 |
|
|
|
| Important Reminders |
| Coaches, please submit all tournament results
following every tournament. Deadline is every Monday at Noon. |
|
|
|
| Coaches Bios |
| Please scroll down this page --OR-- click on the coaches names to see Coaching Bios. |
|
| 2011-2012 Coaching Assignments |
Coaching assignments for the 2011-2012 season are posted on our home page. Read all about our
coaching staff below.
Thanks! |
|
|
|
| Coaches Bios - 2011-2012
Season |
|
Rick Welch, Club Director
Rick has been the club director for Premier Volleyball since it's inception in 1997. He has been CAP (Coaches Accreditation Program) Level 1 Certified. Rick has 6 additional years of coaching with other clubs, such as Omaha Volleyball Club, Bellevue University Club, and Bellevue Juniors Club. Rick has 9 years of experience as a player for Omaha Volleyball Club/ Pefferoni's Men's Team and Omaha Sports Club co-ed teams. Rick is a retired National Official for both USAV and PAVO. He officiated for Big Ten, Big XII, Missouri Valley, Conference USA (Division I), Northern Sun (Division II), Great Plains Athletic and Midlands Collegiate Athletic (NAIA) Conferences for over 20 years. He served 4 years on both USAV and PAVO National Rating Teams and 2 years on the Officials Training Program (OTP) Camp staff. Rick was the Great Plains Region President from 1988 through 1998 and Secretary from 1999 to 2000. He served as the Great Plains Official's Board Chair during 1996 and 1997 and PAVO Board Chair from 1993 through 1999. Rick was awarded the USAV 2002 Gold Whistle Award for his work at the 2001 US Open Championships. Rick retired last April after 31 years as a registered Architect for HDR, a local architectural and engineering company.
More Information about Rick
Top of Page
|
|
|
Amy McLeay, Director of Premier
Performance is starting her 8th season with Premier Volleyball. She is CAP I & Impact certified. Amy directs Position Specific Training for all Premier athletes as well as having served as the head coach for 16 Black in 2005, 18 Gold in 2006, 16 Gold in 2007 and 15 Gold 2008. Amy also directs Summer Camps, Little Stars, lessons and year round training for Premier athletes as well as non-Premier athletes through Premier Performance.
Amy began her collegiate volleyball career at Michigan State University, followed by a season at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She finished her last two volleyball seasons with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, helping UNO return to the NCAA tournament. Amy received North Central Conference and All-American recognition.
After graduating from UNO in the summer of 2004 with a Bachelor Degree in Psychology\Coaching, Amy began her career with Premier Volleyball where she has been active in the Club Development and Coaching. Amy's other volleyball accomplishments include current Varsity Assistant Coach at Marian High School, Head Coach of the Reserve Marian HS team in 2010, Head Coach for the Duchesne freshman team and assisted with Junior Varsity and Varsity development in Fall 2005. During the 2006 volleyball season, she was Assistant coach at Bellevue University.
Amy and her husband, John, live in Omaha. They have 3 children, Johnny Mac, Zachary and Taylor Ann.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Marian Gyhra, Assistant Club Director
Marian Gyhra assists in the organization of Premier Volleyball. She also coordinates meetings and travel.
Marian, like Michelle, works with choosing the Premier Apparel for each year.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Michelle Lund, Director of Communications
and Web Designer
Michelle Lund is the web developer
and designer for www.premiervolleyball.org. Michelle is in charge
of all communications and organization of Premier Volleyball.
She keeps coaches, parents and players updated throughout the
season via email, website and facebook. Michelle also selects the Premier Apparel
and designs all the Premier Apparel Logos. You will also see
her accompanied by her little girl and future Premier Volleyball
player, Miss Gabby (Premier 5&U Gold).
Top of Page
|
|
|
Gibbie Duval, TBI S.C.E., USAW S.P.C., EPIC (Director
of Athletic Performance, Xplosive Edge)
Gibbie Duval has been a strength and conditioning coach with the Xplosive Edge since the fall of 2004, and has become the Director of Athletic Performance since then. Under his brother Zach Duval now head strength coach at Buffalo University, Gibbie has been a part of the "Husker Power" program for about 10 years, and was directly involved with the Performance 101 programs dating back to 1999. Gibbie is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and participates in several strength and fitness symposiums across the country. Gibbie is also a speaker for Boyd Epley across the country and is the EPIC Nebraska Combine Director for the State of Nebraska. Gibbie is certified by the United States of America Weightlifting Association and holds a Sports Performance Coach Certification. Gibbie also holds a certification through the Tudor Bompa Institute as a "Strength and Conditioning Expert." Gibbie is also certified by EPIC, a Boyd Epley company for excellence in standardized testing and evaluation of athletic performance and under the American Red Cross in CPR, first AID, and AED. Gibbie also contributes and writes articles and research for Ken Kontor's Performance Conditioning Inc. as well as Stack Magazine and also contributes to the Postural Restoration Institute with research and development on the Integration of Postural Restoration into Strength and Conditioning programs.
Gibbie also has an extensive background training several clubs (soccer, football, baseball, volleyball) in the Omaha area as well as several professional and collegiate athletes. Gibbie attended the University of Nebraska Omaha where he received his Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science and was a collegiate baseball player. While living in Kansas City, Gibbie was fortunate enough to be able to study under the legendary Romanian Olympic coach Istvan Javorek. Istvan was the original creator of the "dumbbell complex" and Gibbie was able to work with several Olympic athletes on sports performance enhancement and injury prevention programs. Gibbie also serves as a strength and conditioning consultant and travels the country teaching Postural Restoration integration. Gibbie also serves as a consultant to several editorials and magazines on athletic performance and injury prevention.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Bret Abels
Bret will be returning to coach his 3rd year with Premier. In addition, Bret has coached 7 years with the YMCA and PRO organizations as well as 2 years with another local club. Brets daughters, Kelsey and Karli both played club volleyball for several years. Kelsey, a Premier alum, is currently playing for Midland University and also coaches for Premier, and Karli who is a freshman at UNO and als has interest in coaching volleyball in the future. Bret is IMPACT certified and enjoys teaching and watching young girls learn and develop a love for the game of volleyball.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Kelsey Abels
This is Kelsey's second year coaching club volleyball. She played club volleyball for six years and and her 17's and 18's years were both for Premier. She graduated from Papillion Lavista High School in 2008 where she won the State Championship and played as a defensive specialist/right side. Kelsey lettered in volleyball and tennis three years and was Academic All State her senior year. She attended Emporia State University in Kansas for her freshman and sophomore years where she played volleyball as a defensive specialist. Kelsey is now in her second year at Midland University in Fremont and play as the libero/DS. She is a a human performance major with a concentration in sports management and marketing and minors in coaching and nutrition. Kelsey has coached YMCA teams and helped club teams with her extra time while in Kansas and when she was back visiting. She is also ASEP certified with coaching. I had a great time coaching last year and look forward to having another great season coaching with Premier.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Karisa Almgren
Karisa has coached club volleyball for two years for a small club called J-Freaks previous to coming to Premier. Originally from Edmond, Oklahoma she lettered all four years in volleyball. Her high school won state in 2005 and 2007 (sophomore and senior years) and was named Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year and state MVP in 2005. Playing for Oklahoma Charge and Oklahoma Peak Performance during her club years, she now is in her senior year at Creighton University as an OH/RS where she is majoring in business marketing with a minor in communications.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Courtney Aspegren
This is Courtney's first year coaching for Premier. In 2010 she coached club volleyball in Blair. Courtney graduated from Wilcox-Hildreth High School in 2008 where she was a 3 year letterwinner in volleyball, basketball and track. She played club for Nebraska Gold in Kearney, NE for 2 year. She went on to play 2 years at Dana College and 2 years at Midland University as a right side and middle blocker where this past year she was a captain. She plans to graduate in May with a degree in business and concentrations in management, sports management and coaching. Courtney is very excited to coach for premier and says, "I'm looking forward to getting to know all the girls and see what our team can do this year."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Jill Bartosh
Jill became a member of the Division II, NCC conference playing for Morningside College. She became the first volleyball player in Morningside history to amass over 1,000 career kills, 1,000 career digs, and 100 career ace serves and earn first-team All-NCC honors more than once. At the time of her graduation she was Morningsides record holder with 1,583 career kills, 153 career ace serves, and 152 career solo blocks and ranked second in school history with 1,068 career digs . She still owns the Morningside record of 382 career block assists and Millard North High Schools 100m and 200m dash track records. Bartosh averaged 3.25 kills per game en route to first-team All-NCC honors while leading Morningside to a 30-10 record and a third-place finish in the Division II, NCC standings for what would be the schools highest league finish in history and earned a No. 11 National standing in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll. She also was awarded several all-tournament team selections and NCC player of the week. She was inducted into the Morningside Hall of Fame in 2007 with All NCC, All Region and All American recognition. Jill has coached both track and volleyball throughout the years. She started her VB coaching career with the Omaha Volleyball Club in 1996. "I've always loved watching athletes grow both mentally and physically on and off the court. I love to motivate girls to think big, work hard and believe in themselves."
