Brian began coaching club volleyball in 1992. He was a part of starting the Crossroads of America Volleyball Club in 1999 and has continued to be a dedicated leader of its development over the many years since its beginning. He has coached in many age groups over the years, but in recent years has coached the 12-1s team, taking his girls to several top 20 finishes at AAU Nationals--with one finish in GOLD.  This year, he will continue serving as Club Director and dedicate his time as a 'Tier'  lead and positional coach, guiding and training COA girls from different age groups and abilities. Brian is the current head coach at Terre Haute South Vigo High School. As the head coach for nine years, he has led the team to over 230 wins with three sectional titles, one MIC conference title, one Conference Indiana title --and was one win away from the IHSAA 4A Final Four two years in a row. He began playing volleyball in 1987 at the White River Park State Games, then coached by the legendary Cathedral Coach Rhonda Low. His local club team finished state runner up three years in a row. He was later picked up by a club team out of Toledo, OH and competed in the Boys' USVBA Nationals in 1989. He then went on to be a part of the IPFW Men's team for two years, before transferring to ISU where he earned a degree in English Education. Brian has participated in many collegiate camps around the midwest. He has been exposed to some of the best minds in the game from camps, club, and participating in numerous AVCA National Conventions. Always passionate when on the court, Brian continues to strive to be a 'student of the game' and always trying to learn something new. 

This will be Ali’s 10th year coaching for COA. Ali is back coaching the 18-1s team after coaching in 16s for several years.  Always coaching with passion and fire, she has led her teams to multiple GOLD finishes at AAU Nationals, with one 2nd place finish in 18 Club Division.

Ali began playing volleyball at the age of 12 for COA volleyball club, when it was known as Pacesetter Volleyball Club. Ali played four years of varsity volleyball at Terre Haute South Vigo High School under Coach Brian Payne. Ali went on to play her collegiate career at DePauw University. Ali was a four-year starter for the DePauw Tigers and earned several all-tournament and all conference awards. Ali was awarded the prestigious Tiger Pride award in her senior season. Ali obtained her degree in Communications from DePauw and has a master’s in communication and media studies from Indiana State University. Ali currently works at Old National Bank as a Private Banker. Ali has two daughters: Emma and Anaston.  Derek, Ali’s husband, serves on the COA Board of Directors.

Maggie is from Greencastle, Indiana. She competed at COA, as well as Greencastle High School, where she was a four-year varsity letter winner. Maggie was a member of Ali Fell’s 2018 AAU National Championship runner up team. Maggie went on to continue her career at Marian University as a defensive specialist. There she had the opportunity to win  the 2019 NAIA National Championship, compete in the 2020 Elite Eight game, and finish her collegiate career at the 2021 Final Four stage. Maggie  is looking forward to beginning her COA coaching career alongside Ali Fell, who played a crucial role in her success as a player. 

I am from Brazil, Indiana and I began my volleyball career around 8 years old. I started playing club volleyball for Circle City in Plainfield, IN, and I played there for three years until I came to play for COA where I finished out my club career and finished 2nd at the AAU Nationals in Orlando, Florida in the 18 Club Division. I went to Northview High School where I was a four-year varsity starter as a Middle Hitter. We won 4 Sectionals, 3 Regionals, and 1 Semi-State Championship. I earned Rookie of the Year, Mental Attitude, and All-District during my time at Northview. I started my collegiate career at DePauw University where I played for two seasons as a Middle Hitter and Outside Hitter. I transferred to Indiana State University to study Speech Language Pathology, and I now play for the Women’s Club Team.

Tia is from Knoxville, TN. She is currently the Graduate Assistant at SMWC for both Men's and Women's volleyball. Prior to moving to Indiana, She coached high school volleyball for 2 years and club for 6 years. She played collegiately at Tennessee Wesleyan University. During her time there, she was a three year captain and was apart of a record breaking team at the university.  Tia was a setter for most of my college experience before transitioning back to a libero for her senior season. She looks forward to her time coaching the 16-Rhinos and assisting with all setters in the club. 

