Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
Photo by: John McGillen
A Journey Worth Taking
April 18, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
Trojan setter Nate Tennant didn't follow a traditional path to his desired destination
Every athlete has a vision, a dream of what the future of their career might look like. Whether that's an award, a school or another accomplishment, it's a universal vision.
For Nate Tennant, it was no different. There was a place he dreamed of continuing his volleyball career, and that place was USC.Â
"We have 20 guys on our team, on average," USC head men's volleyball coach Jeff Nygaard said. "And there's hundreds, if not thousands of people, and they look at USC in particular as this is their dream school. I want to be here."
Even among the few who make it happen, few do so as Tennant has. In 2020, 9,500 recent high school graduates accepted admission and enrolled at USC. The junior setter, however, was not one of them – instead opting to play volleyball 25 minutes up the road at Moorpark College.
After a COVID-mangled season at community college, six busted-open chins, 40-plus unit semesters and a two-week tryout, not only is Tennant a USC student, but he is the Trojans' starting setter.Â
"I wasn't deterred," Tennant said. "I knew I was good enough to play. I played around people that had all played Division I. I wasn't really scared about that."
He'd proven he belonged on a number of occasions, one of those at an SCVA high performance camp playing for USC assistant coach Gary Sato and alongside now teammate Jackson Reed.Â
"We trained for a couple weeks together before that," Reed said. "Nate and I had an instant connection as not only friends but teammates. He's always able to find me on the court."
There's always been that instant connection inside the lines for Tennant, even if it took some time before he began to forge it with volleyball.
Growing up in Oak Park, California, Tennant – like most kids – spent most of his time on the baseball field. He played all over the diamond but never in the outfield, perhaps the most ringing endorsement of his little league talents.
He pitched and manned the hot corner at third base – youth baseball code for the best arm – while also going to work behind the plate and at first base – similarly affirming his skill with the glove. If you can throw the ball accurately and catch it reliably, you're a little league superstar. There's hardly a more ringing endorsement of those skills than playing somewhere where Tennant did.
Unfortunately for Tennant, there was another side to the sport, one that forced him to deal with kids who could throw like him slinging it in his direction. And by the time he reached middle school, it was with a concerning level of velocity.
"When it's like a 12u, 13u team and they're throwing faster than you've ever seen before," Tennant said. "I got hit in the face with a ball right in the eye. Gnarly. And I was like, 'I'm done with that.'"
That's when it became all about volleyball for Tennant, who said it's "no worries" if he takes one off the dome on the court. The switch meant becoming serious about volleyball, focusing on the dream of one day playing at USC, ironically, in spite of what life threw at his face.
In August of 2020, the day before a grass tournament for his soon to be junior college head coach, Tennant suffered one of the aforementioned six busted chins. He was out surfing when a friend let go of their board, swinging the fin around and catching him right under the chin.
He knew he wouldn't be playing his upcoming season at USC, he'd just received 11 stitches in his chin and he was explicitly told not to play, but Tennant played anyway… and his team won.
Three years and two schools later, rest days are a rarity. Tennant still spends most of his off days at the volleyball court, playing games with his father and his friends. Each day has a goal, a focus even if that means staying after the end of practice to meet it.
"He'll run through a brick wall for this program," Nygaard said. "There's nobody more committed. Nobody wants to hear you're not good at whatever it is, but he'll take a look at it. He's actually thirsty for that. That's a great quality to have as a human being let alone a volleyball player."
Off the floor, Tennant doesn't have a half-speed setting. He took a ceramics class last yearand completed more than 80 different pieces by semester's end. He made more than 15 mugs as Christmas presents – each taking more than two and a half hours to shape, trim, squeeze and fire.
He said it's a "labor of love," a way to get lost in the process of a craft away from the everyday demands of volleyball. Time in the water, though tougher to come by in recent months, is similar for Tennant, and was a massive part of his routine in his time at Moorpark College.
That year was a balancing act for Tennant, both in and out of the gym. As one of the better players on the floor looking to reach the next level, he had to remain committed to playing within a system.Â
He said he couldn't be a hero as a setter, forcing him to stay committed to the process, a total process that saw him take upwards of 40 units each semester at Moorpark. There were requirements to knockout, grades to make and improvement to be had, all while navigating the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Tennant,surfing was a release from the constant testing and academic workload, an outlet that still required his focus and that same unrelenting passion.
