Mount Saint Mary College Athletics

Jen Gries is the latest standout from the Women's Volleyball program to enter the Mount Saint Mary Athletic Hall of Fame. Gries starred for the Knights on the Volleyball court and also had a strong career as a player with the Women's Lacrosse team.
 
Gries was a three-time All-Skyline Conference selection over the course of her career, including First Team picks in 2012 and 2015 as a libero. Gries was a freshman on the 2012 team that claimed the program's first ever Skyline Conference Championship and berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Gries rounded out her rookie season with 460 digs for the Knights and followed that up with a Second Team selection as a sophomore after posting 453 digs and 35 service aces. Gries was limited to just six sets as a junior due to injury, but rebounded as a senior, setting the career digs record at the Mount after totaling career-highs with 602 digs and 48 aces on her way to being named First Team All-League for the second time in her career. Gries still holds the career digs record at the Mount, lifting 1,543 in her career.
 
Of her proudest moments as a Knight, Gries lists rebounding from the serious injury she suffered as s junior to take the court again during her senior season.

"I ended up needing surgery for a Lisfranc Fracture and had 2 screws put in my foot. I was on crutches and in cast for about a month, then in a boot and doing active physical therapy until I was able to fully train again in March. The process was the most upsetting and discouraging thing for me at the time, but it really taught me about fighting for something I want and I really pushed myself to my limits to be able to get back on the court with my team. I came back my senior year and ended up breaking the record for Career Digs," recalled Gries.
 
Although memories of her time at the Mount are numerous, she recalls building relationships with teammates and coaches that remain strong to this day. "When you are on a team with people, you get to experience things together that just give you this bond you will never forget. Preseason was always one of my favorite times of the season - just hanging out with my teammates and doing 2 practices a day and being exhausted but pushing through to make yourselves better and set you up for a successful season."
 
Gries continued, "The thing I loved most about being a student athlete was that it forced you to have discipline. You had practices to make, games to play in, and at the same time you had a huge workload and classes you still needed to attend. It taught me so much about priorities and time management. I had to make decisions and miss out on things I would have liked to go to, to make sure I succeeded in both academics and athletics. The Mount was great in that aspect, academics always came first, which made me want to work even harder so that I would never miss a game or a practice and let my team down."
 
Upon graduation from the Mount, Gries worked as a preschool teacher for just over two years before becoming a Care Coordinator at Memorial Sloan Kettering in 2019. Since then, Gries was worked her way up the role to be a Care Coordinator in the Chemotherapy Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
 
Gries graduated from the Mount in 2016 with a degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology. She was married in September and follows the Knights with her sister Kim who played volleyball for the Knights and graduated in 2019.