Aaron has been coaching for COA for several years. In the past, he has assisted with multiple age groups at clinics and during club season. Primarily, Aaron had been the assistant coach for the 18-1’s team along the side of Ali Fell and assisted the team to multiple top three finishes at tournaments around the Midwest in the 18 Premier division and two top 5 finishes and one 2nd place finish at the AAU National Tournament in the 18 Club Division in Orlando, Florida. In previous years, Aaron has assisted at Terre Haute North Vigo High School. Aaron has previously been a volunteer assistant coach at Indiana State University. In 2017, he aided ISU in reaching the MVC tournament where they made program history with their first ever tournament win. Aaron is always striving to find ways to better not only himself but COA and everyone associated with the club. Outside of COA, he is working for Aramark inside Pendleton Correctional Facility. This year at COA, Aaron will be the head coach for the 16-1’s team and is super excited to bring the knowledge and skill that he has obtained from many great coaches around the area. Aaron recently got married to his wife Bailee and they have two cats, loafy and biscuit. They currently reside in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This is Lexi's first year with COA Volleyball and she is assisting Aaron with the 16-1s team. She played collegiate volleyball at the University of Saint Francis. She made her way to Terre Haute to go to school at ISU and is currently studying Exercise Science and Sports Management. Lexi played as an outside hitter during her volleyball career. She played varsity volleyball at Southmont High School all four years and led her team to first time victories that have not been achieved in 30+ years. Lexi's club experience was at The Academy Volleyball Club playing on multiple club division teams. She grew to love the sport of volleyball during this time while simultaneously learning the game at a fast-paced, elite level.

Hannah Zuege is originally from Bedford, Texas and transferred in as a junior at Saint Mary of the Woods college in the fall of 2021. Hannah began playing club volleyball for Integrity VBC for 11s-15s and then played for Texas Image for her 16s-18s seasons. She also participated in her High School Volleyball program at Euless Trinity High School on the varsity team for all four years and was rewarded multiple district awards throughout her high school career. Immediately after graduating high school, Hannah moved to Springfield, Missouri to play division 2 volleyball at Drury University. After 2 years of competing in the GLVC Conference with the Drury Panthers as an outside hitter/defensive specialist, she entered the transfer portal and eventually signed to play for SMWC as an outside hitter. Throughout her first season at SMWC, she managed to set the new school record for most kills in a match, most points in a match, highest hitting percentage in a match (min. 15 kills), most kills in a season, and became the first player in program history with 400+ kills & 300+ digs in one season. Hannah was awarded with many accolades for her performance such as; River States Conference First Team All-Conference, NAIA AVCA Midcentral Honorable Mention, and USCAA First Team All American. She helped her team greatly to win the 2021 USCAA National Championship in Virginia by setting the new record for most kills in a USCAA tournament match and earning the 2021 USCAA National Tournament MVP. Hannah is now coaching the 13 Jaguars team for her first club season with COA while also studying psychology & criminology.

I am from El Paso, Texas and I started playing volleyball when I was around 10 years old. I played club volleyball with Wildfire VBC from the ages of 12-17s, qualifying for the USAV junior nationals three times. I started as a middle for varsity at Coronado High School all four years there and helped my team to a 47-1 district record and to the sweet 16 at the 6A state championships my sophomore and senior year. I earned first and second team all district honors all four years and hitter of the year my senior year.  I went on to play at Western Nebraska CC and helped my team win 2 regional championships and compete at the national tournament in 2021 and 2022, finishing 6th overall last year. I graduated from WNCC with an associates degree in exercise science. I transferred to SMWC this year to continue to play the sport I love for the last two years of my college career and earn a bachelors degree in Exercise Science.

