(Photo Courtesy: SunDevilBeachVB/Instagram)
In the beach volleyball world, the name Whitmarsh is synonymous with excellence. The late Mike Whitmarsh put himself on the map, winning a silver medal in beach volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics and becoming a standout player in the AVP, winning Rookie of the Year in 1990 and competing as the No. 1 ranked player in 2001.
Now, almost 30 years after Whitmarsh competed in the Olympics, his two daughters, Jaden and Kendall, continue their father’s legacy while making a name for themselves in collegiate beach volleyball.
Jaden, a graduate student at UCLA, just completed her fifth season of collegiate beach volleyball, falling just short of a national championship. Kendall, a sophomore at Arizona State, completed her second season of collegiate beach volleyball, advancing to the national championships with the Devils for the first time in program history.
Both sisters competed in the Pac-12, the most competitive conference for beach volleyball in the country, and the conference that fostered the sport’s growth at the collegiate level.
Although Jaden was only 8 years old when her father passed away, and Kendall was only five, the two work hard to honor their father’s memory in everything they do.
“I feel like his legacy is more just through his character and the person he was, and less about his athletic ability,” Jaden said. “The kind of person he was, how he impacted people and how every single person he came in contact with, they remember and they have these stories. And I think that just shows how great of a person he was and how many people that he touched.”
Kendall has a similar interpretation of the legacy her father left.
“Just spreading his competitive nature, but also spreading his light,” Kendall said. “When he was competing, he would be so into the game but then after he would go and hug his opponents, like he was friends with everybody. He really spread his love. So I think it’s just so cool if me and my sister can just continue that, and just bring his light in the game.”
Apart from the influence of their father, the sisters also grew up in a very athletic household. Their mom, Cindy Whitmarsh, is a fitness professional, and their step-dad, Mark Sweeney, played in Major League Baseball for 14 seasons, creating an atmosphere that heavily encouraged athletic achievement among the family.
Jaden began playing volleyball around 9 years old, and Kendall around 10, with both sisters picking up beach volleyball shortly after.
However, they were both exposed to volleyball growing up, tagging along at their father’s tournaments, long before they began playing it full-time.
“They grew up around it with their dad playing beach volleyball, and Jaden used to travel with us more than Kendall did,” Cindy Whitmarsh said. “We would always bump in the sand at his tournaments, and in the house, so they always loved volleyball, but they were really soccer players growing up.”
Even with their deep volleyball background, the two started out playing soccer. However, they had different paths within the sport, ensuring that they remained two separate people with two separate journeys.
“We actually both grew up playing soccer and beach volleyball,” Kendall said. “And she was playing at a certain soccer club and I was like, I want to play soccer but not at her club, like I didn’t want to be like her full shadow.”
Jaden echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the significance of the two girls being their own individual people.
“She obviously is on a similar path as me and our family,” Jaden said. “But she also does things a little bit differently and creates her own path, which is really important.”
When both girls were about 13, they each had to make a decision- whether they wanted to keep playing soccer or commit to volleyball full time.
“That’s when I had to kind of make the decision because I was playing both competitive soccer and competitive volleyball, and the schedules were interfering with one another,” Jaden said.
“So my mom sat me down and was like, ‘Alright Jaden, you have to come up with this decision. Like, what do you want to do?’ It felt like a really hard decision because I loved soccer, but I could see that some girls were better than me. I was kind of falling behind.”
Kendall had the same choice to make, and had a similar reasoning behind her decision.
“I think it was like about that time where everybody kind of got to choose a sport,” Kendall said. “You can play a lot of sports growing up but I think it was just time, too much on the body. I just knew deep down that I would be happiest playing beach volleyball, and I just felt so happy when I was playing it compared to soccer.”
At 13 years old, neither Jaden nor Kendall had any way of knowing the path that beach volleyball would take them on, and what followed has been nothing short of magical.
Both Jaden and Kendall played club volleyball at Wave Volleyball Club, one of the premier club volleyball programs in California, consistently producing Division 1 talent, both indoor and beach. Jaden played for the indoor side, while Kendall played for the beach side.
They also played for Torrey Pines High School, whose volleyball team is known for producing high-level volleyball talent.
Many of Jaden and Kendall’s former teammates play volleyball at Pac-12 schools, making large Pac-12 tournaments double as reunions for Wave and Torrey Pines players.
“That high school just breeds athletes, and so I think it’s so cool to see,” Kendall said. “We hosted the Pac-12 South tournament and we got USC, UCLA, everyone coming out. So it was so good to see them. And it’s like, when I see them, it’s like we never left. Obviously, you’re on different teams. But deep down you’re on the same team.”
Jaden and Kendall can count players like Megan Kraft, the AVCA Player of the Year for USC, Kraft’s partner and fellow All-American Delaynie Maple, and Indiana Volleyball alumnus and USC Indoor and Beach alumnus Emily Fitzner among the many teammates they have had that have gone on to compete at the highest level of the sport.
Despite Kendall and Jaden having played at the same club and high school, they never overlapped or played on the same team.
Jaden graduated from Torrey Pines in the spring of 2018, starting her first season at UCLA in the fall of 2018, which is when Kendall began high school. However, the two did see their teams compete against each other at the Pac-12 South Tournament, hosted by ASU in early March.
Although the two did not directly square off, with Jaden playing at the No. 3 pair with her partner Tessa Van Winkle, and Kendall playing at the No. 5 pair with her partner Adriana Nieves Papaleo, the match marked the first time that both sisters appeared in a duel at the same time.
“It was so surreal,” Kendall said. “It was so cool. It was just a moment that you always talked about and just leading up to it’s like, oh my gosh, we’ve been dreaming this moment for however long we can remember. So the only word I really have for it was just surreal, so special. Yeah, it was just a moment I’ll never forget.”
Surrounded by friends and family, the two were able to catch up post-match and soak in the moment that they had been waiting for.
For their mom, the dual match represented years of hard work paying off for both girls and the two received a chance to showcase everything they had worked so hard for.
“It was a dream come true,” Cindy said. “That just got me so emotional because all of this time working towards both of them being competitive and both of them playing at the highest level. For me as a mom, it just was incredible. It’s so emotional, pulling for both girls, and I’m so proud of them for what they’ve accomplished in their own ways and their own paths.”
This season, Jaden and Kendall both chose to wear No. 10, a nod to their mom wearing 10 while playing sports growing up and yet another symbol of the sisters’ connection, according to Jaden.
“Now that we’re both 10 It’s been really cute,” Jaden said. “Obviously it looks really good and pictures and I think just the bond between us too is very, very evident.”
After getting the opportunity to face off at the Pac-12 South Tournament, the two met up again at the Pac-12 Championships, hosted at ASU, and at the NCAA National Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where they were again surrounded by their friends and family.
At the national championships, the sisters were able to soak in the environment together, supporting each other along the way.
“Their love and support for each other is indescribable and the amount of pride that they have for each other is incredible,” Cindy said.
While the 2024 season marked the first time the two were able to face off in a duel, it also marked the last. With UCLA making the move to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, and ASU moving to the Big-12, the two schools will no longer be conference opponents, and with Jaden graduating this spring, the sisters will only face each other once in their college careers.
“It’s so cool that we’re able to experience similar things at the same time in our lives,” Jaden said, “and then get to obviously talk about it, just different experiences. But I’m really, really excited to see the impact that Kendall leaves at ASU.”
