AVC Coaches

Meredith Rice

Club Director & Recruiting Coordinator

Meredith is AVC’s Club Director and Recruiting Coordinator.  A native from California, Meredith had 12 years of coaching experience, both as an Assistant and as a Head Coach before joining AVC in 2013. She is currently the Head Coach for 17 Red and Assistant Coach for 18 Red. Meredith and Jeff Reaser both came to AVC the same yest and together they helped lead the 17 White team to qualify Open. To this day AVC is the only club in the Ohio Valley Region to qualify 2 Open teams in the same age group. She has coached in many USAV and JVA Tournament Championships in the Open level and two seasons at the collegiate level. In her time at AVC, she has advised over 150 athletes during their recruiting process and committment to college. She was elected to the AVCA Assistant Coaches Committee in 2017 as the Club Representative and has presented at the AVCA Convention the last four years.  

Paul Schiffer

Asst Club Director & Co-Founder

Paul is one of the founders of AVC.  He is currently the Head Coach for 18 Red and the Assistant Coach of 17 Red.  He was the Assistant Coach on the 2015 AAU National Championship 17 National team. He has coached several teams to OVR Championships as well as leading his teams to USAV Nationals 15 times. Paul has served as a Coach for teams that have qualified open (12 times). He has coached 148 athletes that have gone on to play in college, including 90+ D1 athletes. He has coached at the CYO, Regional, National and Open level. He also serves as the Business Development and Housing Director for the club.

Jeff Reaser

Director of Player Development & Facilities

Prior to joining AVC, Jeff had 8 seasons of coaching experience with three area clubs, as well as 3 years of experience with St Joseph’s Academy as varsity assistant.  Jeff coached the 2013 17 White team who qualified Open, the team was the only club in the OVR to qualify 2 teams in the Open division for the same age class.  In addition to coaching, Jeff is the Director of Player Development for the National Program and Director of Facilities. 

Casey Riedel

10-14 Director & Camp Director

Kara Schiffer

Logistics & Operations Coordinator

Kara has been coaching with AVC since 2017. She played for Walsh Jesuit HS and was on an AVC team during their inaugural season. She also played D1 volleyball at Loyola University Maryland where she was a libero/DS for 4 years. Kara works professionally as a financial business analyst, and she is currently an assistant coach for 17 Red and 18 Red. 

Mary Duffy

15-18 American/Regional Director

Mary joined the AVC coaching staff in 2020. Prior to AVC, she was a Head Coach at CVC and CYO Volleyball Coach at St. Christopher School for 6 seasons. She is also currently a Board Member and League Director of adult AA/Open leagues at Cleveland Eastside Turners. From 2011 through 2019, Mary was the Supervisor of the adult volleyball program at the City of Rocky River managing 80+ teams and officials 4 nights per week. Mary is IMPACT, Safesport, First Aid, CPR, and Concussion certified. She has also trained with USAV and OHSAA as a volleyball official.

Addy Kuzma

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Anthony Winter

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Antoine Pastor

Coach

Bridget Mental

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Caleb Francis

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Dan Mihacevich

Coach

Dan joined AVC in 2017 to coach with the best talent and best coaching staff in the area.  Dan’s coaching philosophy is to “always be competing!” 
Dan played volleyball at The Ohio State University where he earned 2 team MVP awards, 3 all conference awards and holds the all time kill record and points record for a single match.  Dan is also in the Buckeye record books for service aces and digs.  In 1996 Dan was selected for the Olympic Festival training program where he trained with the National Team coaching staff and the best players in the country.  Dan has won 10 Ohio Valley Region Adult championships and in 2018, Dan finished 2nd in the adult 40+ USA Volleyball National championship. Dan loves the “intense, competitive, forward thinking training environment at AVC.  This is truly a place where players can reach their full potential” Dan has coached youth sports since 2007 including soccer and volleyball.  Dan still plays soccer and volleyball competitively. Dan’s wife Kristen also coaches at AVC, and his 3 daughters all play club/college volleyball.

Danny Stintsman

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Darek Sierko

Coach

Darek joined AVC in 2020.  He has a passion for teaching athletes the fundamentals of the game and developing proper techniques that are essential to grow as a volleyball player.  Growing up, he played high school volleyball in Europe.  Currently, Darek is coaching and helping to run the CYO program at St. Michael School in Independence. At AVC, he has coached teams from 10s-14s, and for the 2023 Season, Darek will coach 15A1 and assist on 12 white.  Last season (2022), his American team took 5th place in the OVR. More recently, he won the City Championship at the elite level with his 8th grade Saint Michael team. He is a certified OHSAA volleyball official, as well as concussion, CPR, Safe Sport, and USA Volleyball IMPACT certified.

