skip navigation

Annapolis Volleyball Club Staff

LEADERSHIP TEAM


Mike Schwob

mikeschwob@yahoo.com

mike_schwob@yahoo.com

BOYS 18U NATIONAL HEAD COACH & TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Mike Schwob has been associated with playing and coaching collegiate volleyball for over 30+ years. A native of Buffalo, NY Schwob was a four-year member of the volleyball team at George Mason and competed on the school's 1985 and 1988 NCAA Final Four teams. He earned All-East honors in each of his last two seasons at the school.

After graduating, Schwob went to the Naval Academy where he served as an assistant coach in the men's program, and was elevated to head coach two years later. Schwob guided the men's team to a 54-41 record during its remaining three seasons as a varsity sport before leading the squad to a pair of national top-10 rankings among club teams over the next two years.

He transitioned over to the Navy women's program as an assistant coach during the 1995 season before being named as head coach the next year. Mike Schwob served as the Head Women’s Volleyball Coach for 15 years and his teams won at least 20 matches on four occasions and made a pair of appearances in the title match of the league tournament. Schwob himself was tabbed as the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 1997 and as the USNA Fall Coach of the Year in 2005. He has served as a coach for the U.S. Navy volleyball team -- both men's and women's teams -- multiple times over the last decade. Most recently he led the women's team to a gold medal at the 2008 Armed Forces Tournament.

From 2011-2013, Mike Schwob joined the George Mason Univerity Men's Volleyball team as the Assistant Coach.  Mike assisted in recruiting young men to the Univeristy and was instrumental in organizing the George Mason boys club tournament.  The GMU team made the EIVA playoffs each year was ranked in the top 15 at times throughout the 2013 season.  Additionally, Schwob serves as a coach in the USA Volleyball High Performance program assisting with national player evaluations and most recently coaching at the Boys' Future Select National A1 Training Program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.

For his significant contributions to the sport as a coach and player, Schwob, was inducted to both the Kenmore East Athletic Hall of Fame and the Western New York Boys' Volleyball Hall of Fame.  An active member in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), Schwob continues to be an advocate of the sport.

A tenured Physical Education Associate Professor at Navy, Schwob holds a Bachelor's Degree from George Mason and a Master's Degree from Loyola (Md.). Prior to arriving to the U.S. Naval Academy, Schwob taught in the Anne Arundel County school system for eight years. He and his wife, Susan, a former All-ACC volleyball player at Maryland, are the parents of four boys – William, Robert, Brian and Michael.


Susan Schwob


skschwob@verizon.net

DIRECTOR

Susan Schwob is a native of Maryland and has made her mark in the area as an exemplary athlete and role model.  Susan grew up with a passion for sports and while attending Bowie High School, Susan competed in volleyball and softball and was named to the All Prince Georges County team for both sports.  After graduation, Susan received a scholarship to attend the University of Maryland where she played on the volleyball team for four years.  During her senior year, Susan was named Captain of the team and was a member of the All Atlantic Coast Conference team.  She graduated from Maryland with a Bachelor's degree in Communications and worked numerous years as a Human Resources and Recruitment Professional.

After her college career, Susan stayed involved in volleyball by competing in the USAV league and served as a clinician at events.  She is an active member of the community, local church and PTA.  She and Mike Schwob are the parents of four boys – William, Robert, Brian and Michael.


Malia Witherspoon


annapolisvbc@gmail.com

CLUB ADMINISTRATOR

Malia Witherspoon comes to the Annapolis Volleyball Club with a wealth of knowledge and loads of experience.  She coached at several Division I institutions such as Morgan State University, Towson University and the U.S. Naval Academy.

As a player, Witherspoon is a 1999 graduate of Morgan State where she was a middle blocker. She led Morgan State in blocking during her senior year, while also knocking down 2.2 kills per game and hitting .310 on the season.  She also helped lead Morgan State to a conference championship and a berth in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. After graduating from Morgan State, Witherspoon served as an Assistant coach at Towson for one year then became the Assistant Volleyball Coach for the U.S. Naval Academy for 7 years.  While at the Naval Academy Witherspoon had the opportunity to play for the Women’s semi-pro team that played against other Women’s National teams in Fortaleza, Brazil along with competing for the Women’s All-Navy Volleyball team for 4 years.

Malia Witherspoon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Morgan State and a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from NOVA Southeastern University.  She is the proud parent of two boys – Omari and Terrell.