This is Morgan's second year coaching at COA. Last year she was 18-2s assistant coach and is extremely excited to be head coach for 16 Pythons this season. Currently, she is a Senior at St. Mary's of the Woods College studying Exercise Science. She is from Santa Maria, CA and moved to Indiana last year to continue playing volleyball at SMWC as a Middle Blocker. She just finished her last season of her collegiate career and was able to be ranked second in total blocks for the River States Conference and was also awarded with third team all-conference for the 2023 season. Before transferring to SMWC, she played Junior College Volleyball for Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA for three years. Here she received multiple defensive player of the year awards within her team, helped her team reach the California State playoff tournament, and was consistently ranked highly within the state of California for her blocking. While playing for Pioneer Valley High School, Morgan was able to break the school record for most total blocks, as well as earning first team all-league her senior year. She is extremely excited for this season with the 16 Pythons! 

Saisha Kahae is originally from Santa Maria, California. She grew up around volleyball so when it was her time to start learning I was like second nature. Saisha received first team all conference throughout her years in high school. She played club volleyball from 7th- 11th grade and would travel all over the country. She went to two junior colleges and received first team all conference at both colleges before transferring to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. She plays as a libero and this is her first year coaching at COA. She will be graduating in 2024 with a Bachelors in Exercise Science to pursue her career in Sports Psychology. 

I am from Litchfield Park, Arizona and I began playing club volleyball in 7th grade. I played for AZONE VBC for 6 years and was part of the Millennium High School indoor and sand volleyball teams for all 4 years of high school. I was on the varsity volleyball team at MHS for 2 years where we were the 2020 5A State Champions in Arizona and the 2021 5A State-Runner Up. I have played as an outside hitter, setter, right side hitter, and libero/DS. I am currently a freshman at Saint Mary of the Woods College and am part of the women’s volleyball team. I am studying exercise science and after graduation I plan on attending grad school and becoming an occupational therapist.

Matt was born into the game of volleyball in Muncie, Indiana. He was mentored from a young age, the game of volleyball, by his dad and many other coaches through the Munciana program. Matt was a big factor in starting the boys’ volleyball team at Muncie Central High School, where he played 3 years as a setter, and was voted to the All-State team in the first year and made it to the Boys State Finals the second year. Matt played numerous years in the men’s AAU program with Munciana. Matt has coached at numerous college camps and has also taken teams to participate. Matt was an assistant coach for the 12's and also a head coach in the 12's-girl’s division for Munciana. This will be Matt’s 10th year as a head coach at COA. Matt has coached 16 Blue, 14 White, 14 Red for 3 seasons,  18-White, 16 Rhinos for 2 seasons, and currently is in his 3rd season coaching the 15 Gophers.  Matt was also the head coach at Terre Haute North High School for the 2015-2018 seasons. Matt and his wife Amy have two kids, Tanner 14, and Wrin 11, and currently reside in Terre Haute. Matt is Vice President of  Benchmark Fabricated Steel in Terre Haute.

Emma Hopper is from Terre Haute and started her volleyball career in the sixth grade with Brian Payne as her head coach. She went to Terre Haute South and played as their varsity libero all four years. Emma was awarded most digs and most aces during several of her seasons at THS. Emma was also awarded the Student Council Athlete Award her senior year. She broke the record for most digs in a season her sophomore year and was awarded First Team All-Conference her senior year. Emma broke 1,000 digs the beginning of her junior year and finished her career at THS with over 1,300 digs. Emma began COA as a 6 rotation outside, and as the years progressed she became a libero/defensive specialist. She was named captain many of the years she played. Emma grew up playing softball for 6 years and played volleyball for 7 years. Emma is currently majoring in Nursing at Indiana State University and plans to enroll at The University of Tennessee after Indiana State to finish her schooling to become a Nurse Anesthetist.

