coaches

12 Baden - Colleen Lenahan

Colleen has been playing volleyball since 2000. Growing up in Northern California, she played varsity volleyball for 3 years at Oak Ridge High School and club volleyball at Gold Cal Juniors, going to nationals 3 times. After college, she reunited with the sport in 2010 when she began coaching at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove, California, and at Gold Cal Juniors. She moved to Seattle in 2011 to pursue a Master's degree at the University of Washington, where she played intercollegiate club volleyball for two years and then coached for a year after graduation. She coached the Hazen High School C-Team in 2015 and then JV in 2016 and 2017. For the 2017-2018 club season she was the assistant for RidgeValley's 14 Black where she met her coaching partner, Alyssa Schultz. Outside of coaching, she works as the Marketing and Communications Manager at Encompass, tutors high school students, snuggles her two cats, and plays as much volleyball as she can. She is excited to be joining the ITVC family!

12 Baden - Alyssa Schultz

Alyssa has been playing volleyball since the 5th grade (circa 2003). She played club volleyball in Yakima Valley for a couple of years before moving over to the Issaquah area and playing for KJVBC. She was recruited to play at the University of Idaho where she fell in love with the town of Moscow, Idaho and spent the next 5 years playing on the U of I Women's Volleyball Team (Go Vandals!) as a starting Middle Blocker. At the U of I, she double majored in Human Resources and Operations Management. She spent her summers coaching volleyball camps where she found her passion for teaching the game. Making the move back to Seattle a little over a year ago, she spent the 2017-2018 club season as the Head Coach for RidgeValley’s 14 Black team with her coaching partner Colleen Lenahan. Outside of coaching, she works as a Physician Recruiter at Virginia Mason Medical Center, hikes all over the Pacific Northwest, and plays as much volleyball as possible.

13 Baden - Wes Sjoerdsma

Wes has played for 11 years going on 12, coached for 6 of those years. Played club at University of Idaho. Played professional sand volleyball in Fortaleza, Brazil. Coached University of Idaho men's and women's club teams for 3 years. Coached at the 2016 Washington State University summer camp. Coached at TCV club in Colorado. Coached at Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs. Outside of volleyball I like to read comics, literature and novels, play piano and ukulele, spend time with with friends and hang with my dog, Harley.

13 Baden - taylor forney

I fell in love with volleyball the first year I started playing at age 9. I played 9 years of club in Spokane, WA and began my coaching career there as well. I coached 3 years of club before moving to the west side. Since moving over, I have been the assistant varsity coach at Skyline HS for the last 4 seasons. I just can’t seem to get enough! Looking forward to getting back into the club volleyball world with ITVC! Outside of volleyball I spend my time traveling both for work and for leisure. I am a concert and festival enthusiast as well as a vintage Volkswagen nerd. I also am pretty smitten over my 6 year old English Bulldog, Olive.

14 Baden - Anna Crabtree

Anna Crabtree grew up in Bellevue, Washington and recently graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in Finance and Economics. She attended Newport High School, where she helped lead her team to 3 state tournaments, including a 4th place finish her senior year. She also played her U16-U18 club volleyball years at ITVC. At UW, Anna was given the opportunity to tryout for and join the UW beach volleyball team for her junior and senior year as the sport continued to grow on the collegiate level. She is excited to come back to ITVC (this time as a coach!) after spending time coaching club volleyball in Seattle and at Newport High School. She enjoys working with young athletes to help them pursue their goals and realize their potential on and off the court. Anna continues to play both beach and indoor volleyball while working for Wells Fargo in their Business Banking Group.

14 Baden - Caine Jette

Caine started playing volleyball in elementary school but has always been a multi-sport athlete, splitting time between volleyball, soccer, tennis, and football. In high school, he set and hit outside, then went on to set for MIT for three years before switching to DS/L for his last season. After graduating, he stayed in Boston for a season to assist the MIT women's team. Fast forward to this being his seventh season with ITVC, where he has worked at the 16s and 18s level. As a coach, developing strong character on and off the court is a priority of his. He believes athletes need to have freedom to experiment (and fail!) in order to learn, so he takes a long view with an emphasis on process first and outcome second. He focuses on ball control, court awareness, decision making, and strategy. Aside from indoor ball, Caine also has a passion for grass and sand volleyball and is often playing in adult tournaments on the weekends. He's coached for Beach Volleyball for the past five years and really enjoys the versatility the doubles game fosters. He is SafeSport trained, and holds IMPACT and CAP1 certifications in indoor and beach. When not playing or coaching, he works as a software developer, a certified official for college and high school volleyball, and a private tutor for middle and high school students. He enjoys spending his free time in the weight room, yoga studio, running, or cycling. He has two cats, Honu and Raine, and lives on a houseboat on Lake Union.

