Brazos Valley Juniors: Coaching Staff

2010 Brazos Valley Juniors Coaching Staff

Please review the brief summaries of our coaches for the coming season. You will find that they are well qualified to help you improve your game! Coaches are listed alphabetically.

*Jessie Ayers-We are really pleased to have Jessie join our staff as she has been a part of very successful high school and club programs in addition to playing college volleyball at University of Tulsa for two years. A four year Varsity high school player at Plano East High School, Jessie played for very respected Victory Volleyball Club under 2008 State champion coach, Ryan Mitchell. Jessie has coached at Victory and Lucas Lovejoy high school camps in addition to teaching private lessons and she will be a great asset to our staff.

*Kylie Burns- Kylie joins our staff as an enthusiastic student of the game. She played club volleyball for East Texas Juniors for seven years and was a second team All State Setter at Gilmer High school where her team made the regional finals three straight years. She is currently a kinesiology major at Texas A&M (the only college she applied to!) and is currently enrolled in a volleyball coaching methods class. Kylie has worked many summer camps teaching and coaching fundamentals to elementary and junior high players. Her enjoyment of volleyball will be a positive influence to our young players.

*Kristen Carter-We are thrilled to have Kristen Carter return to our staff for a second season. Kristen brings an amazing balance of knowledge and experience to our staff as she has played volleyball for Alamo Volleyball club on their National teams qualifying for Junior Olympics 7 different times. Her competitiveness and her enthusiasm will motivate our young players to go all out! Kristen played Libero at Smithson Valley High School and received many All-Tournament and post season awards. She has worked at the Alamo Volleyball Camps, Reagan High School and Smithson Valley High School Camps and was a head coach in a Smithson Valley boys league. We have to mention too that she is the daughter of highly respected and very successful Mike Carter, club director at Alamo Volleyball Club and head coach at San Antonio Reagan High School.

* Laura Jo Clanton- We are really glad to have Laura Jo return to us for a third season as she has guided her players to great team success and individual improvement the past two season. She has coached our14 Red team the last two years to a bronze medal finish at the Lone Star Classic in the Select Division. She is a former Brazos Valley Juniors player and graduate of Bryan High School. Laura Jo’s love for the game and for working with young people is immediately evident as soon as you see her in action. She is currently in her second year as the Head coach at St. Joseph’s Middle School has coached for the College Station Parks and Rec. league, and coached for the Aggieland Summer League for several seasons in addition to working for several summers at the Bryan High Summer volleyball camp.

*Danielle Coady-Danielle returns to the Brazos Valley after pursuing her doctorate in physical therapy from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She played volleyball at Stephen F. Austin State University for 2 years as a defensive specialist before a back injury ended her playing career. She continued her involvement in athletics as a student athletic trainer. She is a former Brazos Valley Juniors player and graduate of Bryan High School. She coached for Aggieland Juniors between undergraduate and graduate school and assisted with Lubbock Juniors volleyball club while attending Physical Therapy school. Her team had a successful season finishing second in the region.  She has coached Texas A&M and Texas Tech volleyball camps and really enjoys sharing her love of the game.  

*Eileen Crumley- We are very pleased to have Eileen Crumley return to our staff this season. She helped guide our 14 Red team to a bronze medal at the Lone Star Classic last season in the Select Division. She joined us after a winning career at Hays High School, where her team made it to the state quarterfinals in her junior and senior year. She played club volleyball at AIM and Austin Juniors and earned a trip to Junior Olympics her senior year. She is currently a student at Texas A&M and has enjoyed coaching at numerous high school camps in her summers and has been taught the game by one of the state’s highly regarded coaches, Michael Kane, club director at Austin Performance volleyball.

*Hillary Dunegan- Hillary comes to us after a very successful prep career and also has head coaching experience to benefit our club. Hillary is currently a student at Texas A&M after transferring from Paris Junior College where she played volleyball on athletic scholarship. She was a four year Varsity starter and the first libero at Decatur High School. She played club for Denton Juniors, Tejas, and 900. In addition to coaching a 15 and under team at Southlake Volleyball Association last season, she has run high school camps the past four years and assisted at Paris Junior college camp. She has also given many private lessons. Knowing that she wanted to share her love for the game, she also coached a fifth and sixth grade team for two years while still in high school. Hillary will be a great addition to our club.

*Beth Elder-We are very happy that Beth is able to return to our coaching staff for a second season as she has been accepted to Texas A&M Graduate school after completing her undergraduate degree at A&M. Beth is a former Brazos Valley Juniors player and a State Final Four player as she graduated from Leon High School, a school that has more state tournament appearances than any school in the state. Beth played for Brazos Valley Juniors during her high school career and knows what it takes to improve. She will be an effective coach for us after working at high school camps and coaching in high school summer leagues. Beth accepted an offer to play for Southwestern University, but an out of season injury prevented her from playing collegiate volleyball so she has channeled her love for the game into teaching it to our young players.