Jill also has two daughters playing Volleyball. Brooke Bartosh was a Premier club alum ending her career with the Premier 18 Gold team finishing 5th at Nationals and selected to the 2011 18's National All-Tournament Team. Brooke is starting her collegiate career this fall with the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats. Brianna is just starting her career. Her Premier 12 Gold team took a trip to Nationals as well and is looking forward to many more years of volleyball!
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
|
Allison Bock
Allison is a Premier Alumna (2 years) and this is her second year of coaching for Premier. Allison graduated from Westside High school in 2010 after playing for four years. She now attends Midland University as a Biology major and plays as a defensive specialist/libero. She says " I am looking forward to my second year of coaching, I learned a lot last year and am looking forward to learning more again this year. I also look forward to seeing the progression of the players again, it's one of the best things you can see as a coach."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Megan Bockelman
Megan is a Premier alumna and is in her fourth year of coaching club volleyball. Megan played club volleyball for 7 years, with her 3 favorite years being at Premier. She is currently the Head Coach of the Reserve team as well as a Varsity Assistant at Marian High School . She also attended Marian High School where she played as an outside hitter and defensive specialist. Megan currently teaches junior high at St. Vincent de Paul and has coached there for 3 years. For the last two years, she has coached 13 Black and both years, she has taken the team to Nationals. This past year, they were the only second team from Premier to qualify for nationals. She continues to play indoor and sand volleyball year round. The best part about coaching is watching the girls progress throughout the season and develop a love of the game!
Top of Page
|
|
|
Dani Boner
Dani is a Premier Alumna (2 years) and is in her seventh year of coaching. Dani graduated from Mercy High School in 2005 and played at Augsburg College as an outside hitter. Dani was a four year starting outside hitter and played a major role in developing and rebuilding the program. While in living in Minneapolis, Dani coached for several clubs including Bloomington Juniors and Armour Volleyball club. Dani graduated from Augsburg in December with a degree in Exercise Sports Science and is currently attending PTA school at Clarkson. Dani is in her third year of coaching with Premier. She says the best part of coaching is the learning experience. "The best coaches, like teachers, never stop learning. I love learning new drills and new ways to teach the girls. I am always excited to see what the girls can teach me."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Judy Boner
Judy will be starting her fifth year coaching for Premier, although she has been coaching on and off for the last 20 years. Prior to that she played on state championship team for Mercy High School and played college volleyball at Wayne State. After college, Judy played club for many years. Usually as a middle or outside hitter, she learned and filled in at the setter position for a season. Knowing the decisions and pressures of each position, she can understand and communicate to her players the challenges of their speciality. As a multi sport athelete in high school, she encourgaged girls to continue to do so. It helps a player to be well rounded and teaches them time management.
While at Premier, Judy has coached 16s and 18s. Many of her former players have gone on to play at the college level including both daughters Dani, 16 Black coach and Bri, who just finished a successful career at Emporia State University, which are Premier almunae. She keeps in touch with previous players because she cares about developing each young woman on a personal level also. She is proud to be a member of the Premier coaching staff because this club genuinely cares about the success and improvement of each girl. Her philosophy is "good things happen to those who work hard."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Kali Brayfield
Kali is a Premier Alumna (2 years) and is in her fifth year of coaching for Premier and sixth year of coaching. She attended Skutt and Elkhorn High School and went on to play at Dana College. As a middle for Dana, Kali received 3 All-Conference honorable mentions and made two All-Tournament teams. In her senior year she was selected to Second-Team All-Conference. She was a leader on the team, breaking two records, career kills and career points. She also finished second in career blocks and tied the record for aces in a four set match. In 2010, she coached 14 Black and helped them to become the first Premier Black team to qualify for nationals, the only Premier black team to compete in the National Division. In 2011, her team 13 Gold, brought home Premier's first National Medal finishing third. The team also finished fifth in the Northern Lights Qualifier. Kali says the best part of coaching is "Teaching reasoning, strategy, and the love of the game."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Jordan Broady
Jordan is in her second year of coaching at Premier. She attended high school at Johnson-Brock. As an Eagle, Jordan started as setter on varsity all four years of her career. Jordan was named to many tournament teams, was a First-Team Class C-2 All-State selection, First Team All-Conference selection, and led the Eagles to a fourth place finish her senior year. Jordan is in her third year at Bellevue University, and has been the starting setting for all three years. In her first two, Jordan collected many honors, which include MCAC Freshman of the Year, MCAC First-Team, Omaha World-Heralds NAIA All-State First-Team, Honorable Mention AVCA All-West Central Region, All-American Honorable Mention, was named Setter Of The Week multiple times, and made tournament teams. Jordan is undecided in her future plans, but knows she wants to coach and work with athletes.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Matt Buttermore
Matt Buttermore will begin his third season as an assistant coach on the Bruin coaching staff in 2011 after serving three seasons as an assistant at Concordia University in Seward, Neb.
Buttermore also has experience coaching numerous volleyball club teams and has been a summer camp clinician at the University of Nebraska, Creighton University and the University of Iowa.
During the 2010 season, Buttermore was one of 30 volleyball coaches around the nation who were honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 Award.
The award was created in 2009 to honor up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels of the sport. To qualify for the award, nominees had to be younger than 30 years old in 2010.
Buttermore has been instrumental in developing all-conference middle blockers Maureen Wardian and Jaclyn Thorson as well as all-MCAC rightside hitter Kali Schnacker. Wardian was also named all-Region the past two seasons as well as garnering honorable mention All-American accolades.
A graduate of the University of Findlay (Ohio), Buttermore was a four-year letterwinner and academic all-conference performer as a middle blocker for the NCAA Division I mens volleyball team.
He also holds University of Findlay school records for blocks in a single match and total blocks in a season.
Buttermore lives in Lincoln with his wife Laura (formerly Laura Pilakowski), who was a two-time All-American volleyball player at Nebraska and a member of the 2000 undefeated national championship team.
In addition to his coaching duties, Buttermore also serves as a copywriter at Bellevue. He earned his master's degree in leadership from Bellevue University in 2011.
Top of Page
|
|
|
John Castle
John Castle is beginning his 1st Season Coaching at Premier Volleyball. John started playing Volleyball through Omaha Sports Club in 1996. Prior to Premier Volleyball, John has enjoyed Coaching Success at the YMCA, Sunset West Volleyball Club, Omaha Wave Volleyball Club, Cornhusker State Games and St. Bernards. In addition to Coaching, John enjoys providing Private & Small Group Training. John, like all Premier Volleyball Coaches is Impact Certified. The best part about Coaching Volleyball according to John is watching each player improve throughout the season while developing a lifelong love of Volleyball. Johns approach to the game has always been to encourage and continue to challenge each player to be their best on and off the Court. John is looking forward to developing Great Volleyball Players who compete with Character at Premier Volleyball!
