Q&A with Jeremy Dejno

Jeremy Dejno, a New Berlin native, was recently named the Sports Imports/AVCA Men’s DI-II Player of the Week as well as the ESPN Zone Anaheim Anteater of the Week. Dejno played club volleyball for West Allis Lightning and prep volleyball at New Berlin High School. The junior outside hitter plays for No. 1-ranked UC Irvine.

BR: What got you started playing volleyball?

Dejno: The first time I encountered volleyball was actually at a family reunion. I was really young. My parents wouldn’t let me play because I was so little they were afraid I would get hurt. But I just kept wanting to jump on in. I started playing at Holy Apostles in fifth grade and that was my first organized volleyball experience. It wasn’t all that organized though because we split up into even teams. My first club experience was with West Allis Lightning. I actually played on their first ever boys team.
BR: Your mom was your first coach. Did she have any volleyball background?

Dejno: Actually no. My mom had played in grade school but not after that. My dad was all football. He was your typical Midwestern guy who grew up on a farm and played football. We don’t have a very long volleyball lineage in my family. It kind of started with me!

BR: Did you play other sports when you were a kid?

Dejno: I did. I was that kid that played everything and didn’t have a life in grade school and middle school. When I got to high school, I specialized in volleyball and basketball. It was just too much to do both, so after freshman year, I dropped basketball.

BR: What made you pick volleyball and not basketball?

Dejno: I think in Wisconsin, basketball is more popular. People are drawn to it. It’s just bigger. But I loved volleyball. I loved the game more than I loved playing basketball. For me, it wasn’t about the scholarship money. I knew there very few volleyball scholarships for boys. It came down to whether or not I was having fun doing it. If you don’t love it in high school, you won’t love it in college. And I didn’t love basketball the way I loved volleyball. If you love it, you will find a way to make it work. That’s a much better choice.

BR: What about the volleyball world made you love it so much?

Dejno: The main reason I loved it so much and went with it was because of the volleyball community. It is great. I had very close friendships from volleyball. It is such a tight-knit community. I love it. I am out here in California and still have relationships with my club team and people who coached me throughout the years.

BR: Who has been the most influential in your volleyball career so far?

Dejno: My mom. I know it is cliche. But it is true. She was my first coach and despite it being her first time coaching, she did a great job. She started it all for me. My West Allis Lightning coaches also were very influential. The Hardwick family has always been their for me. They are so enthusiastic and supportive. They are always pushing the club and the players to get better and better. I am also still very close with the Calteux family and that relationship has meant a lot to me over the years. Will Hall has to be one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He was never satisfied with me. It was very rare that I would get any sort of praise for him. That really pushed me to improve and try to get better.
BR: When did you realize that you could take volleyball to the next level and play in college?

Dejno: The idea of playing in college didn’t really come up until I was around 16 and playing club. For me, my breakthrough came from participating in the USA Volleyball High Performance programs. I had done some of the camps and played on a few A2 teams, but I made the A1 team that played in Italy. From that point, I got really serious about trying to pursue volleyball in college.

BR: Talk to us a little bit about the recruiting process.

Dejno: Unless you are extremely talented, for boys the process starts when you are around 17. The process really got going for me at the SCVC Boy’s Classic out in California. All those great guys programs were out their. That was when I started getting looks by colleges. When I was picking UC Irvine, I was focusing on a balance. I wanted good volleyball and good academics. I didn’t care if the school had a football team or about any of that other stuff. Volleyball and academics were my main focus. And the school had to have a coach I could see myself playing for. I visited UC Irvine, along with a couple other schools, and I just felt like it was the right fit. I loved the coach and they had that balance of academics and competitive volleyball I was looking for.

BR: Talk a little bit about the boys game and what makes it so special.

Dejno: Guys volleyball is so aggressive. We don’t have the long rallies that you see in the girls game. It is more of a one-and-done deal. It is serve, receive, side-out normally. It showcases the power aspect of the game and we tend to put the ball away fast.

BR: Why do you think that volleyball is stereotypically thought of as a girls game?

Dejno: It is not at all. But I think it always gets that perception because it is a non-contact sport. It is such a mental game because the points and rallies are separate from each other. You have to treat each time you go back to serve as its own game. There is nothing harder than staying focused for that long and having to perform over and over throughout the course of a match. Once people appreciate the more delicate side of the game they will appreciate how difficult it is to actually play. Most people just don’t quite understand it. And so many people play it recreationally, but they don’t dive in deeper to the competitive level. It is just like any other sport with plays and fundamentals. But people generally don’t understand it, so they just tag it as a girls sport because it is non-contact rather than appreciate how complex, intense and competitive it really is for both guys and girls alike.

BR: Thinking about the guys game, you’ve had quite a bit of success recently at UC Irvine. What does being named AVCA Player of the Week mean for you personally and for Wisconsin boys volleyball?

Dejno: California is typically thought of as the hot spot for boys volleyball. I think sometimes that creates some politics around accolades and awards sometimes are given to players based on that. When a Midwest player gets an award, makes a USA Volleyball HP team or gets recognition, it is a true reflection of their talent rather than a norm or stereotype being upheld. Just because that player broke the norm. So many Midwest players are out there making huge impacts on their collegiate teams. It is great for the Midwest and developing our presence on the national stage.

BR: What advice would you give Badger Region boys who are striving to play collegiately?

Dejno: I would just say don’t be discouraged because you are from the Midwest. There are so many examples of players before and after me doing amazing things with volleyball. It doesn’t matter where you are from. If you love it and want to do it, you will make it happen. It is a great experience. You will meet amazing people and form lifelong connections. That is what drove me to want to do this and want to be successful. It isn’t about the money or the scholarships. If you love it, do it.

BR: You obviously love volleyball. Do your post-college plans involve staying around the sport?

Dejno: I do see myself playing for awhile. I am kind of near sighted when it comes to thinking about the future. I don’t really have a big-picture goal of making it to the Olympics. I want to enjoy playing. That is my main focus. I tentatively plan to play overseas for awhile and get my a master’s degree online while I am doing that. If an opportunity comes up to play for the USA National team, I would go for it. But I like to leave my opportunities open for now.