When Dena Montini stepped down as head volleyball coach at Grafton High in December to spend more quality time with her husband and 15-month-old twins, she did so as the most successful coach in school history.
In 12 seasons as volleyball coach, Montini guided the Clippers to seven Bay Rivers District championships, six Region I titles and eight Group AA state tournament appearances – including three trips to the state championship game – while compiling an overall record of 283-51. Montini also posted a 65-12 record during a three-year stint as Grafton’s softball coach from 2004-06 in which the Clippers captured consecutive district titles and reached the state tournament each season.
But Montini, whose combined head coaching record of 348-63 makes her the all-time winningest coach in Grafton’s history, does not speak about wins and losses when asked what she will remember most from her tenure with the Clippers’ athletic programs.
Last Monday, Montini attended the funeral of a man whose daughter, Sarah Jenkins, had graduated from Grafton in 2005. Though Montini never coached Jenkins, she got to know her through their connection with Grafton athletics. Jenkins, a cheerleader, and her parents attended volleyball games regularly in support of two of Jenkins’ best friends, Domonique Blackwell and Tommi Lee Richards, who played on Montini’s team.
At the funeral, Montini saw former players she coached in volleyball and softball, their parents, their friends and other fans.
“I knew at least 150 people there,” Montini said. “Those are the connections I made through sports and what I’ll miss the most.”
Despite growing up in Pittsburgh as a two-sport standout in high school and college, Montini said she actually never envisioned herself coaching. However, after graduating from California University of Pennsylvania in 1999 and accepting a job as a psychology and history teacher at Grafton High, she saw two vacant assistant coaching positions on the Clippers’ volleyball and softball staffs as means for job security and extra income.
After serving one year as the JV volleyball coach, Montini took over the varsity head coaching duties in 2000, and immediately began building Grafton’s program into a perennial state powerhouse.
Her coaching style, she says, derives from the natural competitive edge that comes from being a lifelong athlete combined with her interest in seeing the students grow both on and off the court.
“I’m a competitive person, so winning has always been important because you’re only going to be able to have fun if you’re winning,” Montini said. “But I think a big reason I’ve been able to be successful as a coach is because I relate to the kids well. I have somewhat of an easygoing style that doesn’t make kids fearful. … I also want them to be successful people, not just volleyball players.”
Perhaps the best example of Montini’s cool, calm and collected coaching style was in the 2007 Group AA state championship game. Trailing Loudoun County 14-13 in the decisive fifth game, a Loudoun player hit the ball off the foot of a referee who was standing over the endline. Originally ruled out of bounds, the call was overruled by the chair referee, awarding Loudoun with the game-ending point.
“We were devastated,” said then-junior Allison Blasingame, a dominant four-year hitting standout who graduated in 2008. “But Dena was so calm and just told us it was fine and that we had nothing to hang our heads on because we played our hearts out. She took some of the seniors aside, and I don’t know exactly what she told them, but that game sort of defined her approach to handling her players. … She customizes her approach to each person in order to get the best out of everyone.”
In her 13 seasons coaching volleyball, Montini sent 12 players to the college ranks, with dozens more earning all-district, all-region and all-state distinction. Montini fought hard for her players, too. When it came time for all-state voting, Montini and her husband, Kevin, would take the trip to Charlottesville to sit in on the voting discussions to make sure her players earned the recognition they deserved, whether it was a spot on the first team or an honorable mention.
The on-court accomplishments are secondary to what most players took away from their time playing for Montini, including former state Player of the Year Morgan Kline, a 2011 Grafton High graduate now playing on a Division I scholarship at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
“She was so much more than a coach,” said Kline, who guided the Clippers to back-to-back state appearances in 2009 and 2010. “She helped me with my SATs and making my college decision … There wasn’t anything I didn’t feel comfortable going to her for help with.”
Kellie Brumbaugh was an all-state setter and exceptional floor leader for Grafton who graduated in 2008 and went on to play at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Brumbaugh now coaches a club team as well as individual clinics. She says Montini taught her everything she knows about volleyball, and added her former high school coach is the main reason she pursued a career in coaching.
“She taught us that character is who we are when no one is watching. It’s something I’ve kept close in mind every day,” Brumbaugh said. “I went into coaching because of Montini, because I want to impact the lives of players in a way to better themselves on and off the court like she did. I try my hardest to coach very similar to her style because we have the utmost respect for Dena and wouldn’t be where we are today without playing for her.”
Montini’s players credit the program’s success on the family atmosphere she has created. Years after graduation, former players remember the long bus rides home and blasting Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” before taking the court in the 2009 state championship game.
Other players recall the Saturday afternoon triathlons that Montini hosted in her neighborhood. While the races always had a winner – including Montini herself one year – Kline said it was just another experience that made the team feel more like a family.
“It was a conditioning thing, but I just remember laughing with everyone,” Kline said.
In 2004, Montini organized a girls-only field trip to Europe, which easily drew heavy interest from many of her players. Then-junior Ashley Moore, a volleyball and softball standout under Montini, called it the “ultimate team bonding experience,” and was not surprised to hear the trip has become an annual event for Montini and her players.
Montini says she may return to sideline someday, perhaps to coach her twin daughters Ashlan and Alia. But for now, the family she created through volleyball must take a backseat to her family at home.
“I’m sure I’ll miss it,” said Montini, who at the same time is looking forward to the bedtime routine with her kids every night, attending family reunions and quick trips to the beach next fall. “But I’ve accomplished more than I ever thought I would from a coaching standpoint.”
