Heidelberg Athletics Hall of Fame
Being a student-athlete is hard to do. Excelling as a student-athlete is even more daunting. Tina Siegel Myslenski exemplified every sense of the term during her time at Heidelberg.
Tina, a ‘07 graduate of Heidelberg and natural-born leader, connected with her teammates as just a sophomore when she was named a team captain -- a position she would hold for three seasons. In her role as the team’s leader and as a top-performer on the court, Tina was instrumental in helping transition ‘Berg volleyball from the depths of the OAC standings to consistently finishing near the top. Since her time at the Berg, the volleyball program has gone on to win five more OAC titles and has qualified for the NCAA Regionals eight times.
On the court, Tina was voted Rookie-of-the-Year her freshman season, All-OAC three times, and was the first AVCA All-Region selection in program history. Her name can still be found atop the record books for several single-season and career records, including most kills. Additionally, Tina represented a select group of USA DIII volleyball players on an international tour of Italy.
But for Tina, volleyball was just a part of her Heidelberg experience. She received numerous awards for her work in the classroom, including being named to the Academic All-OAC team in 2005. In her senior year, Tina was selected as the Clyde Lamb Award recipient, which honors a student-athlete who has brought credit to themselves and their institution.
After her time on the court, Tina has coached for the Cleveland Volleyball Company since 2007, qualifying for nationals all but three of those seasons. She has also worked as a teacher at Roxboro Middle School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, since 2008, coaching volleyball for six seasons. During her coaching and teaching, Tina found time to complete her master’s degree in school counseling from Cleveland State University in 2015.
Tina has continued to stay active by finding a new passion in running. Today, she competes in full and half marathons, including winning first place in her age group at the Cleveland Hofbrauhaus Half Marathon in August 2018.
Outside of her teaching and coaching, she married her husband, Denny, a Cleveland firefighter, in 2018. The couple has a daughter, Elise. Tina is eternally grateful to her biggest fan and best friend, her mom, who never missed a match and is the most devoted and caring person she will ever know.
(This article was published in the 2019 Hall of Fame Banquet program.)