Here is a list of John's recent coaching finishes: Cornhusker State Games Gold Medal, 12 Year Old, Silver Division, 2009;
6th Grade PAL Tournament Champions, 2009;
6th Grade YMCA Spirit League Regular Season & Tournament Champions, 2010;
7th Grade PAL A Regular Season Champions, 2010;
7th Grade PAL 3rd Place AA out of 12 Teams, 2010;
Premier Performance Tournament, Tournament Champions, Silver Divison, 2010;
8th Grade St. Pius X/Leo Tournament Champions, Silver Division, 2011;
Cornhusker State Games Gold Medal, 14 Year Old, 2011;
2011, Bellevue Winter Fest Tournament Champions, 15U;
Final Ranking of 11th out of 128 Teams, 14U, Great Plains Volleyball Region;
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
Stephanie Connell
Stephanie Connell is in her second year with Premier. She is a 2010 graduate of Dana College where she was a setter for the Vikings. Stephanie coached for Des Moines Area Community College volleyball team last fall while completeing her master's degree. She says her favorite aspect of coaching is watching a team of girls play together.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Cassie Dalrymple
Cassie is in her 3rd year coaching with Premier. She has coached at St. Patrick in Elkhorn and St. Roberts junior high girls for PAL. As a club coach, she has assisted 13 Black and 12 Black. When she is not coaching, Cassie is a 4th grade teacher at Franklin Elementary for Omaha Public Schools. She continues to play on a sand volleyball league. The best thing about coaching is working with the girls and sharing her love for volleyball.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Sydney DeBoer
Sydney DeBoer is in her second year of coaching with us here at Premier. She has been playing volleyball since 5th grade and is now continuing her volleyball career as a middle blocker while attending Bellevue University to major in Health and Human Performance and Biology. She graduated from Seward High School in 2010 and received many awards through her high school volleyball career. In her 2009 season, Sydney earned All-Conference 1st Team and All-State Honorable Mention honors. She was also selected to participate in the Southeast All-Star Game in the summer of her senior year. Last year was a great year of success with coaching the 16s Gold team who finished first at the Bid Tournament and continued their journey onto Nationals to compete at a very high level. SO, Sydney is ready for another year of great successes and cannot wait to get back into the swing and start working with your daughters!!
Top of Page
|
|
|
Andrea Eiler
Andrea has been playing volleyball since 5h grade. In high school she lettered in volleyball for three years and was second team all conference her
sophomore and junior year and first team all conference her senior year. She was a multi-sport athlete and also lettered in basketball (2 years) and softball
(4 years). Andrea played club volleyball as a setter during her high school years for Saginaw Volleyball Club in Saginaw, Michigan where she grew up.
She went on to attend the University of Michigan where she was a setter on the club team and went on to finish 2nd at Club Nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah.
While studying at Michigan Andrea assisted her high school volleyball team during the school breaks. She served as the Vice President of the
Michigan club team and served as one of the coaches as well as being a player on the team. Last year while attending Chiropractic College Andrea
was the 12&under coach for Pleasant Valley Volleyball Club in Iowa. She recently moved to Omaha with her husband Dr. Justin Eiler in October after
graduating with a Doctorate of Chiropractic. Andrea, along with her husband and father-in-law practice at Chiropractic Health Clinic in the Oakview Medical Building.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Meg Farley
Meg is in her first year of coaching with Premier Volleyball. She is majoring in Elementary Education with coaching endorsement while playing volleyball at Midland University. Meg has helped her dad (Syracuse High school volleyball coach) with the young athlete's camp during the summers. Also during the fall, Meg's high school team would direct practices for the elementary kids on saturday mornings. This summer, Meg went to 3 high school volleyball camps with Midland University and assisted with camp. She was in charge of the setters mostly doing one on one drills with them. This spring and summer she did some one-on-one setting work with different setters around her area to help push them to the next level. Meg has played club ever since the 4th grade where she started out playing for Lincoln Juniors, then played for Syracuse Juniors the rest of her grade school and high school careers. Her high school team (Syracuse) made it to state all four years. They finished 3rd place her Sophomore year, and 4th place her Junior year. This summer she went to Chicago for the Sports Performance 9 day setting camp. Meg also played in the Nebraska Coaches Association All Star volleyball Match, as well as two others.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Alysha Ford
Alysha is a premier alum. This is her 5th year coaching club and 3rd for Premier. Alysha is a graduate from Papillion-LaVista South High School where she played middle and right side and was also the team captain. At PLSHS Alysha was coached by Gwen Egbert which opened the gateway to also recieve training from coaches and players from some of the top Division 1 colleges including Nebraska, Clemson, Michigan, Ole Miss and Mizzou. In 2006 when she graduated she went on to play at College of Saint Marys for two years as an outside/ right side, where she helped take the team to a 5th place finish in the national tournament. Alysha is excited to pass on what she has learned over the years to the players
Top of Page
|
|
|
Katy Gregory
Katy is a Premier alum and in her fifth year coaching club volleyball. Katy played club volleyball for seven years and three of those were with Premier. She attended Mercy High School where she was a four year letter winner in both Volleyball and Track & Field. While playing in high school she was an outside hitter and earned All State Honorable mention. After high school, Katy continued her volleyball career at Bellevue University . At Bellevue , she played as the volleyball team's Libero. During all four years of her college career she helped her team make it to the NAIA National Tournament. Katy was one of three captains on the BU volleyball team and ended her career as the school's all time dig leader. Some of the awards Katy received at BU include, MCAC Second Team, MCAC Libero of the week, MCAC Scholar Athlete, Bellevue University 's Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, NAIA All-Nebraska Honorable Mention. NAIA Character of Champions Award Winner, BU Volleyball Academic Achievement Award, and was a member of the BU Dean's List. In June 2011, Katy graduated Magna Cum Laude from BU with her degree in psychology. She was also chosen to be the Student Commencement Speaker. Currently, Katy is a full-time Nanny, Varsity Assistant Volleyball Coach at Duchesne Academy , and is planning a wedding. For Premier, she coached 16 Black, 13 Black, and 13 Gold. During her seasons with both 13 Black and 13 Gold she assisted them in qualifying for Nationals. During her time with 13 Gold, the team had a 3rd place finish at the Northern Lights Qualifier along with an impressive 3rd place finish at Nationals. Their 3rd place finish at Nationals was the highest finish in Premier history. Katy is very excited for another season with Premier! She says the best part about coaching is, "Watching the girls improve from the first practice to the last."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Niki Gregory
Niki is a Premier alum and is in her first year of coaching . Niki played club for Premier for six years. She finished her career playing on a very successful 18 gold team. The highlight of her season was winning the Indy qualifier and placing 5th at Nationals.
Niki graduated from Omaha Gross Catholic High School in 2011. While attending Gross, Niki was a back to back State Champion in volleyball in 2009 and 2010. She was a varsity member and starter of the volleyball team all four years. During her time on the Gross volleyball team, Niki received All State and All Conference honors, as well as Class B all tourney teams her junior and senior years. Her freshman and sophomore years she received All State honorable mention honors. At Gross, Niki was an active member of the National Honor Society and was on the Honor Roll all four years. Currently, Niki is attending Bellevue University on a academic and volleyball scholarship. She secretly hopes to break her sister Katy's (Premier Coach) dig record at Bellevue. She believes the key to a successful team is being consistent, having fun, and playing every point as it is a championship point.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Renee Gregory
This is Renee's first year coaching with Premier. Renee is returning to coaching after following her two daughters through high school and club volleyball. Daughters Katy and Niki are both Premier alums. Success has followed Renee through her coaching career. She has coached grade school, high school, as well as operated and coached her own clubs,Omaha Stars and MidCity Monarchs.
Renee attended Bryan High School where she was a three sport varsity letter winner all four years. At Bryan, she was a member of the State Championship basketball team. She attended The University of Nebraska at Omaha on a volleyball scholarship. While receiving All Conference honors, her team reached the Final Four twice, and were Conference Champions. Renee is looking forward to getting back into coaching and especially being able to coach with her two daughters at Premier this season. She believes a positive attitude and hard work will lead to a successful team.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Lauren Greisch
This will be Laurens fifth year of coaching volleyball and first year with Premier. In the past, she has coached with several other clubs and leagues, including the PAL and YMCA leagues. She has also had the opportunity to coach two of those club teams to top five finishes at several qualifiers and National tournaments. Including a bronze medal at the 2009 National Tournament in Miami. Lauren is also Impact certified and says the best part of the game is watching the girls grow and develop their skills over an entire season while having fun at the same time!
