Janna Stern grew up in the central valley and played at Delta Valley VBC and graduated from Johansen HS in 1994. She played three years as a setter/outside hitter at UC Riverside. She was named All-Conference 1st team in 1997 and recorded a school record 34 kills in 1998. Stern earned a BA in Mathematics with a minor in Education from UCR in 1999 and was awarded the Wild Family Scholarship Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics that same year. While attending UCR for her teaching credential, she was the graduate assistant at UCR and coached at Rancho Valley Volleyball Club. Janna continued coaching as an assistant at CSU San Bernadino the following year and moved to Phoenix in 2001. While the head coach at Corona del Sol High School she received four consecutive Region Coach of the Year honors as her team won four consecutive Region Conference Championships and was 5A-1 Arizona State Runner-up in 2005. Moving to Chandler High School to build their program, she also earned Region Conference Champion and the school’s first appearance in the 5A-1 Arizona State Final Four. Her Arizona Red 18’s club team won the Las Vegas invitational 18-Club Division in 2007.

Stern's first year at Wave in 2009 resulted in her 14’s finishing 2nd in Club at the Spokane JO Qualifier, 4th in Club at the SoCal Qualifier, and a Bronze Medal in American 14 Club at the Junior Olympics in Miami. Her second year, with the 15's, her team took 1st in the SoCal Qualifier, 2nd in Club at the Spokane JN Qualifier, and played well in the National 15 Club Division at the Junior Nationals. She is currently a Math teacher at University City High School and is the assistant varsity coach at Torrey Pines High School.