Jennifer Claire Tamas (; born November 23, 1982) is an American indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. Tamas made her first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

appearance at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, and helped Team USA to a silver medal.

Personal life

Tamas was born in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

, to David and Jody Joines. She has a brother, John, who also graduated from the University of Pacific and played baseball for four years as an outfielder. She lives and coaches in Illinois. She attended Milpitas High coached by Jeff Lamb for two years and

Presentation High School Presentation High School is a private, Catholic, college preparatory school for girls established in 1962. It is owned and run by the Sisters of the Presentation, and operates within the Diocese of San Jose in California. The school is located ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, coached by Jim Reilly and graduated in 2000. She chose to play volleyball at the University of the Pacific in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

, where she majored in communications and business and was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority with 175 active chapters and over 270,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, ...

. On August 22, 2009, she married her college sweetheart, Chris Tamas, in

Paso Robles, California Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for The Pass of Oaks), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River about north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot springs, ...

. Chris also played collegiate volleyball at Pacific where he was an All-American setter and holds the all-time assist record.

University of the Pacific

In 2003, Tamas capped her career at University of the Pacific by being selected as an

American Volleyball Coaches Association The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is currently headquartered in ...

(AVCA) First-Team All-American and became the first four-time All-American in school history. She was also named the 2003 Big West Conference Player of the Year. She was named first-team All-Big West Conference for the fourth-straight season. For the season, she recorded a .340 hitting percentage with 5.63 kills, 2.09 digs and 1.20 blocks per game. In 2002, she averaged 4.99 kills and 1.32 blocks per game and finished her junior season third in the Pacific career record book in kills (1,501) and seventh in total blocks (486). As a sophomore in 2001, she led the Tigers and Big West with 601 kills, 4.73 kills per game and a .313 hitting percentage. As a freshman in 2000, she broke 15-year-old record for single-season hitting percentage at .402 and was named the Big West Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Big West. Jennifer Joines

Major international competition

2010 * World Championship (fourth place) 2008 *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(silver medal) * U.S. Olympic team exhibition vs. Brazil *

FIVB World Grand Prix The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix was an annual women's volleyball competition created in 1993. The men's version of the competition was called FIVB Volleyball World League, World League. This event should not be confused with the other intern ...

*World Champions Cup 2007 * Pan American Cup (fourth place) *

(eighth place) *

NORCECA The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) is the international governing body for the sports of volleyball in Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean. NORCECA is the continental confederation that r ...

Championship (silver medal) * FIVB World Cup (bronze medal) 2006 * Pan American Cup (fourth place) *

(seventh place) * World Championships (ninth place) 2005 * Front Range Tour vs. Brazil * Pan American Cup * FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament (gold medal) * NORCECA Continental Championships (gold medal) * World Champions Cup 2003 * Pan American Games (bronze medal)

International highlights

2008 – Started eight of nine sets played in the opening preliminary weekend of the

. She averaged 3.11 points with 2.78 kills and 0.33 blocks per set and compiled a .511 hitting efficiency on 45 swings and just two errors.
2007 – Averaged 2.40 points per set during Pan American Cup and only non-libero to play in all 25 sets. She produced 15 points, including international career-high five blocks, versus

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

on June 29. She started 18 sets and three matches at the FIVB World Cup and averaged 2.11 points, 1.47 kills and 0.58 blocks per set with an overall .386 hitting percentage.
2006 – Averaged 3.33 points in 24 sets over seven matches of a tour of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

March 22 to April 2. She scored in every match of the Pan American Cup with 10 points against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and 13 points against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. She scored 61 total points at Pan American Cup. She played in 14 sets of the World Championships with eight individual set starts and compiled 24 points on 18 kills and six blocks, including a personal tournament high 10 points coming off the bench against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

on Oct. 31.
2005 – Selected as a member of the USA Women's National Team that captured the silver medal at the season-ending FIVB World Grand Champions Cup in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in November, where the United States finished the tournament with a record of 4–1 as it earned wins over

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

gold medalist

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

along the way.

Professional

Tamas played for

Toyota Auto Body Queenseis , formerly the is a women's volleyball team based in Kariya city, Aichi, Japan. It plays in V.League Division 1. The club was founded in 1951. The owner of the team is Toyota Auto Body. Queenseis is a coined word combining Queen and Seis ("si ...

in Japan's V-League in 2008. In 2007, she played for Bigmat San Paolo Chieri of the Italian Serie A League. Produced a 2.10 points per set average and 52.6 kill efficiency for Chieri, which advanced to the league quarterfinals.

References

External links

*
Bio for Bigmat San Paolo Chieri
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamas, Jennifer 1982 births Living people American women's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in volleyball Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Pacific Tigers women's volleyball players Sportspeople from Santa Clara, California Middle blockers American expatriate volleyball players in Italy American expatriate volleyball players in Japan American expatriate volleyball players in Russia American expatriate volleyball players in Azerbaijan Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball Illinois Fighting Illini women's volleyball coaches American volleyball coaches 21st-century American sportswomen