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
|
Brian Hanus
Brian has coached YMCA for the last 4 years. He is currently coaching for one of the St. James 5th grade teams that his daughter plays for. He enjoys teaching the fundamentals of volleyball, and considers himself a very patient coach. Brian has played on many co-ed and mens volleyball teams for the past 20 years, and really enjoys the competition each level provides. When he is not working at FDR as an Operations Technician, he enjoys playing various sports with his wife, Melody, his son, Nathan, and his daughter Bailey.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Dan Hanus
Dan is in his 6th year of coaching with Premier. Last year he coached the 11 Gold and 13 White teams. 13 White capped off their 1st qualifier at Colorado with a 7-2 record winning their last 7 matches! He is a CAP I certified coach. He has two daughters (Alex and Andie) that play for Premier as well. Dan has played on Coed (Indoor and Sand) as well as Mens teams in his spare time. Dan says the most enjoyable part of coaching is exploring different ways to teach the athletes. He also enjoys being creative with his coaching style mixing in fun while still focusing on the skills needed to take the athletes to a higher level.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Tricia Harder
Tricia is in her 6th year of coaching with Premier. Tricia has coached ages 10-14 years old at the grade school and club level for 19 years. She also plays on various league teams in the metro Omaha/Elkhorn area. She played four years of volleyball for the College of Saint Mary. After college, she competed in USAV league and doubles tournaments. She is CAP I certified and has been an accredited referee and scorekeeper as a result of playing in the women's USAV leagues. Along with coaching, Tricia heads up the Open Gym format for Premier Volleyball during the Fall. During the Holiday break, Tricia organizes the U11-U13 Practice Tournament which helps players learn to referree and scorekeep prior to the Club Season. Tricia is rewarded with the lessons that she learns in coaching and it's affects on both herself and the players.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Kelsie Haug
Kelsie is a Premier alumnus of 2 years and is in her second year of coaching for Premier. She coached 13 Black in the 2010-2011 club season, who went to Nationals in Atlanta that June. Kelsie attended Gretna High School where she was a three-year letter winner in Volleyball. While playing at Gretna as an outside hitter she earned Gretna Physical Therapy Student Athlete of the Month in 2004 and 2005, EMC All- Conference Honorable Mention in 2004, EMC All-Conference 2005, All-State Honorable Mention in 2005, was leader in class B for digs in the state in 2005, had various team awards, and was captain of her varsity squad in 2005. Kelsie then went on to play as a libero for Northwest Missouri State her freshman year (2006) and then transferred and finished her years at Peru State College. At Peru she received MCAC Second Team All-Conference in 2009 and the MCAC Scholar Athlete award in 2008 and 2009. She currently is the head JV and Freshman coach for Johnson-Brock High School in Johnson, NE. Kelsie says the best part about coaching is, Using the knowledge and skills that I have developed over the years to help kids improve and grow through each practice.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Chris
Johnson
Chris Johnson is starting his 4th year of coaching for Premier. Chris has been the head coach of the 11- Black team for the past three years. Besides coaching at Premier, he coached his daughters YMCA Spirit League team for six years. Many of the players from the past three years continue to play for Premier. Last season, Premier 11 black fought through the early part of the season but finished strong against U12 teams. The 11B finished 1st in the February Frenzy 11U tournament and finished 3rd in the Great Plains 11U regional tournament in April. Chris has two daughters that have played for Premier many years. Andrea is an assistant coach with the 14G team and is currently playing at Bellevue University as a defensive specialist for the Bruins. Marissa is a senior at Burke High School and has been the starting setter for 3 years. She will be attending Augustana College in 2012. Chris is looking forward to the club season and his goal is to help young players develop good volleyball skills. Chris is IMPACT certified. Chris manages the Fairfield Inn and Suites during the day. When his isnt cheering his daughters on at Bellevue University, Burke High school or at Premier, you can find him playing ice hockey on Thursday nights.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Andrea Johnson
Andrea, a Premier alum, begins her second year coaching club volleyball. Andrea played club volleyball for seven years, all of those with Premier. A 2010 graduate of Burke High School, Andrea was a four-year varsity letter winner and earned All-Metro and All-State Honorable Mention in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, she helped Burke reach the state tournament for the second time in four years with a 27-10 record. Andrea currently is a sophomore at Bellevue University, majoring in business marketing. She also is a member of the Bruins volleyball team, playing defensive specialist. Andrea is excited to be coaching and is looking forward to helping the girls on her team improve throughout the season. Last year, her team reached the National tournament - improving their ranking from where they came in at. She hopes to do the same with her new team as well.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Sarah Kemp
Sarah, Premier alum, begins her first year coaching club volleyball. Sarah played club volleyball for 12 years 5 years with Sunset West, 3 Years with Bellevue Juniors, and 4 with Premier. A 2010 graduate of Bellevue East High School, Sarah was a four-year varsity letter winner, team caption for 2 years, earned All-Metro all 4 years and 2 of them being first team, 2 years All-State Honorable Mention, 1 year second team All-State and 1 year first team with a Super State honor. Bellevue Leader Player of the year for 2 years. Played one year at Colorado Mesa University where she will earn the new comer award and was third in hitting. After deciding Mesa wasnt for her she is now home and red shirting at Iowa Western Community College, getting an AA degree in general education. Sarah is excited to be coaching and be able to work with young girls like she once was when she started.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Molly Koneck
This is Mollys first year coaching for Premier. Shes previously coached volleyball for Club Metro and 7th and 8th grade girls at Holy Ghost Catholic School; while also coaching in various volleyball clinics, camps, and lessons. Ive been a setter for, basically, my whole life; thats my specialty. Molly Graduated from Omaha Bryan High School in 2010 where she was a 2 year captain and 4 year letter-winner in Volleyball, a 3 year captain and 4 year letter-winner in swimming, and a 3 year letter winner in tennis. In 2008, she led her team to a first ever appearance in the State Tournament. Molly started her club volleyball career by playing 3 years for Sunset West Volleyball club, then 3 years for River City Juniors, and finished her last year at Omaha Wave. Molly graduated with Numerous Academic All-State Honors, 4 All-State Honorable Mentions, KPTM Runza Student-Athlete Honors, Omaha Bryan Athlete of the Year, and as a senior she was selected to play in the 2010 Nebraska All-Star Volleyball Game.
Molly went on to play volleyball for Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. There, she helped her team to an undefeated season of 16-0 in the Conference, 35-0 overall record, a GPAC Conference Championship, and another consecutive appearance in the NAIA National Tournament, where they finished 6th place and received the 2010 NAIA Champions of Character award.
Molly now attends Midland University in Fremont. There, she is majoring in Human Performances with a concentration in Athletic Training, while double minoring in Strength & Conditioning and Nutrition. This past season, Molly worked with and traveled with the Midland Volleyball and football team as their student Athletic Trainer. After finishing up at Midland, Molly plans on continuing her education into graduate school to get her masters and to be a certified Athletic Trainer and certified Strength & conditioning coach.
I am extremely excited to work with the Premier volleyball staff as well as the girls!! I am so thankful for this opportunity to work with 17 Black, and I thank the players and their parents for the warm welcome! DO WORK.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Bill Krivohlavek
Bill began coaching in 1994 and then joined Rick in 1997,when he formed Premier. Bill is IMPACT certified and CAP 1 certified. Bill has coached 12 & u, 13 & u and 14 &u teams for Premier. The most exciting thing about coaching is Being a part of the advancement of the girls to the next level and watching them have fun achieving their successes'. Outside of Premier, Bill works for the DMV and is a High School and College volleyball official. He also does lines for UNO, Creighton and UNL. He has a Jr. Nat'l rating for USA Volleyball. Bill coaches volleyball for the girls, to instruct and teach them the correct way to play volleyball. The best sport to coach, play and watch is VOLLEYBALL..
|
|
|
Danielle Lausten
Danielle is in her fourth year with Premier. She started playing volleyball in 5th grade and all through high school. She graduated from Millard West High School in 2007 where she played libero/defensive specialist. She is in her 5th year at the University of Nebraska- Omaha and is a Physical Education major. Danielle has also coached a 5th and 6th grade team for the YMCA, as well as the St. Wenceslaus 8th grade AA team this past fall. Danielle is looking forward to another season of coaching!
|
|
|
Jodi Langhorst
Jodi is in her 6th year of coaching with Premier and is IMPACT certified. She has coached the Premier 17 & 16 gold teams and will be coaching the 17 Gold team this year. In the 2011 season, Jodi coached our Premier 17 Gold team; qualifying for Junior Nationals by winning the Show Me National Qualifier and placing 5th at the Junior National Volleyball Championships held in Atlanta. The 17 Gold team was also consistently ranked as one of the top 50 teams in Prepvolleyball.com. In 2010, Jodi coached the 16 Gold team to a National Qualifying win at MEQ in St. Louis and an 11th place finish at the National Tournament in Reno, NV. They also had numerous 1st place finishes at local tournaments. Jodi played her collegiate career as a middle hitter for Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska from 2002 to 2005. Jodi thoroughly enjoys working with her front row players to increase their court awareness and says the best part about coaching is "working with the girls on developing their skills and watching them succeed on the court."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Nancy Lenz
Nancy is in her third year coaching at Premier and also coaches in the Parochial Athletic League. Nancy is a graduate of Westside High School and a 3 year varsity starter. She was named to the first team All-Metro and first team All-State, Class A, both her junior and senior years. She played at Northwest Missouri State University as an outside hitter and received All-Conference honors her sophomore, junior and senior years. Nancy became the all time individual kill leader her senior year. Nancy graduated with a degree in Recreational Therapy. She then received a Master's Degree in Exercise Science from the University of Nebraska - Omaha. Nancy continued her education at the University of Nebraska Medical Center where she received a Masters of Physical Therapy. Nancy enjoys coaching at Premier and is looking forward to a great season!