"It was a good fit because I could surf and play volleyball," Tennant said. "I love it. It's a really meditative state. But I haven't been out in a while, and it's really frustrating because it's hard, the idea of having time for yourself. This is definitely the hardest semester of my life with volleyball and school."
Despite the difficulties, this was what Tennant signed up for, or more accurately, what he had signed up for the chance for. He had offers to play volleyball elsewhere out of high school, but he wanted to do it on his terms and in the Cardinal and Gold, even if it meant betting on himself.Â
Tennant was accepted into USC as a transfer in the fall of 2021, but the gamble hadn't paid off just yet. He knew a spot on the team was far from guaranteed even upon enrolling, but he gave Nygaard a call to tell him he was coming, and the Trojan head coach responded with a chance.
That chance came in the form of a two-week tryout at the start of the semester, practicing with the team in a block of time Tennant intentionally scheduled his classes around. On Friday of the second week, Nygaard rang his phone for a change, calling to inform him he'd made the team.
Despite his efforts to schedule around, Tennant had to change a class on the last day he could add or drop courses. He still didn't have a locker and it would be even longer before he received any gear and longer still until his future locker was outfitted with a nameplate.
It would be another year before Tennant saw significant action, playing in just one match during his sophomore season. But for a brief moment, the process subsided, he was officially a USC volleyball player.
"After I got told," Tennant said, "I went directly over to my brother's house and my dad was there working. I was just so elated to say hi to them and say I did it. I made the team here. They were beyond excited for me."
20 months later, Tennant regularly hears his name called as USC's starting setter, stopping each time after his introduction to look up at his picture on the video board – a validation of the work put in along the way – before locking in on the work still left to do.
USC begins MPSF Tournament play against Stanford on Wednesday night – Apr. 19 – nearly three years after Tennant learned his dream of playing in a Trojan uniform would at best be delayed.Â
It's the biggest match of the junior setter's career, and he'll enter as he always has, with The Strokes and Mt. Joy playing in his corded, white Apple earbuds, confidently decked out in a recently thrifted fit, determined to be just a little bit better than the day before.
"If we figure it out," Tennant said, "we have a really good chance to do well. We're a really good team, and we have all the pieces. We just have to figure out how to put the puzzle together."
Â
For Nate Tennant, it was no different. There was a place he dreamed of continuing his volleyball career, and that place was USC.Â
"We have 20 guys on our team, on average," USC head men's volleyball coach Jeff Nygaard said. "And there's hundreds, if not thousands of people, and they look at USC in particular as this is their dream school. I want to be here."
Even among the few who make it happen, few do so as Tennant has. In 2020, 9,500 recent high school graduates accepted admission and enrolled at USC. The junior setter, however, was not one of them – instead opting to play volleyball 25 minutes up the road at Moorpark College.
After a COVID-mangled season at community college, six busted-open chins, 40-plus unit semesters and a two-week tryout, not only is Tennant a USC student, but he is the Trojans' starting setter.Â
"I wasn't deterred," Tennant said. "I knew I was good enough to play. I played around people that had all played Division I. I wasn't really scared about that."
He'd proven he belonged on a number of occasions, one of those at an SCVA high performance camp playing for USC assistant coach Gary Sato and alongside now teammate Jackson Reed.Â
"We trained for a couple weeks together before that," Reed said. "Nate and I had an instant connection as not only friends but teammates. He's always able to find me on the court."
There's always been that instant connection inside the lines for Tennant, even if it took some time before he began to forge it with volleyball.
Growing up in Oak Park, California, Tennant – like most kids – spent most of his time on the baseball field. He played all over the diamond but never in the outfield, perhaps the most ringing endorsement of his little league talents.
He pitched and manned the hot corner at third base – youth baseball code for the best arm – while also going to work behind the plate and at first base – similarly affirming his skill with the glove. If you can throw the ball accurately and catch it reliably, you're a little league superstar. There's hardly a more ringing endorsement of those skills than playing somewhere where Tennant did.
Unfortunately for Tennant, there was another side to the sport, one that forced him to deal with kids who could throw like him slinging it in his direction. And by the time he reached middle school, it was with a concerning level of velocity.
"When it's like a 12u, 13u team and they're throwing faster than you've ever seen before," Tennant said. "I got hit in the face with a ball right in the eye. Gnarly. And I was like, 'I'm done with that.'"
That's when it became all about volleyball for Tennant, who said it's "no worries" if he takes one off the dome on the court. The switch meant becoming serious about volleyball, focusing on the dream of one day playing at USC, ironically, in spite of what life threw at his face.
