Denise DenHartog is a native of Fresno, California, and enrolled at Fresno Pacific College in the fall of 1982. She pioneered women’s intercollegiate athletics as the first woman to accept an athletic scholarship.
In two seasons of basketball and four seasons of volleyball for the Sunbirds, she established records for assists as both a setter and point guard. She was FPC’s volleyball Most Valuable Player in 1983, '84 and '85, and earned NAIA District Three honors in 1985. In 1984 she became the first Fresno Pacific woman to be named to the NAIA All-America Scholar Athlete team and was named again the following year.
She graduated in 1986 with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average with majors in music and mathematics and was the recipient of both FPC’s Outstanding Graduate and Highest Grade-Point Average awards. During her four years at FPC, she also found time to serve as the pianist for several college musical groups.
She completed a teaching credential the following year, then accepted a position at Fresno High School as a mathematics teacher and volleyball coach. She married Marshall DenHartog in 1987, and together they are the parents of Deanna, Corinne, Alyssa and Christa.
She has been an active member of Valley Christian Center since childhood and has served many years as the women’s music minister. In 2001, after taking time away from her teaching career to be a full-time, stay-at-home-mom, she returned to the classroom as a high school mathematics teacher.
* Volleyball team
Most Valuable Player - 1983, 1984, 1985
* NAIA District Three Team - 1985
* NAIA All-America Scholar Athlete - 1984, 1985
* FPU Highest Grade Point Average - 1986
* FPU Most Outstanding Graduate - 1986