This is my first-year coaching at COA. I am a current student at Saint Mary of the Woods College, majoring in Kinesiology. Once I finish my bachelor’s degree, I will continue my education by pursuing a doctorate in Physical Therapy. I was born and raised in Carolina, Puerto Rico. I began playing volleyball at the age of six and I continue playing the sport in college. I graduated from Colegio Santa Gema in 2019, where I was playing as a six-rotation right side. I helped my high school team won our school tournament and I was chosen as the MVP of the tournament. Before transferring to SMWC, I attended Ohio Valley University, an NCAA division II university in West Virginia. I was playing as a six-rotation outside during my time in OVU. I am now playing as a defense specialist in SMWC. During my first volleyball season in SMWC, I was able to set a new single season aces record. I ended my volleyball season with a total of 53 aces. 

Shirley Marina is a sophomore player at SMWC where she is majoring at biology. This is her first year coaching for COA. Shirley is from Puerto Rico. She started playing volleyball since she was 7 years old. She felt in love with the sport and started her career in volleyball club. In her high school she was the captian of the team. Through all this years she helped her team through championship and given the MVP/ all star player of tournaments. Shirley Marina has played outside hitter and DS. Shirley is excited to start coaching at COA.

Denise joined the COA coaching staff in 2018 at the 14’s level.  A native of Muncie, Indiana and a graduate of Muncie Burris High School and Ball State University, Denise Meyer has been around the sport of volleyball consistently since she started playing it in the sixth grade. She was able to play the game through high school and for 3 years of college. Transitioning into coaching the game started when she earned her teaching degree. Denise has amassed over 20 years of volleyball coaching experience at a variety of levels.   After moving to Greencastle, Indiana, Denise spent the fall of 1996 as the JV coach and assistant varsity coach at Owen Valley High School before landing a full-time teaching job for Greencastle Community Schools.  She spent a number of years coaching at the middle school level before moving up to Greencastle High School in 2014, first as the JV coach & assistant varsity coach. In 2022 she took over the varsity coaching and program responsibilities at Greencastle.  While coaching there, the program has won 2 sectional titles in 2017 and 2018 and several county championship titles. Beyond coaching volleyball, Denise teaches English at Greencastle Middle School where she’s been since 2004. She is also the proud mom to three daughters Maggie, Abby, and Lilly and wife to Tony.

Shelby has been playing volleyball since the fourth grade. She competed at COA as well as Terre Haute South where she was a four year varsity letter winner. Her Senior year, she was named captain and libero. At South, Shelby won two Sectional titles and was an All MIC Conference member her Senior year. Shelby then went on to play Division 1 volleyball at Arkansas State University. Starting all four years as a defensive specialist, Shelby played against BYU, Western Kentucky, Mizzou, IU, Kansas, Tulsa, and several other top 20 teams. Shelby graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in May of 2014. She has been a practice player, assistant and head coach for COA for nine years, along with one year as head coach for the 10's team at Arkansas Jrs.  Shelby is also the Varsity coach at Terre Haute North High School.

Jen is currently in her 12th season at COA, working with multiple age groups.  Originally from Covington, IN she is also in her 11th season as the head coach at Covington High school. Jen and her husband Doug have one daughter, Alex, that currently plays at COA. Jen graduated from Indiana State University with a degree in Accounting, while also playing on the Sycamore Volleyball team. She is employed by Walgreens where she does accounting work at their corporate office.

My name is Paige Benskin (Buchhaas). I played COA from the 3rd grade until my senior year of high school. I also played school ball from 6th grade until senior year. I played Varsity volleyball at North Vermillion all 4 years of high school. When I was not playing school ball or COA I was at volleyball camps anywhere and everywhere. I was also a member of the Under Armour Volleyball Team! & Elite Volleyball team. I played in the front row but my base position was middle blocker. I love teaching front row players how to be a beast at the net! I currently coach at South Vermillion Middle School! I cannot wait to coach volleyball year round and be back with the COA family! 