Delaney Bentley

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Destinee Harris

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Dwayne Lemmer

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Dylan Sullivan

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Ella Bangert

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Erick Sopata

Coach

Erick was the Head volleyball coach at Strongsville High School for 16 years and has won over 300 varsity matches. He was named conference coach of the year 4 times and District coach of the year twice. In 2013 Erick led the Mustangs to their first ever District Championship and Regional finals. Erick has coached 16 athletes who have gone on to play at the collegiate level, 9 of those athletes played at the DI level.  Erick has coached at a few volleyball clubs over the years including: Southwest, Players Choice and Ignite. Many of his teams have finished the season as Regional Champions. Erick has been with AVC for the last three years coaching the top 11’s teams and finding great success. In addition to coaching indoor at AVC, Erick has also coached the AVC 12U teams on the beach. In 2015 Erick helped qualify 4 teams to the USA Beach National Championships. Erick played volleyball for the Kent State Men’s MIVA Volleyball team. After college he played USA volleyball at the AA/Open levels and has won 2 regional championships.

Erika Snyder

Coach

Erika began coaching for AVC in 2020. She has played volleyball since second grade and has also played JO and Sand. She is also the Head JV Coach at Highland High School in Medina. Throughout her coaching career, she has coached all levels of volleyball (National, American, and Regional). Erika loves helping players develop their volleyball skills as well as helping them develop life skills. Erika has a passion for volleyball and helping to develop young minds and help them achieve their volleyball goals.

Erin Dziak

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Gabrielle Hutchinson

Coach

Bio coming soon!

George Kambic

Coach

George Kambic is one of the original coaches for AVC, having been with the club since its inception.  In addition, he has been involved with volleyball in the Cleveland area for 30 years, most of this time spent with the St. Rita CYO program in Solon, Ohio.  He has also coached at Hathaway Brown and Hawken.  At AVC, he has coached or assisted at the Regional and American levels mostly at 15 and under, focusing on the development of talent.

Jackie Caja

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Jayme Zoeckler

Coach

Jayme began coaching at AVC in 2021 with the 12 A1 and 12 White teams. She played at AVC for four years, ending her club career on 18 Red. She played at Trinity High School where she earned Team MVP, 1st team All-conference, 3rd team All-District, and All-Academic Team. She currently plays at Notre Dame College where she holds the record for most aces in a three set match, second most aces in all matches, and reached 1,000 assists; being the tenth player in program history to reach that milestone. She ranked fourth in the MEC this season with 731 assists/8.40 assists per set. 

Jennifer Guadalupe

Coach

Jennifer joined AVC in 2021 to coach in a competitive and skill focused club.  She has over ten years of coaching experience from various levels: High School (Beaumont and Lutheran West), Middle School (Barberton), CYO (St. Charles) and Rec (Strongsville).   Her volleyball career has spanned over 30 years.  She played collegiately at Notre Dame College and continues to play in adult leagues in the Cleveland area.   She enjoys coaching the technique of volleyball but wants to bring focus to the competitive nature of volleyball as well as building and fostering the lifelong friendships made in the volleyball community.

Jenny Phillips

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Jessica McCabe

Coach

Jessica McCabe began coaching at AVC in the 2019-2020 season. Prior to joining AVC, she coached youth recreational volleyball in the Kenston school district for 5 years. She played volleyball during her high school years, participated in club level volleyball during college, and continued to compete during her younger adult life in co-ed tournaments/leagues. She is excited to be back for another season and hopes to continue to develop her player’s volleyball skills as well as their love of the game. Her interest in youth sports stems not only from her own experiences, but from her background as a physical therapist. In particular, she is interested in promoting wellness and proper technique in the female athlete. She has a supportive husband of 22 years and three children all active in different sports. She works as a physical therapist at the Cleveland VA in stroke rehabilitation research and as an adjunct professor at Cleveland State University School of Physical Therapy.

Kelly Selby

Coach

Kelly joined AVC in 2020.  Kelly will be coaching 12 White this year;  previously she was the 11 and 12 Red coach. Kelly coached various age levels for Kenston Local Schools while serving as a varsity, middle school, and youth coach.  In addition to coaching, Kelly has been a teacher at Kenston for 22 years.  Prior to her coaching career,  Kelly was a setter at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, where she also began her coaching career as an assistant coach. Kelly’s coaching philosophy is  “Building the character of the person is just as important as developing the skills of the player.  I strive to build up my players so they have confidence in their skills.”

