Kerri Walsh Jennings was born on August 15, 1978 in Santa Clara, California. She was born into an athletic family. Her father played minor league baseball and her mother was a two-time MVP and Santa Clara University for volleyball. Her siblings are also very athletic; All played sports at the collegiate level.
She played volleyball at Stanford University and was the second player in NCAA history to be First-Player All-American in all four seasons (1996-99). She graduated with a degree in American Studies and a reputation as one of the best volleyball players in collegiate history.