In August of 2020, the day before a grass tournament for his soon to be junior college head coach, Tennant suffered one of the aforementioned six busted chins. He was out surfing when a friend let go of their board, swinging the fin around and catching him right under the chin.
He knew he wouldn't be playing his upcoming season at USC, he'd just received 11 stitches in his chin and he was explicitly told not to play, but Tennant played anyway… and his team won.
Three years and two schools later, rest days are a rarity. Tennant still spends most of his off days at the volleyball court, playing games with his father and his friends. Each day has a goal, a focus even if that means staying after the end of practice to meet it.
"He'll run through a brick wall for this program," Nygaard said. "There's nobody more committed. Nobody wants to hear you're not good at whatever it is, but he'll take a look at it. He's actually thirsty for that. That's a great quality to have as a human being let alone a volleyball player."
Off the floor, Tennant doesn't have a half-speed setting. He took a ceramics class last yearand completed more than 80 different pieces by semester's end. He made more than 15 mugs as Christmas presents – each taking more than two and a half hours to shape, trim, squeeze and fire.
He said it's a "labor of love," a way to get lost in the process of a craft away from the everyday demands of volleyball. Time in the water, though tougher to come by in recent months, is similar for Tennant, and was a massive part of his routine in his time at Moorpark College.
That year was a balancing act for Tennant, both in and out of the gym. As one of the better players on the floor looking to reach the next level, he had to remain committed to playing within a system.Â
He said he couldn't be a hero as a setter, forcing him to stay committed to the process, a total process that saw him take upwards of 40 units each semester at Moorpark. There were requirements to knockout, grades to make and improvement to be had, all while navigating the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Tennant,surfing was a release from the constant testing and academic workload, an outlet that still required his focus and that same unrelenting passion.
"It was a good fit because I could surf and play volleyball," Tennant said. "I love it. It's a really meditative state. But I haven't been out in a while, and it's really frustrating because it's hard, the idea of having time for yourself. This is definitely the hardest semester of my life with volleyball and school."
Despite the difficulties, this was what Tennant signed up for, or more accurately, what he had signed up for the chance for. He had offers to play volleyball elsewhere out of high school, but he wanted to do it on his terms and in the Cardinal and Gold, even if it meant betting on himself.Â
Tennant was accepted into USC as a transfer in the fall of 2021, but the gamble hadn't paid off just yet. He knew a spot on the team was far from guaranteed even upon enrolling, but he gave Nygaard a call to tell him he was coming, and the Trojan head coach responded with a chance.
That chance came in the form of a two-week tryout at the start of the semester, practicing with the team in a block of time Tennant intentionally scheduled his classes around. On Friday of the second week, Nygaard rang his phone for a change, calling to inform him he'd made the team.
Despite his efforts to schedule around, Tennant had to change a class on the last day he could add or drop courses. He still didn't have a locker and it would be even longer before he received any gear and longer still until his future locker was outfitted with a nameplate.
It would be another year before Tennant saw significant action, playing in just one match during his sophomore season. But for a brief moment, the process subsided, he was officially a USC volleyball player.
"After I got told," Tennant said, "I went directly over to my brother's house and my dad was there working. I was just so elated to say hi to them and say I did it. I made the team here. They were beyond excited for me."
20 months later, Tennant regularly hears his name called as USC's starting setter, stopping each time after his introduction to look up at his picture on the video board – a validation of the work put in along the way – before locking in on the work still left to do.
USC begins MPSF Tournament play against Stanford on Wednesday night – Apr. 19 – nearly three years after Tennant learned his dream of playing in a Trojan uniform would at best be delayed.Â
It's the biggest match of the junior setter's career, and he'll enter as he always has, with The Strokes and Mt. Joy playing in his corded, white Apple earbuds, confidently decked out in a recently thrifted fit, determined to be just a little bit better than the day before.
"If we figure it out," Tennant said, "we have a really good chance to do well. We're a really good team, and we have all the pieces. We just have to figure out how to put the puzzle together."
Â
Men's Volleyball - USC 1, Pepperdine 3: Highlights (04/26/25)
Saturday, April 26
Men's Volleyball - USC 3, Stanford 1: Highlights (04/25/25)
Friday, April 25
Men's Volleyball - USC 3, UCLA 0: Highlights (04/19/25)
Saturday, April 19
Men's Volleyball - USC 2, UCLA 3: Highlights (04/17/25)
Thursday, April 17
