Jennifer Fopma

Birthdate: Oct. 20, 1981

Hometown: Bellflower, Calif.

Resides: Costa Mesa, Calif.

Height: 6’ 3"

College: Pepperdine/Cal State Northridge

Twitter: twitter.com/JenniferFopma

 

 

BEST FINISH / WINNINGS

Domestic: 1st (2 times) $148,808

International: 7th $4,500

Total: 1st $153,308

 

 

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHY

Jennifer Fopma began her career on the beach in 2005 when she participated in 10 AVP events with high school and college teammate, Stacy Rouwenhorst. The pair advanced from the qualifier four times, including three in a row in their final three tournaments. They had a best finish of 25th four times.

In just her second season on the beach, Fopma, playing once again with Rouwenhorst, cracked into the top ten, placing ninth four times in a row including at Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Boulder and Mason, Ohio. The following year, Fopma and Rouwenhorst played the first five events together before Fopma played with fellow Pepperdine alum, Julia Romias, for four events. In her final seven events of the season, Fopma played alongside three different partners including Holly McPeak, where the pair improved from 13th to 9th to 3rd as Fopma reached her first semifinal in the final event of the season in Mason. Fopma ended the year ranked fourth in blocks per set (1.14).

In 2008, Fopma began the year with Jenny Pavley where the duo placed 7th in the season opener in Miami. The pair finished 17th in four of their next six events and parted ways halfway through the season. Fopma then partnered with Jenelle Koester for one event before playing with Brittany Hochevar for the remainder of the season. The pair placed a best of 7th in their fourth event together in Long Beach as they worked their way through the qualifier, winning five matches in a row. They placed in the top ten in three of their final five events and Fopma ended the season ranked sixth on the Tour in blocks per set (.91).

Fopma and Hochevar continued on their partnership in the 2009 season, where they made a home for themselves in the top-ten, as they finished 9th or better in 12 of the 15 events they played in. in Brooklyn, both Fopma and Hochevar had the best finish of their careers when the duo advanced to the finals. Fopma’s outstanding year was recognized when she was invited to compete in the AVP’s Best of the Beach event in Las Vegas. 

Fopma competed in seven AVP events in 2010, starting the year with Whitney Pavlik where the pair placed a best of 9th in their second event together in Santa Barbara. Fopma then partnered with Keao Burdine for the remainder of the season and the pair finished 9^9th in Hermosa Beach. Fopma then reunited with Hochevar for intnernational play in 2011 where they played in three events, taking home a best finish of 17th in Shanghai as they worked their way through the qualifier.

For the 2012 AVP season, Fopma partnered with Brooke Sweat and the pair finished 3rd at both Cincinnati and Santa Barbara. In Cincinnati, the duo won two matches before falling to eventual champions April Ross and Jen Kessy. They then bounced back to defeat Brooke Niles and Tyra Turner to advance to the semifinals before falling to Kerri Walsh and Nicole Branagh. The following weekend, the pair won all three matches in their pool before falling to Walsh and Branagh once again in the semifinals. Fopma and Sweat will continue on their partnership in the 2013 season.

Fopma was born in Leiden, Holland as her father was playing professional basketball there, but the family moved back to California when she was a year old so she and her older brother could attend school in the United States. Fopma began her college career at Pepperdine before transferring to Cal State Northridge. While at Pepperdine, she was named to the second-team All-West Coast Conference and left as the school’s all-time leader in hitting percentage and fifth in blocks per set. In her long season at CSUN, she was a first-team All-Big West selection and a third-team All-American, the first Division I All-American in Matador history. Fopma helped both schools advance on to the NCAA tournament and was an All-Region selection with both teams. Fopma is married to beach volleyball coach, Jeff Conover and the couple resides in Costa Mesa, Calif.