis is really important right now. So I would say if you are interested in a program, continue with that communication as best you can.

Morgan: No, that's great advice. I'm excited for student athletes to listen to that on the podcast because I think it's true, that communication effort, you have to take advantage of the time we have.

Jennifer: Exactly.

Morgan: Yeah.

Jennifer: Exactly. Create the relationship and set yourself apart and make it personalized. When you reach out to staffs, you want the program to feel like you certainly have a strong interest in what they have to offer, not a blanket where the university is just one amongst many that you're looking at, but try to personalize it as much as possible.

Jennifer Petrie’s Next Adventure

Morgan: Oh yes. And actually look into the school and see if you want to go there. I love that. What's your next adventure that's upcoming, Jennifer?

Jennifer: I've been talking a lot with my team and how we're going to get better and challenge ourselves to stay connected and motivated through this time period right now. But we are really looking forward to a really challenging and competitive fall season. We're looking forward to getting back in the gym together and training again. Really, I think we can to all be looking forward to having some social interaction soon.

Morgan: Yeah. It's true. It's true.

Jennifer: That would probably be the top thing that I'm looking forward to right now.

Morgan: I love that. It's true. I think we're all in the same boat.

Jennifer: There's no more taking anything for granted. I think we've all had some time to reflect and to prioritize what's important in our lives. And certainly seeking that connection with people is important. And so I'm really looking forward to the time that we can all get together again and inspire each other.

Morgan: It's true. I can see a lot of good that's going to come from this. I think your team's going to go far and click really well because they'll be so excited to be together again.

Jennifer: That's right.

Morgan: Well, thank you so much, Jennifer, for letting us get a glimpse into your wonderful team. And it's been great looking into your guys' team and just learning from you. So thank you so much.

Jennifer: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

University of San Diego Volleyball

• University of San Diego Volleyball Team Twitter

Podcast made in partnership with Acanela Expeditions

Theme Song - I’ll Just Be Me by Gravity Castle