This is Rachael’s third year coaching for COA. She’s a Terre Haute native and has been playing volleyball since she was in 5th grade. Rachael has played for COA for five years and was a four-year volleyball athlete at Terre Haute North Vigo High School (2 year varsity athlete). She is currently the record holder for amount of points scored in a game in 2014. Rachael graduated from Indiana State University with her Bachelors in Sports Management and her Masters in Physical Education Coaching. Rachael has coached 14-3’s for two years and is looking forward to coach 14-4’s this season.

Lillian is originally from Morgan City, Louisiana, but moved to Cypress, Texas in fifth grade. She played at Texas Tornados Volleyball Club for 11s-17s and then at Katy United for her 18s year. After graduating high school, she moved to Terre Haute to play college volleyball at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. Currently, she is a freshman setter who has earned tournament MVP at the Showdown in the Woods and was awarded River States Conference Third Team All-Conference. Lillian is head coaching 14 Raptors for her first club season at COA, while studying Biology at SMWC.

Payton is from Smithville, MO. She has played at multiple clubs growing up, however she played at Eclipse KC VBC on the 18-1 team her 18's year. She has been playing volleyball since 5th grade. This is her first year coaching COA and she is very excited! After graduating high school at Smithville High, she moved to Terre Haute, IN to play collegiate volleyball for Saint Mary of the Woods College. Currently, she is a freshman playing as a setter/ds, while studying kinesiology on an exercise science path.

Dillon is a fourth year coach with COA. He is the current Varsity Coach for Sullivan High School, where he teaches high school business, as well as being a Graduate Student with Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Men's and Women's Volleyball teams.  Dillon is from Bedford, IN, where he began playing volleyball. Once he started at Indiana State University, where he studied Mathematics and Mathematics Education, Dillon helped start the Men's Club Volleyball program. He helped develop the program into a contender in the Midwest Plains Volleyball Conference, a top 20 finish at the NCVF D2 Nationals, and a top 15 National Ranking in his senior year. Dillon played everywhere on the court throughout his four years, but he settled in at Libero as a Junior and Senior. This will be Dillon's 2nd year working with the 13s age group after his previous 13 Kangaroos team finished top 20 at Nationals! He is looking forward to the 2023-2024 COA season!

Madison Hill is a junior at SMWC studying psychology. This is her first year coaching with COA volleyball club. She went to Boonville High School and was All-Conference team junior and senior year, team captain senior year and awarded the sportsmanship award. She led the team in aces, assists and second in kills. 14s through 18s she played at Metro Volleyball Club in Evansville, IN. She continued to play at Wabash Valley College getting All-GRAC Conference and All-Region her sophomore year, being co-captain her freshman year and head captain sophomore year to lead Wabash Valley College with 311 kills and 76 blocks. She finished third on team with 259 digs and had a season-high 17 kills against Edison State. She graduated with an associate degree in Biology. She transferred to SMWC and was named co-captain and RSC Champions of Character award. She has trained every position except libero, floating around all positions, mainly setting and hitting from late high school to present. She is beyond excited for her first year!

This is my second-year coaching at COA. I am originally from Phoenix, Arizona and currently a Sophomore studying nursing at the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. I played club volleyball 14s-18s for AZONE Volleyball Club. I also played volleyball at Millennium High School and was on the varsity team for 2 years. I ended my junior season as the 2019 Arizona 5A State Runner-Up and ended my senior year as the 2020 Arizona 5A State Champion and was selected to All-Region 1st Team for the Desert West Region. In my first year at SMWC, I led the team in digs and aces with 375 digs and 48 aces, where I also collected 38 assists. I also helped my team win the 2021 USCAA National Championship and received All-Tournament Team. During my second year at SMWC, I earned River States Conference Defensive Player of the Week 3 times and was awarded with the RSC 1st Team All-Conference. I collected 568 digs, 655 receptions, 32 aces, 101 assists, and led the River States Conference with an average of 5.36 digs per set.