* Stephen Gbur- We are very fortunate to have Stephen return to us for a fourth season after very successful campaigns coaching our 14’s and 15’s, and 16’s. His most recent campaign as our 16 Mizuno coach resulted in a bid to compete in the Junior Olympics. He has such a passion for the game and does a wonderful job of challenging athletes to improve their skills. Stephen brings a great amount of volleyball and coaching experience to our staff. While attending Lutheran North High School in Houston, he played boy’s club volleyball for Houston Volleyball Academy where he was a setter and developed a great knowledge and understanding of the game. In 2006, he started the Memorial Juniors club in Houston and had a successful season coaching his 17’s team. In the fall of 2006, he was the assistant coach at Lutheran South Academy. And he spent three seasons coaching for Lutheran High North and reached the state final four twice.

*Sarah Grace-A highly recruited All State player from Stratford High School, Sarah led her team to the Final Four of the Texas High School state tournament and won many awards and honors through her Prep career. Also, a very successful club player for Texas Elite and Team Texas, Sarah has been coached by some of the best: Debbie Jaehne, Frankie Velez and Becky Palermo. She played for several years in the USA Olympic Development pipeline and played for the Lone Star Region High Performance Team. She played volleyball her freshman year at Baylor University and was named the Big 12 Freshman of the year, while playing the libero position. Her transfer to Texas A&M is our gain as she joins our coaching staff and is eager to share her knowledge and love for the game with our area players. She has coached summer league teams for four years, in addition to assisting Texas Elite 18’s and working Texas Elite skills camps and training sessions.

• Dennis Hargett- Dennis and his 17 Mizuno team enjoyed a very successful 2009 club season as they won the Northeast Qualifier in Baltimore, Maryland, qualifying his team for the Junior Olympics. It was our club’s second Gold medal finish at a National Qualifier and he was on the coaching staff in both championships. Dennis enters his fifteenth year with Brazos Valley Juniors as he was on the original coaching staff. After learning the game as a student at A&M as support staff member for the Texas A&M Volleyball team, Dennis got involved with coaching junior level players. Although Dennis is known for his expertise in working with our older teams, he added a National Qualifier Championship to his resume’ coaching the 141’s to two berths to Junior Olympics with a first place finish at the Lone Star qualifier and a second place finish at the Northeast Qualifier in 2004. In 2007, Dennis’ 151 team had a very successful season and earned a berth to the Junior Olympics. Dennis is CAP certified and has a tremendous love of the game. His strength is in his technical expertise. Dennis enters his ninth year as assistant director for Brazos Valley.

*Patrick Keltner-Patrick joins our staff after graduating from University of Texas, where he played for the Texas Men’s club team for four years, where he developed a passion for the game. He also had the unique experience of serving as a practice player at the Texas women’s teams practices, giving him the insight and education to one of the top volleyball programs in the country. In addition, he has coached at the Univ. of Texas volleyball camps for three summers. He is currently the volunteer assistant coach for the Sam Houston State volleyball team. Patrick will bring a new perspective to our coaching staff and one that we are glad to have!

Caitlin LaMarca-We don’t often get to have coaches rejoin our staff after they graduate from college, however, Caitlin is doing just that! Caitlin coached our 15 Red team during her first season with BVJ (2007). That summer she worked all sessions of the Texas A&M Volleyball camp and gained additional valuable coaching experience before assisting Dennis Hargett on our 16 Mizuno team for the 2008 season. She brings a good combination of enthusiasm and discipline to our staff by way of Pflugerville Connelly High School and played club volleyball for Jollyville and PVCA while starring as an outside hitter. She gained valuable coaching experience coaching a 12’s team for PVCA during her senior year and we look forward to her volleyball intensity contributing positively to our staff. Caitlin aspires to be a high school teacher and coach.

*Kathryn Laza- A fixture at Brazos Valley Juniors for six seasons as a player, we are thrilled to have Kathryn return to us for her second season as a coach. Her enthusiasm for the game is contagious and her players really respond to her positive manner of teaching. Her defensive skills playing for us and for A&M Consolidated as a three year letterman could have easily landed her a spot on many college volleyball rosters, but Kathryn followed her heart as she knew from her early years there was no other college option than Texas A&M. Playing for BVJ, she led her team to two Junior Olympic berths, finished first place at the Lone Star Classic National Qualifier and won a Silver Medal at the NIT in Phoenix, Arizona. Kathryn has worked several summers at the A&M Consolidated Summer camps and has coached local summer league teams.