Top of Page
|
|
|
Kacie Lindeman
Kacie is in her second year coaching with Premier. She graduated from Papillion-LaVista High School in 2003 where she was a defensive specialist. Kacie played 7 years of club volleyball for various clubs around Omaha as a setter and libero. She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with degrees in Athletic Training and Secondary Education. She is currently the Head Coach of the Freshman team as well as a Varsity Assistant at Marian High School.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Kiki Linebaugh
Kirstine (Kiki) is currently an athlete at Bellevue University. This is Kiki's second season with the Premier family. She played volleyball for Pius X High School and took part in 3 consecutive state championships. She played as an outside hitter all four years and earned All State Honorable mention. She has played club for Nebraska Dominators and has helped them win the 2010 GLC-Sports Performance National Volleyball Junior Classic. At Bellevue University she plays as a defensive specialist and led the team last season with 51 aces. Kiki has the desire and passion to play and coach volleyball and is excited for 2011-2012 Premier club season.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Katie (Gaspers) Luther
Katie is in her seventh year coaching for Premier Volleyball and is IMPACT Certified. In the 2011 season, Katie helped coach our Premier 17 Gold team. This team had a very successful season qualifing for the Junior Nationals by winning the Show Me National Qualifier and places 5th at the Junior National Volleyball Championships. Currently, Katie is in her second year as varsity head coach for Duchesne Academy volleyball program. She was also an assistant at Bellevue University for two years (2006 & 2007). Katie brings experience playing as a defensive specialist during her four year collegiate career at College of Saint Mary. Katie was a co-captain for the Flames that were nationally rated all four years were she won AVCA Academic Awards and appeared in three NAIA National Tournament making it to the 'Elite-Eight' in 2003. Katie was part of two Region IV Championship teams winning four MCAC Conference Championships and was nominated by her teammates in 2004 as Lifter of the Year. Katie graduated from College of Saint Mary in 2006 with a degree in Mathematics. Katie also has experience playing outside hitter. She played this position all throughout high school in Hastings. She has head coached Premier's 12 & U, 13 & U and 14 & U teams and assistant for 17 & U and 16 & U. Katie says the best part of coaching is "Seeing the players improve their skills through every practice and game.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Amanda Mancuso
Amanda is in her sixth year of coaching for Premier. She is IMPACT and CAP-I certified. She's experienced volleyball from various perspectives: spectator, player, and coach. Amanda graduated from Gross Catholic High School in 2005 where she played varsity volleyball for four years as a right side and defensive specialist. She also played club volleyball for seven years and is a past Premier player. Amanda has coached at the middle school and high school levels. She also was the volunteer coach of the UNO men's club team for two years. She has coached at both the 13 and 15 year-old levels for Premier. Amanda coached the freshmen and JV teams at Gross Catholic High School last year; this year she returned to Gross as a volunteer, assisting with all teams. Amanda was an assistant coach for last year's 15 GOLD team that won the Northern Lights Qualifier in the 15 Club division. Amanda also continues to participate as a player in several intramural, sand, and city leagues around Omaha.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Ashley Martin
Ashley will be in her 7th year coaching with Premier. Ashley is IMPACT, CAP Level I, and CAP Level II certified. She was previously the Head Varsity Coach at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart before deciding to take a break to focus on club volleyball. She has coached the Premier 15 Black, Premier 16 Black and most recently the Premier 14 Gold team(s). In 2011 her 14 Gold team finished in the Top 10 at two National Qualifiers and won the Great Plains Regional Bid Tournament, which allowed them to compete in the National Division of the Junior National Championships in Atlanta, GA. In 2010 her 14 Gold team finished 4th Place in the Open Division at the Northern Lights Qualifier, qualifying them to play in the Open Division of the Junior National Championships in Reno, NV. In 2009, she coached the Premier 14 Gold team to a top half finish at the USA Junior Olympics in Miami, FL. Before arriving at Premier, Ashley coached for Omaha Momentum 12s and 16s in 2002 and 2004 and also coached with Nebraska Elite in 2003. She graduated from Creighton University in 2004 where she played as a middle for four years. Ashley was awarded MVC All-Freshman Team in 2001 and 2nd Team Academics - MVC , 2nd Team MVC, and AVCA 2nd Team All-Academics in 2003. Ashley graduated from Valley High School and played as a middle where she was named a Fab 50 recruit and 1st Team All-Conference. She says the best part of coaching is "Watching the team grow and advance throughout the season in skills, friendship, and team chemistry and preparing them for the next stage in their volleyball careers and life!"
Top of Page
|
|
|
Tadd Martin
In 2011-2012, Tadd will be starting his 7th year of coaching for Premier. Tadd and his wife Ashley previously coached the Premier 15 Black, 16 Black & the past 3 years taken the 14 Gold team(s) to nationals. In 2011 his 14 Gold team won the Great Plains Regional Bid Tournament, and placed in the Top 10 at two National Qualifier Tournaments. Tadd is IMPACT, CAP Level I, and CAP Level II certified. Before arriving at Premier, he coached for Omaha Momentum from 2003 through 2005. There he coached 121s, 131s and 161s teams. "Through coaching volleyball, my wife and I are able to provide a good foundation with our morals, ethics, and knowledge with the sport of volleyball. We both absolutely love helping the teams and individuals reach their personal potential both on and off the court."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Molly Moberg
Molly is a Premier alum of five years. This is her third season coaching for Premier. She played six seasons of club volleyball, but has played volleyball for a total of nine. Currently a college student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, she graduated from Papillion La Vista High School in 2009. Throughout the years, she gained experience playing middle and right side, but enjoyed getting chances to practice and play in other positions. These days she while attending PLHS, she played on JV freshman year through junior year. During those three years, she coached her younger sister's YMCA team and helped out at the PLHS summer camp for the younger children while on the team.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Nate Mongan
Nate is in his seventh year of coaching for Premier, and is both Impact and CAP I certified. In the 2011 season, Nate coached our Premier 17 Gold team. Premier's 17 Gold team had a successful season in 2011; they qualified for Junior Nationals by winning the Show Me National Qualifier, and placed 5th at the Junior National Volleyball Championships held in Atlanta. The 17 Gold team was consistently ranked as one of the top 50 teams in Prepvolleyball.com. Nate is a former Mead High School volleyball coach, qualifying his team for the 2006 Nebraska State Volleyball Tournament. Nate is in his second year of coaching for Midland University in Fremont, NE. Concentrating on setter development and outside hitters. Nate also played USAV 18 under boys in 1992-1993 for the Omaha Volleyball Club. Nate still plays competitive men's as a setter, and plays competitive co-ed ball. Nate is a firm believer in reinforcing the fundamentals of the game at all levels. Nate thoroughly enjoys working with his setters to increase their court awareness, reading blockers, and making smart setting choices.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Julie Moore
Julie is in her 5th year of coaching with Premier. She has coached at St. Thomas More Grade School for Junior HIgh girls. She has also coached at Duchesne Academy for 8 years. She has coached club for 11 years. As a club coach, she has coached ages 13-17 year olds. She is currently coaching 8th graders at Mary Our Queen School where she is the 5th grade teacher. In the summer, she runs camps for 5th-8th grade girls. When coaching, Julie hopes to give the girls the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the next level of volleyball
Top of Page
|
|
|
Alex Muckey
Alex is a Premier Alumna (2 years) and is in her second year of coaching for Premier. Alex graduated from Papillion-LaVista High School in 2006 where she was a middle hitter making two state appearances as a Sophomore and as a Senior as well as the captain of her team. She attended Northwest Missouri State University and played as an outside hitter and graduated in 2010. She is now furthering her education at College of Saint Mary in Occupational Therapy. Alex coached 12-Red last year and had a great experience teaching the girls and watching them grow as a team as well as individual players! Alex says, "I am excited to get back into the swing of things and to be back around the entire Premier organization!!"