Alexis Keoho is from Hau’ula, Hawaii. Alexis has played volleyball since she was roughly 10 years old and has grown an endless love for the game. She played club, intermediate, and high school ball up until junior year when COVID hit. Alexis then signed with Western Nebraska Community College where she played both years as a setter/DS, winning the Regional Championship with her team and 6th at the NJCAA National Tournament her sophomore year. Alexis graduated with her Associate Degree in Biology from WNCC. She is currently playing volleyball at St Mary of the Woods College, pursuing her Master’s in Biology in hopes of getting into Dental School to become a Pediatric Dentist. 

BIO Coming Soon!

Dynaida Orta was born and raised in the island of Puerto Rico. She started playing volleyball at 7 years old in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Study in Saint Francis high school. Where she got a scholarship and play for the volleyball team. Was captain of the high school team for 4 years in a row. Got an MVP at her senior year with 44 assists in the final game. Now she’s studying in Saint Mary’s of the Woods College for her second year. Dynaida is a sophomore her major is Business Administration and she is currently playing for the volleyball team of the college. 

Maddy has been coaching at Crossroads of America Volleyball for 6 years. This will be her 7th season coaching and second year head coaching in the 12s division after coaching the 10s and 11s over the previous few years. A native of Terre Haute, she found her love of volleyball when she began playing for COA in the fifth grade. She continued playing for the club throughout middle school and high school before graduating from Terre Haute North. From there, she decided to continue her education and volleyball career at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College where she was the first scholarship volleyball player. She helped lead the first ever scholarship team to three USCAA National Championship Runner-Up Medals. While a Pomeroy, she was recognized with several awards including USCAA All-American Honorable Mention, USCAA National All-Academic Awards, USCAA National All-Tournament Team, and Pomeroy Student-Athlete of the Year. She graduated from SMWC with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Currently, she works as a Kindergarten Teacher at DeVaney Elementary in Terre Haute.

This will be McKenzi’s 7th year coaching, and her 5th at COA. She is from Brazil, Indiana and started playing volleyball in fourth grade at COA. She lettered all four years at Northview High School and went on to continue her volleyball career at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. At SMWC, she was a part of the first inaugural scholarship volleyball program. McKenzi was an outside hitter and helped lead her team to four USCAA National Championship Runner-Up Medals. While at SMWC, she received several awards including USCAA Student Athlete of the Year, USCAA All-Academic Awards, USCAA 1st Team All-American, USCAA 2nd Team All-American, USCAA All-Tournament Team, and AVCA USCAA All-American. She graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and is the Director of Grants and Strategic Planning at RJL Solutions. 

Melinda began playing club volleyball for Twin City volleyball club in central Illinois while in Junior High. Melinda played four years of varsity volleyball and softball at Casey-Westfield High School where she earned multiple All-State and All-Conference recognition and numerous all-tournament teams in both sports and a High School State Championship title.   She went on to play her collegiate career at University of Evansville and played for the US Women’s National team.  Currently Melinda is the JV volleyball coach at Sullivan High School and assistant Varsity coach, in addition to coaching volleyball at the Boys and Girls Club in Terre Haute. Professionally she is the President of a national trade association and works primarily in Governmental Affairs.  Melinda and her husband Garry live in Marshall, IL and have twin daughters, Evelynne and Madelynn, who both play for COA and a son Thomas. 

This will be Katelyn's 1st season coaching for COA and 2nd season coaching club volleyball. Katelyn grew up in Bloomington, Indiana where she started playing volleyball at 9 years old. She continued playing throughout middle school and high school before graduating from Bloomington High School South. She continued her education and volleyball career at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, where she earned USCAA National All-Academic Awards and River States All-Academic Awards. She graduated from SMWC in 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Currently, she works as a first grade teacher at Ben Franklin Elementary School and is the Varsity Volleyball Coach at Otter Creek Middle School. 

