13-Year-Old Casts Big Shadows, Bigger Dreams

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 9, 2011) - Her shadow stands about 12-feet tall with at least a four- foot vertical and a record-breaking wing-span. The flight and technique of the painted wall figure is copied by many, but for seventh grader Dena Tekavec (Solon, Ohio), the perfectly captured duo jump serve is a symbol that her 5-4 frame doesn’t do justice to the heights of her volleyball dreams.

Tekavec, 13, has submerged herself in the sport of volleyball, often times surrounding herself with older players, picking up habits and moves from each player, creating mental notes to master in practice.

“When I was younger, I used to go to my sister’s practices an hour before they got over,” Tekavec said. “They played for the 16s and 17s team. I would play with the older girls at the end of each practice.”

Older sisters Chelsey (16) and Kristi (15) are both on the Solon High School volleyball team as well as seperate club teams. Chelsey is a member of the Cleveland Volleyball Company 17 National Team while Kristi plays for the Eastside Cleveland juniors 16 Elite Team. Both sisters have played integral parts in the early success of younger sister, Dena.

“I look up to my sisters a lot. They help me when I’m down and cheer me back up,” Tekavec said. “They also help with my volleyball skills. Letting me play with them and letting me try to be just like them has really helped me.”

“By watching her sisters play and actually being able to play with them and their teams, Dena has developed her volleyball skills very quickly,” said Rod Tekavec, Dena’s father. “She would practice with them three days a week for an hour each day. The speed of the ball from the 16 and 17 teams would make the pace of the ball during her matches and practices seem much slower. I think that is what really has helped her start to become a great player.”

Tekavec plays on the 13s for the Academy of Volleyball Cleveland (AVC), where her love for the game has blossomed creating a foundation of fun and friendships for her skills to continue building. 

Photo: Tekavec Family Dena Tekavec, a member of the Academy Volleyball of Cleveland 13s. “Volleyball is just my absolute favorite thing in the world and that is why I want to become a professional,” Tekavec enthusiastically expressed. “I just love everything about it. Each weekend we get to meet new people and make new friends. It makes it so much more fun when my team and I can play our friends and not our enemies.”

Basketball was the original sport played by both Chelsey and Kristi, but after being drug to numerous games, the younger Tekavec realized basketball wasn’t the sport for her.

“Dena started to hate the sport because she was forced to go to all of the games,” Rod said. “She said that she wanted to play her own sport. Maybe this was because she wanted to step out of the shadows of her sisters. Then we went to a high school volleyball match and she saw Kayla Jeter play. From then on she wanted to play volleyball.”

Four years ago, at age nine, Tekavec began her volleyball journey after seeing Jeter, who will be a senior this fall at the University of Tennessee, play in high school. From then on her skills have improved and her dreams have grown exponentially.

“I started playing after watching Kayla in a high school game,” Tekavec said. “She went to Solon, which is where my sisters go and where I will play. I saw her serve once and said that it looked like fun and I had to try it in practice.”

Like the successful attempt to mirror the large jump-serve mural on the gymnasium wall, Tekavec has closely studied her volleyball idols, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, studying their playing technique and attitude.

“My dream is to become a professional volleyball player, so those two are who I look up to,” Tekavec said. “I watch a lot of volleyball and always try and do what the good players do.”

Her path to playing for the USA in the Olympics doesn’t skip a step or speck of detail. Tekavec’s college dream is to be a Nittany Lion and play for The Pennsylvania State University where another one of her idols went, current U.S. Women’s National Volleyball team member Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.).

“My college dream has always been to go to Penn State,” Tekavec said. “They are just so good. My idol is Megan Hodge. She is just so amazing. I have never been there, but I know I want to go.”

Tekavec credits her mother, Ruth, father, and her two sisters for her love of volleyball. It is a family affair at every match, supporting all three girls, each rooting each other on. Even family vacations have become a time to toss the ball around.

“Beach volleyball is so fun,” Tekavec confessed. “It is really challenging and makes playing on the court a lot easier. When my family and I go on vacation my sisters and I will always play volleyball on the beach and just mess around.”

The mature poise and eloquent nature of the young Ohio native is undeniable. When asked where she would play volleyball if she could pick any location in the world, her response is “anywhere the Olympics are.”

There is no limit to what Dena will accomplish in the coming years and in the future with her and volleyball. What is evident is that she has the support system and confidence to continue to grow and learn. She promises to keep casting bigger shadows and to keep dreaming bigger dreams.

 

Tags: Academy Volleyball Cleveland, club, Kerri Walsh, Megan Hodge, Misty May-Treanor