Top of Page
|
|
|
Lexie Myers
Lexie is a Premier Alumna (4 years) and is in her fourth year of coaching for Premier. Lexie played club volleyball for 7 years. She graduated from Papillion-LaVista South High School in 2008 where she was a defensive specialist/libero. She was a letter winner and won Academic All-State honors her senior year. She now attends Midland University as a Business/Spanish major and plays as a defensive specialist. Lexie is very excited to be coaching this year and says, "The best part will be watching the girls improve throughout the season!"
|
|
|
Bart Nighswonger
Bart Nighswonger is in his 9th year of coaching with Premier. Bart coached 12's the first 3 seasons and took 2 of the 3 teams to the USA Junior National Championships. In 2007 he worked with 10-14 year old players and coached teams at 12's, 13's, and 14's. In 2008 and 2009 he coached 13's and returned to the USA Junior National Championships in the National (Top) Division both seasons. The 2008 team finished 2nd Place at the Northern Lights National Qualifier and 2nd Place at the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier. The 2009 team finished in 3rd Place at the Sho-Me National Qualifier and finished with a winning record at the National Championships. In 2010 Bart returned to coaching the 12s age division. The team qualified for the Junior National Championships and had a 7-3 record in the National (Top) Division. The 2010 team finished in 2nd Place at the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier and finished in 3rd Place at the Northern Lights National Qualifier. The 2011 12's Team finished 9th at Colorado Crossroads and 7th at the Northern Lights Qualifier. The team finished 27th at the National Championships with a winning record in the National (Top) Division. Bart is an IMPACT Certified coach and completed his CAP Level 1 certification with USA Volleyball in 2006. He has several years of experience coaching girls in 2nd grade through 8th grade in the YMCA leagues prior to joining Premier, coached several years at Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, and has 5 years experience as a volleyball parent in club volleyball prior to starting coaching in USA Volleyball. Bart says "I enjoy working with the players and seeing the successful development of individual skills and execution of team systems. And we have a fun time doing it too!"
Top of Page
|
|
|
Meghan O'Connell (Smith)
Meghan is in her second year of coaching for Premier. She is a native of Sidney, Nebraska, where she graduated from Sidney High School. Meghan grew up playing volleyball, basketball, soccer, and running track. She made the varsity volleyball team as a freshman in high school and earned numerous awards including; athlete of the year in 2004 by the Scottsbluff Star-Herald, Super State Volleyball Team by the Omaha World Herald, and was a top 50 Selection in Volleyball Magazine. Meghan also earned two silver medals at the state track meet. During her junior year of high school, she accepted a volleyball scholarship from the University of Nebraska and went on to play two years for the University of Nebraska under Coach John Cook before giving up her scholarship to focus on her education. She continued to be active within Nebraskas program by coaching summer camp at the University until she graduated in December of 2007. Meghan now lives in Omaha with her husband and their little girl.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Bianca O'Shaughnessy
Bianca is a 1987 graduate of Omaha Westside High School where she was a
three year letter winner in volleyball. This will be her fifth year
coaching at the club level and her fourth season with Premier. Bianca
has coached numerous ages ranging from 12-16's.
Coach "Bink" has also coached YMCA and PAL league volleyball where she
helped coach her daughter Sydney's team to a PAL League and Tournament
Championship in 2007, and again in 2008. Bianca spent many years playing
women's USVBA and doubles sand volleyball, where she was a champion at
the 1992 Cornhusker State Games, and she still loves to play when she
has time. She is IMPACT and CAP I certified and says her favorite part
of coaching is "seeing young girls build confidence, become leaders and
improve in a sport that I love and am very passionate about".
|
|
|
Heidi Oetken
Heidi is in her 9th year of coaching with Premier. Heidi has coached Premier 15&U, 17&U and 18&U teams and is currently in her 5th year as the JV coach at Millard West. Heidi also served 2 years as Millard South's JV coach. She is IMPACT and CAP I and II Certified. Currently, she plays city-rec Women's A volleyball as a setter/hitter. Heidi says the best part of coaching is "Watching your players come together and work as a team, being part of their improvement throughout the season and knowing that you played a role in helping them develop into a better player gives me a sense of accomplishment.
|
|
|
Joe Oetken
This season will be Joe's 7th year as a coach for Premier (he has always served as assistant coach to Heidi). Joe played volleyball at South Dakota State University where he was as an outside and middle hitter. Before his career at SDSU, Joe played on a Men's Club team from Omaha North as an outside hitter and setter. Joe has played competitively in USAV Men's A and local rec A volleyball as a middle hitter. He has been an IMPACT certified coach since 2005, earned his CAP I certification in 2007 and his CAP II certification in 2009. He says " I want to use my passion for the game to help develop young athletes. I really enjoy helping Premier athletes become better people and better players."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Beth Peal
Beth is a Premier alum and has been with Premier playing and coaching for 12 years. She is on her 5th year of coaching for Premier. Peal attended Millard South High School where she was a setter and outside for 4 years and was also team captain. She gradated in 2007 and kept playing volleyball at Dana College. She now goes to University of Nebraska- Omaha where she is studying Elementary Education. Peal also coaches at Millard South where she coaches Reserve Volleyball for the Patriots for two years now! Beth is very excited to start coaching for Premier again and cant wait to get this season started!! Go Premier!!
Top of Page
|
|
|
Krysta Peers
Krysta is a Premier alum and in her fourth year coaching club volleyball. Krysta played club volleyball for eight years for multiple clubs in the Omaha and Lincoln area, her final (and favorite) year being with Premier. She attended Omaha Gross High School where she was a 3 year letter winner in both Volleyball and Tennis. While playing volleyball at Gross, Krysta was defensive specialist, and helped her team to a State Championship and State Runner-Up. She was an Academic All-Conference player all 3 years. Krysta played volleyball at Chadron State College and College of Saint Mary in Omaha, receiving MCAC Honorable Mention and MCAC and NAIA Academic All-American awards. While coaching at Premier, Krysta has assisted teams to a 2nd place finish at Colorado Crossroads, a 3rd place finish at Kansas City ShoMe qualifier, and has qualified 2 teams to the Junior National Championships. Krysta is currently in her 2nd year of the Doctorate of Physical Therapy progarm at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Elena Pietro (Martinez)
Elena was a member of the 2010 Llaneras Professional Volleyball Team in Puerto Rico that placed second in the Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino. Elena was one of only sixteen female college players to be invited to the AVP Go Pro or Go Home combine in 2009, training with renowned players such as Karch Kiraly and Kerri Walsh. She was also a member of the USA Womens National A2 Team that won the Open Division of the USA Adult Open Volleyball Championships in 2008. Elena lettered 4 years at LSU as a libero between 2005-2008. While there, she was named an AVCA All- America Honorable Mention, AVCA All-South Region, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and the Louisiana Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. She was also a member of the All-SEC Second Team and the All-Louisiana First Team in 2007 and 2008. She broke the LSU and SEC record for digs in a season with 703 and digs per game in a season with 5.33, leading the SEC and ranked 35th in the NCAA in digs per game. Elena was a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and LSU Scholar Athlete in 2008 and 2009. She was also a member of the LSU Athletic Directors Cup for Academic Excellence from 2006-2009. In high school, Elena was named Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior in 2004. She was also a member of the USA Junior Olympic Volleyball team in 2005. Elena has coached at various clubs in Louisiana throughout the last 6 years including Cajunland, Red Storm and Volleyball Baton Rouge. She has also coached at the High School level for Isidore Newman School in New Orleans. This is her first year as a coach with Premier Volleyball.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Kirsten Placzek
Kirsten is a Premier alum and in her fourth year coaching club volleyball. Last year she assisted 12 Gold with Bart Nighswonger as the Defensive/Setting coach. The team made many accomplishments throughout the year, with the biggest one being qualifying for the trip to Atlanta, GA for nationals. The year before last she assisted 14 Gold with Tadd and Ashley Martin also as the Defensive/Setting coach. This year the team also qualified for nationals in Reno, NV. Kirsten played club volleyball for five years, her last three being with Premier (16, 17, 18 Gold). She attended Ralston High School where she was a 3 year letter winner in Volleyball and a 2 year letter winner in Tennis. While playing volleyball at Ralston, Kirsten was defensive specialist until her senior year she became the setter. She was voted Most Improved player her sophomore year, and in 2007 she received All-State Honorable Mention. Kirsten played as the Libero/Defensive Specialist at College of Saint Mary for two years and was voted most competitive her freshman year. Kirsten is now a Senior at University of Nebraska-Omaha majoring in General Studies with a focus in psychology and health education to move on to nursing school. Kirsten is very excited for another year of coaching and another season of club volleyball with Premier!
