JennaRae Jester

Classroom

JennaRae Jester is a two-time Academic All-Mountain West Conference and MWC Scholar Athlete selection as a business administration major. She is also pursuing a minor in finance and Spanish. A five-time member of the University of Wyoming President’s list, she earned ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-District VII honors in 2009. With a 3.971 GPA, she is on track to graduate in December of 2010. Her plans are to begin graduate school in 2011 and she would like to pursue a career as a financial advisor or possibly coaching.

Character

“In 15 years as a head coach I have never met another athlete that has exceeded my expectation more than Jenna Rae Jester,” said Wyoming head coach Carrie Yerty. A fierce competitor, a loyal teammate and friend, Jester lives her life with unquestionable morals and ethics. She has actively helped raise and mentor her younger sister while working, attending school and competing at the Division I level. In addition, she has served as a mentor and a team captain for the volleyball team here at the University of Wyoming. One of the most remarkable selfless things that Jester has done as a team captain was to give up her full athletic scholarship so that one of her teammates that would be entering into her senior year could have it. When asked why she would be willing to do that her response was “We need her and without this scholarship she may have to quit and work full time. The success of this team is much more important to me than this scholarship.”

Community

Jester has been highly involved in the community through both the volleyball team and the Wyoming Student Athlete Advisory Committee. During her career, the women’s volleyball team has participated in the Adopt-a-Family, raising and donating money to a fund all-year round, then giving necessities and gifts to a family in need in Laramie. They also helped with the Toys for Tots drive during a football game, and a Christmas Carnival was set up with some of those gifts for underprivileged kids in the community. She helped organize and donated blood for the UW Blood Drive, which is a contest between all of the Mountain West Conference Schools. She also participated in the “Adopt a Highway Clean Up Program”, Dr. Seuss Read Across America, a canned food drive for one of the local elementary schools, and lunch at Linford Elementary, which entailed spending time with a group of school kids. She was the vice president for SAAC during the 2009-10 season and helped the Cowgirl volleyball team come away with the S.A.D.D.L.E. Cup (Student Athletes Dedicated to the Development of Leadership and Engagement). It recognizes the student-athletes’ effort in academic and athletic commitment, personal and career development and service to community. In addition to that, she has also served as a Huddle Leader for Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Competition

One of six returning starters for the Cowgirls this season, Jester is a two-time team captain. She went from a walk-on who played in five matches in her first season to a two-year starter for the squad. She originally came to Wyoming on a full academic scholarship and was offered a full athletic scholarship after her first semester. In 2009, she led the team in blocks (1.11 bps) and hitting percentage (.271, 232-88-531). She also tallied 232 kills (2.00 kps) and had 32 service aces. She finished with a career high 10 total blocks against Utah and BYU, while being named to the All-Tournament Teams at the Fiesta Bowl Classic and Holly Young Invitational. She has recorded double-figures in kills 15 times during her career. She needs 90 kills to reach 500 for her career and could move into the top 10 all-time in hitting percentage in school history.