PARIS — As Jeff Jendryk prepared to enter his first Olympic volleyball match, the Wheaton native took a second to acknowledge the magnitude of the moment — and then he let it go.
His job here is not to be reflective. It’s to be instinctive.
“My nickname is the Jungle Cat, so I am going to come on the court and be super fiery for our guys,” he said. “I’m here to bring energy when needed, find a way to score a point and help my teammates as much as I can.”
For the past four years, Jendryk, 28, has made a career of putting the team’s needs before his own.
In 2021, he was among the last people cut from the Olympic team and instead was named as an alternate. It was a tough blow for Jendryk, a middle blocker who had been on the national team for most of the four-year cycle. As an alternate for the COVID-fettered Tokyo Games, he wouldn’t even travel with the team to Japan because of the restrictions on delegation size.
Instead, his only role would be to help his teammates realize their dreams. He spent the six weeks leading up to the Games practicing with the squad to ensure each member was ready for Olympic competition.
“My mindset was to make them as good as possible,” Jendryk said. “Were there times when it was frustrating? Sure. There were roadblocks and sometimes I felt unmotivated. But, at the end of the day, I wanted to make them as good as possible. I accepted very quickly that it wasn’t about me.”
The U.S. men’s team went a disappointing 2-3 in pool play in Tokyo and failed to advance to the quarterfinals. As the coaching staff began to rebuild for 2024, Jendryk was part of their long-term plan.
Jendryk had shown the coaches he wanted it with the way he handled his disappointment over Tokyo, U.S. head coach John Speraw said.
And then he proved that he deserved it.
“When you’re just starting your national team career and you’re close, but don’t get out of that opportunity, it creates a lot of motivation for the guys that really want it — and he really wanted it,” Speraw said. “He has earned the right to be here.”
The U.S. men got off to a strong start at these Games, going undefeated so far in pool play. A win over Japan Friday would assure them a spot in the quarterfinals.
Jendryk — who has played professionally in Germany, Poland and Italy — is expected to continue playing a backup role as the tournament progresses.
“He’s an incredible volleyball player who brings a lot of offense for us,” Speraw said. “Right now, he’s the offensive guy coming off the bench. So if we need a little punch, he can come off the bench and provide it.”
Jendryk grew up immersed in volleyball culture, but never really playing the game himself. His two older sisters were both standout high school and NCAA Division I volleyball players, which meant he spent countless hours at weekend tournaments and after-school matches.
He dreamed of playing basketball, but he wasn’t as dominant as he wanted to be. He had resisted playing volleyball for years, but his stance softened his freshman year at St. Francis High School in Wheaton.
“My sisters and my dad told me just to give it a shot and I soon came to really love it,” he said.
After Jendryk’s freshman season, his father took him to Sports Performance, the powerhouse volleyball club in Aurora where both his sisters had played. In addition to Jendryk, the program produced four other Olympians for the 2024 Games: Lauren Carlini of Aurora, Thomas Jaeschke of Wheaton and Bartlett native Kelsey Robinson Cook.
But back in 2011, Jendryk was a gangly, 6-foot-1 teenager with only a year of high school volleyball experience. As he warmed up, he caught a coach’s eye with his height and raw talent.
The coach walked over and asked his dad, Jeff Sr., how long his son had been playing club ball.
“I looked at my watch,” Jeff Jendryk Sr. said. “And I said, ‘Oh, about seven minutes.’ No one could believe it.”
By the time Jendryk graduated from St. Francis, he was a high school all-American, a member of the U.S. junior national team and named to Volleyball Magazine’s “Fab 50” seniors for the 2014 class.
He chose to play for Loyola University in Chicago, which had just won the NCAA national championship. He said he liked that he could compete at the highest level, while still staying close to home.
“You know, it was amazing,” Jendryk said. “I’m signed to go to this school and they’re already natty champs. I wanted to be the best, so it seemed like the right place for me.”
His instincts served him well, as Loyola won its second national championship during Jendryk’s freshman year. He was named the tournament’s MVP and was honored as the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s newcomer of the year.
He later became the first player in the program’s history — and just the 12th in NCAA Division I-II’s annals — to be a four-time AVCA All-American pick.
While still in college, Jendryk joined the U.S. national team and earned the nickname that defines his play to this day. The moniker — which everyone on the team seems to use — was born during a standout game in 2017 against the Iranian national team, which had one of the world’s best middle blockers at the time.
As the team reviewed the video later, U.S. veteran setter Micah Christenson noticed the energy Jendryk brought to the court. He pointed out how he was jumping around, arms wide, touching everything against Iran’s middle blocker.
“He’s crazy,” Jendryk recalled Christenson saying. “He’s like a jungle cat out there.”
The nickname stuck, much to Jendryk’s delight.
“I love it,” he said. “Because it kind of resembles my personality when I’m on the court. I’m really high-energy and springy. I just go flying around the court.”
He had hoped that contribution would be enough to make the Tokyo Olympic team, but the coaching staff selected older, more experienced middle blockers. His father initially worried about how he’d handle the disappointment, but there was no need.
“He told me, ‘Dad, I’m over it. I’m just going to work harder, get better and go to the next Olympics,’” Jendryk Sr. recalled.
And so he did.