Top of Page
|
|
|
Rod Richardson, Staff
Rod has been affiliated with Premier from day one. He has assisted
our 18 & U teams, as well as helping run specialty clinics for
the club. Outside of Premier, Rod is the Assistant Coach for
the Midland University. Rod says the best part of coaching
is "Seeing kids you've coached in the past continue in the sport
as players or as coaches."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Jenni Runte
Jen is in her 5th year of coaching for Premier. She is an impact certified coach. Jen starting playing volleyball in elementary school, then played outside hitter / defensive specialist for Millard West high school. During high school Jen also played 4 years of club, 3 of which were with Premier. Jen says the best part about coaching volleyball is seeing the girls grow not only as a person individually but also as a team.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Laurel Sanford
Laurel is in her second year coaching at Premier. She is currently a Middle Blocker for the Creighton Bluejays while being a full time student. She was recently named Defensive Player of the week. Laurel played in the high school Minnesota State Tournament her Junior year in High School. Laurel then made the All-State Team in High School her Senior year. She played for Northern Lights Volleyball Club on the Ones team for three years. She played in the open division and placed third at Nationals. Laurel is majoring in Elementary Education at Creighton.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Jodi Saucier
This is Jodi's first year of coaching with Premier. She has coached
volleyball for the last 6 years, mainly 7th and 8th grade AAA teams
in her school's PAL league, as well as teams through the YMCA. She
has also coached volleyball at Wave and started her own club called
Omaha Force with the girls she coached at PAL. She is Impact
certified. Jodi played volleyball in high school as a defensive
specialist and has played adult recreational court and sand
volleyball for the past 15 years. She is a fifth grade teacher at St.
Pius X St. Leo School. She feels that coaching is a lot like
teaching. Some kids develop and mature in their skills at different
levels, so using a variety of strategies along with repetition, makes
for a successful athlete.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Trish Siedlik, Staff
Trish is in her 5th year with Premier. Siedlik has recruited 12 players from Premier Volleyball Club to two
different institutions over the last 5 years. "I enjoy working with Premier Volleyball Club because not only do they
have quality coaches that work with these young ladies, but they also emphasize a great attitude and what it means to be a good teammate.
Those are the players that we want in our program."
Trish Siedlik is in her
second year at Bellevue University finishing #19 NAIA ranking,
a 31-9 record and the school's first MCAC
Tournament Championship. Her goal is to be a program that competes
at the national level each year. Prior to Bellevue, Siedlik
was head coach at College of Saint Mary in Omaha from 2002-2005.
During her four years, the Flames compiled a 124-21 record,
including a conference record of 60-2, winning four MCAC regular
season and tournament titles, two Region IV titles, and three
NAIA National Tournament appearances, making it all the way
to the "Elite-Eight" in 2004. Siedlik was named 2002,
2003 and 2006 MCAC Coach of the Year along with Region IV Coach
of the Year honors in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Siedlik played
her collegiate volleyball at College of Saint Mary from
1995-98 and graduated with a Computer Graphics degree in 1999.
Trish is
married to Michael Siedlik Jr. who is employed with the Omaha
Fire
Department. They have two sons, Brandon (3) and Luke (1).
Coach Siedlik's Coaching Bio: Career Head Coaching Record
- 155-30
BU Head Coaching Record - 31-9; 4 Conference Regular Season
Championships - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005; 5 Conference Tournament
Championships - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006; 2 Region IV
Tournament Championships - 2003, 2005; 3 NAIA National Tournament
Appearances - 2003, 2004, 2005; 2 NAIA Elite Eight Appearances
- 2004; Coached 24 MCAC All-Conference Players; Coached 4
MCAC Players of the Year; Coached 17 All Region Players; Coached
3 Region IV Players of the Year
Coached 5 NAIA All-Americans; Coached 12 NAIA Academic All
Americans.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Mackenzie Scheef
Mackenzie is Premier alum and is excited for her second year coaching for Premier. Mackenzie has played club since 5th grade. Mackenzie started with Syracuse Juniors, then her senior year played Premier 18 Gold. A 2010 Syracuse High School graduate, Mackenzie was a three year varsity letter winner, making appearances at the state tournament three years of high school, placing 3rd her junior year and 4th her senior year. Mackenzie earned All-Tournament Team honors her junior year and honorable mention her senior year. Mackenzie currently plays at Midland University as a middle blocker and sophomore captain. Mackenzie believes the best part of a successful team is to be consistent, energetic, and competitive!
Top of Page
|
|
|
Kim Scott
This is Kims first year coaching for Premier, but in past years she has coached on the club level, YMCA, and for Boystown. Kim is proud to be part of Millard Norths High Schools State championship team where she played as an outside hitter. After high school Kim continued her volleyball career at the club level and eventually as a defensive specialist for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This will be the third year at Premier for Kims daughter Cameron. Her advice to young players would be practice like you will play, because you will play like you practice.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Nikki Seipold
Nicole (Niki) is in her fifth year of coaching with Premier and has played club for 7 years, 4 of which were with Premier. She is in her third year of being head JV coach and assistant Varsity for Roncalli Catholic High School. Niki has coached 12's, 14's, and this year she will be with 15's. She has also helped coach 5th & 6th grade teams at Mary Our Queen for their PAL league. Nicole graduated from Westside where she played all 4 years as outside and DS. She went on and played one year at Bellevue University as DS/ Outside Hitter and helped the team go to the NAIA National Tournament in 2007. Niki is ready for another great season with Premier.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Liz Sevcik
Liz was a middle for the Potter-Dix High School volleyball team, which qualified for the state games three of those years playing in the 1999 State Championship game. Liz also played in the 2002 Best in the West Volleyball tournament. Outside of coaching, Liz plays in volleyball leagues, a kayak polo league and runs. This is Liz's fourth year coaching for Premier.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Andrea Sikora
Andrea has been coaching with Premier for 8 years. She is CAP I and Impact certified. Andrea is a native of Falls City, Nebraska, where she graduated from Falls City Sacred Heart High School. Her junior year she contributed to her high school teams winning state championships in volleyball, basketball and track. Her senior year followed closely to that of her junior year, winning state championships in basketball and track and state runners-up in volleyball. She continued her volleyball career as a player for the College of Saint Mary, in Omaha. Andrea started as an outside hitter as a freshman and earned MCAC Newcomer of the Year honors in 1999. Throughout the rest of her career she earned other honors such as lifter of the year, two-time co-captain for the flames, two-time MCAC Defensive Specialist of the Year, two-time Academic All-American, and All-American honors her senior year. Andrea still plays competitively in women?s leagues in the area. In addition to coaching for Premier, Andrea was an assistant coach for Midland Lutheran College in Fremont for three years. Prior to coaching at Midland, Andrea coached for Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for two years. Andrea says one of the best parts about coaching is helping players grow and mature both as competitive athletes and as people.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Nic Sikora
Nic is in his 5th year of coaching with Premier Volleyball. He has coached both the 11 and 12 year olds for Premier. He is a CAP I and IMPACT Certified Coach. Nic has coached in a variety of roles over the years including Head Women's tennis coach at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee Wisconsin and Assistant Track and Field couch at Waukesha West High School. While in college he assisted with the St. Joe Spike volleyball team and became a certified volleyball official in Missouri. Nic says the best part of coaching is "Watching a player learn how to play the game both physically and mentally. There is nothing like giving a girl the ball for the serve on game point and seeing that SHE knows she's going to hit it in."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Shannon (Gyhra) Smolinski
Shannon is in her 9th year with Premier, and is CAP I and Impact certified. This will be Shannon's 4th year coaching the Premier 15 Gold team. She has also coached Premier's 13 Gold and 14 Gold teams. The 2010-2011 season was a great season for her team, they had a great showing at the Northern Lights Qualifier in Minneapolis taking home the Gold ball and securing a bid in the National division to the 2011 USA Junior Olympic Girls Volleyball Championships in Atlanta. In the past 9 seasons Shannon has taken her team to the Junior National Championships 5 times including 2 Top 10 finishes in the Open Division. In addition her teams have had some strong finishes at Qualifying events including 5 Top 5 finishes in the Open division and 1 National Qualifier Championship in the National Division. Shannon is a Premier alumn and played 4 years for Premier. Shannon is highly motivated, and very passionate about youth and volleyball, she has worked to push young athletes to work hard and become their personal best.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Heather Thorson
Heather is a Premier alum and coaching club volleyball for the second year. Heather played club volleyball for four years, three at Premier. She went to school in Mead and lettered four years in both volleyball and basketball. Heather played as a middle blocker throughout high school and club. She is currently a sophomore at Creighton University and majoring in Biology. Heather plays volleyball for Creighton as a middle blocker. Last season she assisted in coaching the Premier 17 Gold team.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Emilie Varley
This will be Emilie's first year coaching at Premier. She is a native of Nebraska City where she was a 4 year letter winner in Track & Field, 2 year letter winner in Basketball, and 3 year letter winner in Volleyball at Nebraska City High School from 2001-2005. Emilie, then, played 4 years of volleyball at College of Saint Mary from 2005-2009, where she participated in NAIA Nationals twice (2005 & 2006) and placed 5th at Nationals in 2006. She also earned MCAC and National Academic All-American while she was at CSM. Her senior year, Emilie was named captain of the CSM Flames volleyball team. She played Right side and Outside hitter at both Nebraska City and CSM.