*Joseph Lind-Currently the assistant coach at Sam Houston State University, Joe joins our staff with the goal to prepare our club’s oldest players for their college volleyball careers. A graduate of North Dakota State University, where he was captain of his men’s club teams there, Joe is currently an avid beach volleyball player. After learning the coaching ropes as a volunteer assistant at North Dakota State, Joe joined the Sam Houston staff in 2007. He has also worked the Univ. of Florida, Univ. of Texas, and North Dakota State summer camps. The past two seasons of club volleyball, he was the coach at Texas Crush in Montgomery. We are very fortunate to have Joe join our BVJ staff as he desires to bring the best out of his players both on and off the court.

*Kacee Mynar-One of those people with volleyball running through her veins! We are glad to have Kacee return to our staff for a second season. She was the head coach of our 13 Red team in 2009 and all of her players made great skill improvements during the season. She is a Caldwell High graduate where she has the memorable experience of playing in the State Final Four. She played club volleyball for BVJ and for Caldwell Juniors and was a three year letterman for the Hornets. Kacee coached Little Diggers in Caldwell for 5 seasons and has worked at the Caldwell Summer camps for three years in an effort to teach the skills of our game to aspiring players. She also has coached summer league teams in an effort to gain additional experience. Kacee is a student at Sam Houston State University. A kinesiology major, her dreams are to be a high school volleyball coach.

*Emily Parker-Optimism, organization and management skills combined with a strong love for the game is what we add by Emily returning to our staff for a second season. She willingly stepped in and helped assist our 17 Mizuno team at the Junior Olympics this past season and head coached a team in the Aggieland Summer League. She played for Brazos Valley Juniors for seven years and has experienced many different coaching styles. She plans to bring the best from those to her team this season. She is also a former A&M Consolidated player and has coached in our area summer leagues to give her experience on the coaching side. Emily graduated in May 2009 with a degree from Texas A&M and is currently working as a Patient Educator for the Scott and White Health Clinic.

• Jacky Pence- Jacky enters her fourteenth year of working with Brazos Valley Juniors and her ninth year as Director of the Club. Jacky played for the North Carolina Tar Heels winning 3 ACC Championships with a career high finish of 11th nationally. She also played for Athletes in Action representing the USA against National teams in South America. While a college player, she coached club volleyball in addition to teaching adult volleyball. She is currently the Head Volleyball Coach at Rudder High School in Bryan after coaching volleyball and basketball at Stephen F. Austin Middle School for four years. In the school’s first year of Varsity competition, they were awarded the prestigious AVCA Team Academic Award. In addition to coaching high school and college camps and coaching city league teams for many years, Jacky runs the very successful Rudder High School summer clinics and Summer Smash Tournament. In 2003, her 13 team won the Club's first medal at a USA National tournament as they won the silver medal at the NIT in Phoenix. In 2004, she coached Brazos Valley 141 team to a Gold Medal at the Lone Star National Qualifier and a Silver Medal at the Northeast Qualifier, earning two berths to the USA Junior Olympics. Jacky has also been a member of the Lone Star High Performance Coaching Staff for four seasons earning a silver and bronze medal at the USA National High Performance Championships.

• Cara Quayle-Cara grew up in Houston, but moved to Colorado her freshman year of high school. She then returned to her home state to play volleyball for Texas A&M. She played for two years for the Aggies, before an injury forced her to leave the team. She is looking forward to sharing her love for the game with our young athletes as she teaches them skills and techniques that made her a successful player. Cara played for the nationally respected Front Range Volleyball club and received outstanding training there. In addition, she has gained valuable coaching experience working the Texas A&M volleyball camps the past two summers.

* Emily Rector-An energetic and enthusiastic coach and a student at Texas A&M, we are glad to have Emily join our staff. She played volleyball for seven years, including club volleyball in Southern California, before moving to South Carolina. She considered attending William and Mary, but we are happy she chose to be an Aggie!. She is a natural leader and hard worker and hopes to share those talents with her players. She has taught volleyball at Camp Champions, where she enjoyed teaching skills and fundamentals of the game to young athletes.