14 Mizuno - Josh Tag

Josh Tag started out following his mother, Sue, to practice early on in her 15-year coaching career that spanned all competitive levels. Playing against adults since he was 11, he spent two years with Spaceneedle Volleyball Foundation's National team as an outside and a middle, and then played for two years at Missouri Valley College. Josh's coaching resume includes assisting for a few years at the Bear Creek School, Lake Washington HS, and then heading up the Marshall Volleyball Club in his college town. He continues to play multiple sports as he did throughout high school and graduated this December with an English degree. This is Josh's fourth year with ITVC.

14 Mizuno - Danielle Harvey

Danielle has been playing volleyball for more than twelve years and coaching for five. Coaching club, high school, and college teams in the Pacific Northwest and southern Idaho, she has worked with a diverse range of athletes to achieve their goals and fulfill their potential. Danielle believes that coaches have a huge impact on a player's life experience, so she's determined to make sure that volleyball is a positive outlet for athletes and that learning, teamwork, and developing skills that can be used on and off the court remain central to her coaching style. When she isn't coaching or playing the sport she loves, she's reading manuscripts as a professional book editor for a Seattle book-publishing company.

15 Baden - Eugene Wong

This will be Eugene's 5th season with ITVC. He has coached U12, U13, U15 and has been a floating coach. He likes to see players improve on a weekly basis through hard work and having a positive attitude. Eugene's passion for the game of volleyball is clear as he has played on men's USAV A and BB teams, in park leagues and reverse four leagues. He has also played in many sand and grass doubles tournaments outdoor as well as 4's at Seaside. Eugene has been playing volleyball for the past 40 years and it shows in how fluid he moves on the court! He has coached with AVE (Adult Volleyball Education) for 5 years, Sound Mind and Body Gym for 25 years and he has also coached beach clinics with NW Jrs. for 4 years and Beach Volleyball. You can also find him doing private lessons as he enjoys not only helping groups improve, but he also likes seeing the progress that players can make during a private session. Eugene also officiates volleyball matches at Renton Community Center. He is IMPACT certified in both beach and indoor. Also completed a course with "The Art of Coaching Volleyball". During the day he works for the Federal Reserve Bank.

15 Baden - Sig Santos

Sig has been playing volleyball since he was 16. He was part of the inaugural boys volleyball team in 1988 at Central Islip High School in Long Island, NY as a setter and played varsity for 3 years. He continued to play during his college years at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC Canada) where he obtained his pharmacy degree in 1997. Sig relocated back to the east coast in 2000 to work in continuing medical education for a pharmaceutical company and it was at this time that he reconnected with and eventually married his high school classmate. After the birth of their twin girls in 2002, Sig and his family moved to the greater Seattle area having been recruited by Walgreens. He began coaching volleyball after his girls took interest in the sport and has coached for various clubs including ITVC during the 2016/2017 season as an assistant coach for U15 Blue. He returns to ITVC this year after being the U17 head coach at Blue Royals Volleyball Academy last year. Sig’s coaching philosophy is rooted in the importance of instilling solid fundamentals, ball control, and relentless defense as key tenets in achieving successful outcomes. Sig’s coaching philosophy is rooted in the importance of instilling solid fundamentals, ball control, and relentless defense as key tenets in achieving successful outcomes. In addition to coaching and playing volleyball, Sig plays competitive tennis in various USTA leagues and also enjoys playing golf and working out.

16 Baden - Steven Petesch

Steven returns to ITVC for his 6th year having coached 13, 15, 17, and 18s and for Beach Volleyball. Steven has a total of 18 years of playing and coaching experience. In addition to teaching volleyball players the necessary foundational skills to becoming successful players. Steven focuses on increasing the volleyball “IQ” of players by thinking through decision making opportunities, learning to adjust on the court, and effectively communicating with teammates. Steven seeks to develop well rounded players that have control over their physical, mental, and social skills on and off the court. Steven started playing volleyball for his college’s club team, the Claremont Colleges, as both a libero and setter. He continued playing through graduate school at Cornell University where he first started coaching for both the men’s and women’s club teams. Steven serves on boards for both the Puget Sound Region of USAV as well as for Greater Seattle Volleyball Officials (which referee high school volleyball). When Steven isn’t coaching, reffing, or playing volleyball he tries to put his analytical skills and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry to good use by attempting to cure cancer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