This will be my first season coaching at COA and my first season as a head coach. I started playing volleyball when I was 11 years old and played on national level club teams until I graduated high school. When I’m home in Wisconsin I help coach both high school and club teams. I have played every position besides libero and had the highest serving record on my team in high school and was captain 3 years. I was recruited and played volleyball at Rose-Hulman IT for about a year and half before deciding engineering wasn’t for me. Since I’m transferring fields I decided to obtain my general associate degree through Ivy Tech before starting ISU next fall towards a BS in communications.

Heather has been a student of the game since her early days at Woodrow Wilson. She was a three year starter at Terre Haute North High School, played club volleyball for seven years and finished her career setting for Marian University. While living in Indianapolis, she coached for three years in the Metro South Volleyball Club in both the 16 and 18 age divisions. Since joining COA over 10 years ago, Heather has coached teams in the 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 age divisions. A frequent instructor at camps and clinics, she is also the director of the Volleytots program. In her spare time, Heather has added volleyball referee to her resume giving her an opportunity to see many of our COA athletes compete for their schools. She is looking forward to a fantastic season and is excited about returning to her passion of skill development for our younger athletes.

Judy is one of the more experienced volleyball coaches in the state of Indiana. She has coached 43 high school seasons. This includes a remarkable record of 497 wins with 132 losses.  Over the years, her teams have won 8 sectionals and 4 regionals.   She has coached 1 Indiana HS All Star and trained 3 girls that went on to play in D-1 collegiate volleyball, along with multiple other young ladies that played D-2, D-3, and NAIA.  She has also coached over 10 years of junior high school volleyball. Judy has also spent over 20 seasons coaching club volleyball with different clubs and age levels in Indiana and Florida.  

Judy was an accomplished player before becoming a coach.  She ended up playing collegiate volleyball at Indiana State University from 1969-1971. When not in the gym, Judy loves to spend time with her 2 children and 3 grandchildren. She has coached with COA VBC in the past and is excited to be back working with the younger girls. 

Hannah was raised in Terre Haute. She began her volleyball career in 4th grade playing for COA and continued to play all the way through college for club teams. Hannah graduated from Hanover College with a degree in education. She is currently teaching in Vigo County. This will be her third year as a head coach. She is currently the JV and Varsity coach for St. Patrick's middle school where they have won the St. Charles tournament and placed second in the COA middle school tournament under her 2 years there. Hannah is excited to continue coaching in youth development. 

Emily was born and raised  in Terre Haute, IN. She began her lifelong passion for volleyball at age 11; playing volleyball in middle & high school,  travel volleyball teams, college club teams, and recreational leagues. Emily has called COA her home since 2006. In addition, she has coached at several local schools including Honey Creek Middle School, St. Patrick School, North Central Jr. High, and North Central Sr. High. Emily received her bachelor's degree from Indiana State University in 2006 and earned her teaching certification from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in 2019. She currently teaches at Davis Park Elementary School. She resides in Terre Haute with her husband Matt.

BIO Coming Soon!

BIO Coming Soon!

My name is Sofia A. Soto Cruz I was born and raised in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. I began playing volleyball in CVE Volleyball at the age of 10 and at the age of 12 changed to Criollas de Caguas, finally at the age of 16 to 18 I finished my club season with CVH Volleyball Club. During this time I attended 6 National Championships, 6 USA Qualifiers, and a lot of local tournaments and also played volleyball for Radians School in Cayey, Puerto Rico. After graduating high school I committed to Saint Mary of the Woods College. I am a first year student studying Business Administration. This is my first year coaching at COA and I am so excited to begin and grow as a coach. 

