Henry rises to the top
Dana Henry is somewhat of an oddity on the Nevada women’s volleyball team – she made the team only after an actual tryout for head coach Devin Scruggs.
“She arrived as the underdog here and her first year of playing she was at the very bottom of the roster,” Scruggs said.
Over the last two seasons with the Wolf Pack, however, the senior defensive specialist racked up 187 digs and 28.5 points in 115 minutes.
“Dana’s a very good defensive player,” said sophomore right side hitter Jorgan Staker. “Dana digs a lot of balls —a lot of balls you don’t think she would dig.”
Scruggs attributes Henry’s success to her hard work.
“[Henry’s] probably one of the hardest workers on the team,” Scruggs said. “She’s had to fight for minutes every year and she never gives up.”
Henry, a senior speech pathology and audiology major from Klamath Falls, Ore., started her volleyball career in a unique way when she was in the fourth grade.
“My mother was my very first volleyball coach and she picked up a book at the library,” Henry said.
When Henry first joined the squad at Nevada, she had some catching up to do and some skills to refine in all aspects of the game, due to her lack of professional coaching. But that hasn’t made a noticeable impact on her performance.
“She obviously did what she needed to do to get to the next level,” sophomore defensive specialist KatiJo Matthews said.
Henry said that coming from Klamath Falls, a town she described as small compared to Reno, was a positive experience for her in ways not relating to volleyball.
“There’s a lot of things to do [in Reno],” Henry said. “I was excited about the mall.”
Henry came to UNR after only three years of high school. She said that she was looking at several other schools, but applied to only Nevada because it was in her price range and was close to home.
In addition to playing volleyball, Henry has several other extra curricular activities.
She was Ms. UNR last year and is a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters, an organization that provides mentors to children with only one parent.
“Dana’s very accomplished and I think that’s very cool,” Staker said. “She’s a great role model.”
Scruggs believes that her extracurricular activities are what set Henry apart from the rest of the team.
“I think the thing that’s probably unique about Dana is that she’s got a lot on her plate,” Scruggs said.
Henry is a valuable asset to some of her teammates on and off the court.
“She has a great head on her shoulders and usually has good advice,” Staker said.
Henry plans to graduate in December. After her graduation, she plans to go home for about six months.
After those six months, she plans to go to either Northwestern or Western Michigan to work on her graduate degrees.
“Any door can be open to you if you work hard enough,” Henry said.
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