16 Baden - Blissa tanka

Blissa is excited to start another season coaching with ITVC. She has coached at the High School level for 3 years, 2 years at Nathan Hale and one year at Mountlake Terrace. She has experience coaching Junior Varsity and assisting with the Varsity Team. She also has experience at the middle school level, coaching 8th graders at St. John's. As a coach, Blissa has a passion for defense and passing and believes that those are the two most important skills of volleyball. Blissa was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii where she started playing volleyball in the 5th grade. In high school, she lettered in Varsity volleyball for 3 years mainly playing middle blocker (at a commanding 5’6’’ she is considered pretty tall in Hawaii). She also played club volleyball and traveled to “the mainland” to compete. After high school, she moved to the middle of the United States to attend Creighton University in Omaha, NE and focus on her education. She was a founding member of Creighton's Collegiate Volleyball Club Men’s and Women’s Teams. The Creighton Club Teams traveled around the Midwest competing against other colleges as well as to the National Collegiate Club Volleyball Tournament every year. Blissa continues to play volleyball on grass, sand, and indoors while working as a Clinical Pharmacist at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.

18 Baden - Samantha Delmer

I'm a volleyball player of 12 years and coach of 4 years. I played at Manhattanville College and at the University of Idaho at my highest level and still enjoy playing in indoor and outdoor adult leagues in the area. I look forward to preparing young athletes for the next level of play and teaching them how to care for their bodies.

Floating Coach - Juan Pantoja

Juan has coached volleyball for a variety of age groups including 14 and under, 18 and under, and at the collegiate level. He started playing at the age of 12 and participated in club volleyball throughout high school and college in Colorado. Juan is currently a Doctor of Physical Therapy and regularly works with athletes to get them back to playing the sports they love. He is excited to join the ITVC family to share his knowledge and passion for the game.

Floating Coach - Jenny Li

Jenny is thrilled to be back again coaching at ITVC. This will be her 6th season with the club and she's coached age groups 13-17s during her time here. She enjoys drilling down on offensive and blocking technique and strategy, as well as promoting the importance of strength and conditioning in overall sports performance. Her favorite aspect of volleyball is how beautiful the game is when a team plays well together, like a well-oiled machine. Jenny enjoys playing all styles of volleyball, from beach doubles to her alumni indoor 6s team that plays together at Nationals. Outside of volleyball, she writes software for Lyft.

Floating Coach - Cecelia Licciardi

This is Cecelia's second season with Island Thunder! She had her first season of club coaching last year as the 16 Blue Co-Head Coach. Aside from ITVC, she has coached in the past at the Bush School and currently at Lake Washington High School. She has been playing for ten years now, as she started in 8th grade and played club throughout high school, followed by a season at Edmonds Community College. Cecelia still plays year round in adult leagues and tournaments.

Floating Coach - Brigette Enriquez

Brigette has been playing volleyball for over 20 years.  She grew up in San Francisco where she was the OH for Salesian High School.  She played club for Mare Island Thunder (funny that she's coaching for ITVC) and went on to go to college at University of San Francisco.  After a couple knee injuries, Brigette moved her skill set to focus on setting and started coaching for SF Juniors.  Opportunities with her job at Nordstrom brought her to the Pacific Northwest where she's been actively playing indoor and beach volleyball for the past 5 years.  Brigette is now ready to get back into coaching as a Floating coach.  

Floating Coach - Kaylia Balinbin

Kaylia is looking forward to sharing her positive attitude, competitive spirit, and passion for volleyball with the players on the team. Her commitment to athletic growth and fostering confidence in each athlete make for a great addition to the coaching staff. Kaylia joined her first volleyball team in 5th grade, and played for ITVC while in middle school, and high school. After playing as an outside hitter for Mercer Island High School, she continued playing down in California. Kaylia spent 4 years devoted to the St. Mary’s College of California Women’s Club Volleyball Team where she earned NCCVL All League Team honors her Junior and Senior year.

Floating Coach - Melissa Mulick

Melissa started playing club volleyball at the age of 10 and completed her volleyball playing career as a libero at Seattle University. Melissa has 9 years of club coaching experience (2 years with NW Juniors and 7 with ITVC), coaching U-14, U-15, and U-18 teams. Melissa also coached 3 seasons of JV and varsity at Newport HS and most recently completed a season of coaching 8th graders at Seattle Academy. After many years of head coaching, Melissa is excited to reunite with ITVC as a floating coach, where she can work with individual athletes and on individual skills in whatever capacity the team needs her. Outside of volleyball, Melissa is a psychologist and works primarily with clients with eating disorders. She enjoys running, playing rec volleyball, and socializing with friends. Melissa has been a longtime member and fan of ITVC and is excited to be back!