Jenna was born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. She began playing COA Volleyball at the age of 8 and continued to for 9 years. During that time she attend two national tournaments and also played volleyball for Honey Creek Middle School and Terre Haute South. After graduating, she went on to obtain an associate degree in health sciences at Ivy Tech Community College. She currently works as a Registered Behavioral Technician through Applied Behavior Center for Autism. Jenna is also planning on returning to school to earn a bachelor’s in Behavioral Sciences. This will be Jenna’s first year coaching COA and she is eager to grow with her team.

This will be Mary’s 6th year coaching for COA, and her second year coaching the 18 Pink Panthers team. Mary Alvanos is originally from Charleston, South Carolina, and began playing volleyball at age 11. Mary played for three different volleyball club organizations – Mount Pleasant Volleyball Club (MVP), Carolina Islanders, and Charleston Juniors. Mary played basketball, softball, volleyball, and club volleyball in high school, and was All-State in all three of her school sports. Mary went on to play her collegiate career at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College as part of the inaugural scholarship volleyball program there. Mary was a setter and lead her team to 4 national championships. She was part of the USCAA All-Tournament team in 2016, and holds the record for single-season assists and career assists. Mary was recognized as player of the week in 2017. Mary Alvanos received her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Indiana State University and graduated in 2021. Mary currently works as a behavioral health therapist at Valley Professionals Community Health Center in Clinton, IN. Mary lives with her dog, Cash, and her fiancé, Matt, in Terre Haute.

My name is Asia Povlin. I started playing volleyball when I was 8 years old, and joined my first travel team when I was 9. I played for COA for 9 years. I was an all around outside hitter growing up in school and in club, and was named captain for many of those years. I attended Sullivan High School where I played varsity volleyball, softball, and basketball all 4 years. I also played travel softball for 12 years. I made the all district team and second team all state my senior year. I made the IHSVCA 3A south team my senior year of high school. I broke the record for most kills in a tournament and most kills in a season at Sullivan High School. I finished with 1000+ digs and 1500+ kills in my high school career. I am currently playing college volleyball at Indiana State University as a Defensive Specialist. I am majoring in Nursing, and plan on double minoring in nutrition and public health. This will be my second year of coaching.

My name is Charisse 'Reese' England. I started playing volleyball in the 4th grade and joined Team Indiana Volleyball Club at age 10. While at Team Indiana, I assisted my teams to a couple of championship wins and top finishers at AAu Nationals in Orlando, FL. I played on the varsity team at Charles A. Tindley Accelerated high school for 2 years. During my senior year I assisted my team, as an outside hitter, in winning their first Sectional Championship, finishing second in Regionals. Post high school I signed to play for the middle position for 4 years at a small D2 college in West Virginia, Davis & Elkins College. I was nominated for freshman of the year, awarded as all-conference for 2 years, and named Blocker of the Conference my senior year. I graduated in 2019 with an Environmental Science degree, to continue my career as a secondary education science teacher. I joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach specializing in the middle/right side positions for North Central High School in Indianapolis. I started coaching at The Academy Volleyball Club 18-2s assistant coach, and Greenwood Community High School, where I stepped in as the interim Head Coach 2021. In 2022, I moved to Terre Haute with my husband, Austin England, to teach at Terre Haute South, Earth Space Sciences. I then joined the coaching staff alongside Brian Payne and Sera Little, as JV coach. I sadly, chose to step away for the 2024 season to stay home to care for our first child coming in May of 2024. However, I am super excited to join the COA team to provide as much instruction and knowledge for our middle trainees.

Travis has a background in sports that goes back to the 1980's. He spent most of his time on the ball field, growing into a successful high school baseball player, and then went on to play at ISU.  He started the Mad Dog Baseball Travel Club a few years back, working as the co-director and coach.  His involvement with COA has developed from being a COA parent first, and has led to a passion for the sport. He is now the recruiting coordinator, familiar with NCAA rules, the recruiting process, and assists the COA athletes with the use of the Sports Recruit website;  COA uses this website to promote our athletes to colleges across the Midwest and beyond.

For info on becoming a coach with COA, please click HERE! 

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