* Bill Reynolds -Fresh off a trip to the Junior Olympics after coaching his 12 Mizuno team to a bid to the National Championships, Bill returns to our staff for the fifth year. He will continue to work with our most inexperienced players as he has a great desire to teach the game correctly so that the girls will learn the fundamentals well and gain confidence in themselves and in playing volleyball. He grew up playing sand volleyball and is a graduate of Bryan High School and Sam Houston State. He returned to his hometown in 2001 where he has been teaching and coaching. He is currently the Head Junior Varsity and Varsity Assistant Volleyball Coach at Rudder High School. Bill also gained experience and perspective coaching in the Aggieland Summer League, the Rudder High School Camps, A&M Consolidated Summer camps and Texas A&M Volleyball camps. This will be Bill’s sixth season coaching 12’s as he also coached for Aggieland Juniors.

*Kayla Reynolds-We are very pleased to have Kayla join our coaching staff as she has a contagious passion for the game. After a very successful high school career at Klein High School in Houston, she completed her club volleyball career with the Texas Tornados where she won a Gold Medal at the 2009 Junior Olympics. Kayla had great juniors training playing for Jeff Ham who taught her how intense, but fun the game could be while learning great skills at the same time. She recently had experience coaching a team at St. Anne Catholic school and assisted in running their summer camp and has a great desire to share her knowledge and lover the game with our athletes.

*Alexa Schield-A true volleyball junkie who seeks out ways to be in the gym. She is really excited about coaching with Brazos Valley Juniors and is also on the Texas A&M Club volleyball team. A graduate of Arlington Martin High School, where she was a member of their 2006 State Championship team, she also played her club years at Texas Advantage Volleyball (TAV), considered the best club in the state of Texas because of their storied success on the court. During her 18’s club season, Alexa played and earned a bid to JO’s at the same time she was coaching a 12’s team for TAV. She is very ambitious and we look forward to her contributions to our staff.

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*Tori Schwarzlose-Tori is one of those people whose eyes sparkle when she works with young athletes. She rejoins our staff after serving as an assistant coach for our 12 Mizuno team in 2009 that earned a bid to the Junior Olympics. She has so much experience in this great game and we look forward to her continuing to sharing that with our BVJ athletes. A fierce competitor and excellent setter for Alamo, Maverick and Extec Volleyball Clubs out of San Antonio, she earned a trip to the Junior Olympics in several seasons. She was also a four year Varsity Letterman at Smithson Valley and had a very successful high school career. Her strong, competitive background combined with her terrific, motivating personality make her a wonderful role model and a valuable member of our coaching staff. Tori is a third generation Aggie!

* Wally Simpson- Wally has been a tremendous asset to our staff after spending several years on the administrative side of club volleyball. Wally founded Brazos Valley Junior Volleyball Association in 1996 and coached and directed it for several years. As the 18’s coach, his team was the first from our club to qualify for the prestigious Tour of Texas, where they finished in the top tier. He then helped start the Caldwell Junior Volleyball Association before returning to Bryan and starting Aggieland Juniors in an effort to bring a developmental club opportunity to local players. Wally is the Brazos Valley Area Representative to the Lone Star Region, which is our governing body. Wally returns to our staff for his fifth season (over twenty years of coaching club) and brings a very technical background along with expertise in the higher levels of the game, such as offensive systems, statistical evaluation and team strategy. Wally also has a solid network with college coaches and works hard to connect our athletes that have a desire to play in college with coaches that have a need for our athletes.

* Terra Timmerman is excited to begin her first year with BVJ. She is in her 5th year coaching volleyball and basketball at Stephen F. Austin Middle School. Prior to SFA, Terra coached 3 years of Varsity and Junior High Volleyball and basketball at Mumford ISD. She was a four-year, 3 sport letterman at Blooming Grove High School and went on to play volleyball at Navarro College in Corsicana as an outside hitter. She loves watching her players grow both on and off the court and is a familiar face at both Bryan High and Rudder camps each summer in addition to having coached for the Aggieland Summer League. Terra is energetic and dynamic as a coach and her players will benefit from her positive coaching style and feedback.

*Danielle Wall-We welcome Danielle to our coaching staff. She is a graduate of CyFair High School in Houston and played her club volleyball as an outside hitter at Willowbrook and then Texas Tornados. Danielle possesses strong leadership skills, loves the game and looks forward to sharing her experience and knowledge of the game to young players. Currently a student at Blinn, she looks forward to transferring to Texas A&M majoring in psychology. Danielle displays a high level of confidence that will be a positive influence on her team.

*Corey Walter-The enthusiasm level goes up a notch whenever Corey enters the gym. He has a passion for volleyball and teaching young athletes to play that is hard not to notice. A student at Texas A&M, he has fallen in love with the game as he followed his high school to the Texas 5A State championship at Arlington Martin High School. He has taken volleyball instructional and coaching classes at Texas A&M in a dedicated desire to be able to teach the skills of the game to our BVJ players. We are very fortunate to have Corey return for his second season on our staff.