As for her coaching experience, it runs in the family. Emilie's father has coached for over 30 years as a high school head football coach and is now coaching for his 3rd season at Peru State College. Emilie's mother coached freshman/8th grade volleyball at Nebraska City for 10 years, and her brother is now in his 1st year of being a freshman football coach for the Lincoln High Links.
Emilie has volunteer coached 5th & 6th grade recreational volleyball for 3 years in high school in Nebraska City. She has also coached club volleyball for 2 years with Bellevue Juniors (1 year) and Elite Volleyball Club (1 year). After Emilie graduated from CSM, she volunteered as a volleyball assistant at her alma mater for 1 year. She has now been coaching PAL (Parochial Athletic League) volleyball for the 8th Grade AA team for the past 2 seasons at Saint Pius X Saint Leo School. Emilie is currently in her 3rd year of teaching 1st grade at Edison Elementary in Council Bluffs. Coming from a family of coaches, she finds that if you have a great work ethic and a positive attitude you will always find success.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Nicole Venditte
Nicole (Vaeda) is a Premier Alumna (5 years) and is in her fifth year of coaching for Premier and sixth year over all. She is second year of coaching for Midland University. Nicole played club volleyball for 7 years before playing for four years at Dana College as a setter and defensive specialist. She was an Academic All-American her junior and senior year. Nicole says the best part of coaching is "Watching a number of individuals develop a sense of oneness with each other to create a united unit on the court."
Top of Page
|
|
|
Becky Verespej
Becky is in her second season with Premier after coaching our 16 Gold team in the 2011 season. The Premier 16 Gold team had many top finishes in 2011, including a 9th place National finish at the Sho-Me National Qualifier and a 1st place finish in the Great Plains Regional Bid Tournament which qualified them for the Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships. The 16 Gold team ended the season strong finishing 13th in the National Division at the Junior Nationals in Atlanta.
Becky served four seasons (2005-2008) as the assistant coach at Iowa Western where she helped guide the Reiver volleyball program to an outstanding overall record of 217-23 record in four seasons (.91%), including 3 conference championships, 3 regional championships and the schools first ever NJCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in 2006. Prior to Iowa Western, she was an assistant coach at St. Clair CCC in Port Huron, MI. During her four seasons at St. Clair CCC, the Skippers won 3 conference championships, 2 regional championships and the 2004 NJCAA DII NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. She also spent the 2009 spring season as the second assistant at Texas Tech University before returning to the Omaha area.
Along with her coaching duties at the college level, Becky served as assistant club director and one of the Elite coaches for Top Ten Volleyball Club (IA) for four years. Prior to moving to Iowa, she served and as one of the Elite coaches with the Blue Water Volleyball Club (MI) for seven years. Verespej is IMPACT certified, has been a clinician at numerous volleyball camps throughout the years and spent time as a certified high school official.
Becky began playing competitive volleyball through USAV and AAU with the Blue Water Volleyball Club in Port Huron, MI. After nine years of competing with the BWVBC Elite teams, she was a 2 year scholarship athlete at Mott CC in Flint, MI. During her two seasons at Mott she helped lead the Bears to 2 conference championships, a regional championship and Motts first appearance at the National Tournament. She was named twice to the MCCAA All-Conference, All-State and All-Region teams. She finished her college volleyball career at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. earning Wolverine Hoosier All Conference honors both seasons. She was also a team captain for three years during her college career.
A native of Ubly, Michigan, Becky and her husband, Dan, have two daughters, Keira (3) and Natalie (1).
Top of Page
|
|
|
Mo Wardian
Maureen (Mo) is an Omaha Westside high school graduate and Premier VBC Alum. She is in her fourth year coaching club. During high school Mo earned multiple athletic and academic honors. These include being a four-year varsity letter winner (volleyball, basketball, and track), National Honors Society member, receiving all-State Honorable Mention honors, and earning Scholar Athlete status. Currently Maureen is a Graphic Design major and senior middle blocker at Bellevue University. She has started for the Bruins for all four years. Her Bellevue accolades include MCAC Freshman of the year, first-team all-Conference (three years), first-team NAIA all-Nebraska (three years) and AVCA all-West Central Region, NAIA and AVCA all-American honorable mention (two years), MCAC Scholar Athlete, Dean's List (three years), and has led the Bruins in blocks and hitting percentage. Her peers chose her as last years Bellevues NAIA Champion of Character recipient. Maureen has helped Bellevue to three consecutive National Tournament appearances. Maureen specializes in middle and front row position training. "My favorite part about playing is when something finally clicks! I love this about coaching as well. Seeing a skill "click" for a player is awesome!"
Top of Page
|
|
|
Allison Weaver
Allison is in her third year coaching for Premier. She has coached 11's and 12's in that time and has loved it. It is great to see the girls' excitement and energy for the game and to watch them improve throughout the season. She began playing volleyball for the Lincoln Jrs. club team at the age of 12 and played all throughout junior high and high school. Allison participated in volleyball, basketball, and track all four years at Falls City Sacred Heart. She received many honors and state medals in those four years. She attended Doane College, where she was a four-year starter on the varsity volleyball team. She was co-captain her junior and senior year and received many honors at the collegiate level as well. Her team made it to the national tournament in 2006. After graduating from Doane with a degree in International Business, Allison spent the following year being a nanny in Madrid, Spain and perfecting her Spanish. She currently works as an Executive Assistant at Applied Underwriters.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Jen Wentworth
This is Jens first year coaching for Premier. Prior to taking the 2011 season off, Jen spent 9 years coaching for Nebraska Elite. In the 2009 and 2010 seasons Jen along with assistant coach Lauren Greisch coached their teams to consecutive top 5 finishes nationally including a bronze medal in Miami in 2009. Their former club also awarded them Team of the Year and Coaches of the Year in 2010. Jen played City League and OSC volleyball for many years before retiring 3 years ago. Her passion for volleyball has transferred into her coaching. Jens favorite thing about coaching is developing solid relationships with her players that endure long past the club season. She really enjoys seeing her players develop into strong, confident young women and it is especially fun to see them play at the collegiate level. Sometimes she is able to get former players to return and assist her with her current team which is really fun. Jen is really looking forward to coaching with Premier because she will again be able to combine coaching with family. Her niece Tiffany Wentworth is a current Premier player. When not coaching, Jen is an aspiring yogini and a struggling golfer.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Joe Wessel
Joe Wessel is in his first year with Premier. He has spent the last 2 years as the varsity assistant at Millard West High School. Joe graduated from Humphrey St. Francis in Humphrey, NE and played collegiately at Peru State College as a Middle Hitter and Rightside. He then transferred to Wayne State college where he was a Volunteer Assistant coach for the women's volleyball team for 4 years. While at Wayne State, the team qualified for 4 straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and won the 2007 NSIC Conference Championship. Joe has also spent 4 years at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as Summer Camp Coach. In his free time, Joe plays USAV Men's A League volleyball and has played Omaha Sports Club. He currently lives in Omaha and teaches K-5 Physical Education at Rohwer Elementary.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Paul Wright
This will be Pauls first year with Premier after spending the past 9 years with the River City Juniors. While at River City he primarily coached the 15u thru 18u age level teams and has helped out at many different individual and team camps. In addition to coaching club, Paul was an assistant coach with Bellevue University for four years and a volunteer practice player with UNO for 3 years. He also has many years of experience in officiating high school and college volleyball. To help expand his coaching credentials Paul spent a few years coaching his sons soccer and baseball teams. Paul still continues to play competitive volleyball and is in the process of changing his career and is getting his Masters in Teaching from the College of Saint Mary. Paul is currently student teaching at Skutt Catholic where he is also the head JV coach. One of Pauls favorite mottos is There are no short cuts to any place worth going to.
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