Kelsey Polak

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Krisandra Mezera

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Kristen Mihacevich

Coach

Kristen came to AVC in 2020, after coaching club for 8 years in the Cleveland area.  She has had a lifelong love for the game of volleyball, enjoys personally competing and coaching young ladies to become great players.  She specializes in training 10-12 year old teams.  She first began playing volleyball in 7th grade and continues to this day.  She played for Midview High School and Cleveland State University, coached at Beachwood Middle School, where she taught for 7 years, and even met her husband at a sand tournament 20+ years ago!  Her enthusiasm and energy coupled with her application of teaching the foundational volleyball skills to all players are her strengths that will benefit the players and marry well with the great culture of this club.

Lena Lois Detchoua Tchamaco

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Linda Honey-Dixon

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Lindsey Groomes

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Liz George

Coach

Liz has been coaching volleyball for 9 years and has been with AVC since 2018.  She has coached at every level from 12 regional to 17 national. Liz is a graduate of the University of Dayton where she was a member of the Women’s Rowing Team. Liz currently teaches history at Magnificat, where she is also the head JV volleyball coach.

Madison Morley

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Mandy Barney

Coach

Mandy joins AVC with over 10 years of coaching experience acquired on and off over the past 25 years as a club coach, camp director and working 1:1. She played college volleyball at Edinboro University as a middle blocker, team captain, and 4-year letter winner.  Mandy lives in Parma with her husband, kids, Bo and Nicole, and works full time for Clario while helping with the portfolio of family businesses. 

Marci Zoeckler

Coach

MaryEllen Mauser

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Matt Onweller

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Matt Szuter

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Megan Green

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Melissa Young

Coach

Bio coming soon! 

Michael Jackson

Coach

Michael has been with AVC since 2011. He has coached both boys and girls teams with AVC and at Jump Serve Volleyball Club. His teams consistently place in the top 20 in the OVR. Michael was the JV coachBrecksville Broadview Hts. High School for 5 years and was then the Head coach Hathaway Brown.He has a passion for the sport and is driven to teach success in team unity as well as individual improvement. He is IMPACT, Safesport, FirstAid, CPR and Concussion.  certified.

Michael Maurer

Coach

Michael began coaching for AVC in 2018 after spending 4 years coaching at Maverick and Eastside. Michael has also coached at Ledgemont HS as the varsity Head Coach, Kenston High School as the JV coach, Laurel as the JV coach, Independence High School as an assistant where they lost in the State Semifinals. Michael Most recently has been the HC at Hathaway Brown since 2021 and has set records for wins in a season at Hathaway Brown. Michael is a certified HS and College referee as well. Michael has been playing competitive Volleyball for the past 15 years and is very active in private lessons where he enjoys sharing his knowledge of the sport. Michael has qualified 2 teams for Nationals and looks forward to qualifying many more at AVC.

Mike Smith

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Mike Westgate

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Milly Laury

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Mya Suber

Coach

Mya joins AVC for the 2023 season! She graduated from Euclid High School and played volleyball from the age of 10 all the way through high school. Mya started coaching in her 10th grade year in high school for a city little league. When she graduated, she moved on to coach high school volleyball at Euclid and then Cleveland Heights High School. She is currently a volleyball coach at Roxboro Middle School in Cleveland Heights. Mya recently graduated from Cleveland State University this past spring with her bachelors degree in healthcare administration. She is currently working towards her masters!

Naomi Nyetrae

Coach

Naomi is entering her third season coaching. She played JO and played for school all the way through high school as a setter, libero, and DS. Naomi coached 15R1 for AVC last year and coached for Hathaway Brown’s JV team this past school season. She is the head coach for 16A3 this year and is looking forward to another successful season full of growth and opportunity!

Nicole Ferraro

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Nicolette Maurer

Coach

Nicolette began with AVC in 2018 and has spent 8 seasons coaching at Independence High School as the JV Coach and 1 year at Twinsburgh. Nicolette was a 4 year letter winner in at Cuyahoga Heights High School as the teams Libero where she earned many awards in the area and conference.

Olivia Vandemotter

Coach

Pam Paltani

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Paul Molnar

Coach

Paul has been a JO National head coach for many years. He spent the last decade as head coach of CVC National teams. He has also coached at various high schools in the area including Midview, Trinity, and Cuyahoga Heights. He also volunteers to coach the 7th and 8th grade CYO teams at St. Michael Independence.

Ryan Scarton

Coach

Bio coming soon!

Sara Lader

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Sean Hayes

Coach

Bio Coming Soon!

Tom Keller

Coach

Tom has been with AVC since 2014. He has coached American teams from 12’s to 17’s and his teams consistently have placed in the top 25 in the OVR, including a top 10 with a 16’s team. Tom is also the assistant head coach at Hathaway Brown. He has a passion for the sport and is driven to teach success in team unity as well as the mental aspect of the game for individual improvement. He is SafeSport, First-Aid, CPR and Concussion certified.

Vicki Drakatos

Coach

Bio coming soon!