Mary Clare Coghlan

LEAD CLINICIAN & Head Coach

A 2005 graduate of Towson, Coghlan was the starting setter and team captain for the Tigers during her junior and senior seasons. She tallied 3,078 assists and 144 service aces in her career to rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in Towson history. Coghlan helped the Tigers win the program's first CAA title and advance to their initial NCAA Tournament in 2004.  Individually, she garnered First-Team All-Colonial Athletic Association accolades as a junior and senior while also earning CAA Setter-of-the-Year accolades during both of those campaigns.  For her accomplishments, Coghlan was named during the summer of 2009 to the CAA Silver Anniversary Team for the sport of volleyball.

A Biology major, Coghlan was named as the CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year for volleyball as a junior, earned CoSIDA Academic All-District II honors during her final two seasons, and was tabbed as Towson's Female Athlete of the Year in 2003.  Following graduation she played professionally in Germany and Spain for three years then came back to the United States to become the Assistant Volleyball Coach at the U.S. Naval Academy.  While at the Naval Academy, Coghlan resumed her playing career by competing on the All-Navy team in both 2007 and `08. Coghlan helped Navy win the gold medal at the 2008 U.S. All-Armed Forces Games and was selected to compete on the U.S. squad at the worldwide All-Armed Forces Tournament in Germany.

Coghlan is a board member of Girls on the Run, a non profit with researched based programming to help girls strengthen confidence through physical activity and enjoys supporting her community. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Leadership Education. 


AVC COACHES


Katie Bray

Katie is a native of Cary, North Carolina and played majority of her club years with Triangle Volleyball Club.  She played Division I volleyball as an Outside/Right Side Hitter at the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated from the Naval Academy in 2013 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Economics. She continues to serve in the Navy as an active duty officer in the Maryland area. Katie has been continuing to play for the Navy in the USAV tournaments and coaching over the past ten years.


Christine Byrne

Christine Byrne is a native of Maryland, playing volleyball for Broadneck High School and Anne Arundel Community College. She graduated college from UMUC with a Bachelor's degree in Financial Management. After graduation, Byrne coached boys and girls youth volleyball teams in the Annapolis and Virginia Beach area.

Coach Byrne competed in USAV leagues in Newport and Virginia Beach, VA and currently plays in the Annapolis area coed rec league. She coaches in the BAYS coed youth volleyball Fall league and has served an Assistant Coach with AVC boys’ National and girls’ Regional teams for several years. Coach Byrne and her husband, Kevin, are the parents of four children – Katie (former All-Conference defensive volleyball player for Juniata College), Corey, Andrew (AVC National team player) and Allie (AVC Regional player).


ALENA CHOVANEC

Alena Chovanec (Ala) was born and raised in Slovakia, where she started playing volleyball when she was 9. Even though she started as a setter, she played a middle-blocker position for most of her volleyball career. She was a starting player throughout high school and won the Most Valuable Player recognition twice during the tournament season. Later on, she played as a starting middle blocker for Slavia University of Zilina, and with her team, she won back-to-back bronze medals at the National Championship. After graduation, she played beach volleyball for a couple of years before moving to Maryland. She returned to volleyball a few years ago when her older daughter started playing volleyball and she started coaching youth volleyball for BAYS and later with AVC. Coach Ala lives in Severna Park with her husband and 2 daughters - Nicol & Leah. They all enjoy playing volleyball and golf; Nicol plays for an AVC Travel team. 


Marilyn Cleary

 

Marilyn Cleary is a native of New York and is excited to share her passion and knowledge of volleyball with AVC. Marilyn was a high school stand out at John Jay H.S. where she established a name for herself as a varsity lettering athlete in volleyball, basketball and lacrosse.   She was recruited to play volleyball at Loyola University of Maryland where she was a starter all four years.  Coach Cleary was named to the MAAC  All-Tournament Team two years in a row and named Player of the Year her final season. Volleyball Magazine also named her 3rd in the nation for digs.  While in graduate school at Loyola, Coach Cleary continued her love of the game as the Assistant Coach for the Men’s Club Volleyball team, as well as developing a Student-Athlete Mentoring program for the NCAA. 

Marilyn resumed coaching in 2004 as the Head Coach of Archbishop Spalding Men's Volleyball team and held the position until 2007.  Marilyn’s hard work ultimately lead the team to an appearance at the MIAA finals in 2007, finally landing the Spalding Men's Volleyball program on the map. She is also a member of the "Positive Coaching Alliance".

Marilyn graduated from Loyola University with a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology.    Marilyn and her husband, Christopher, reside in Millersville, MD with their 4 children - Grace, Cat, Liam and Charlotte.  


HUNTER CURRENT

Hunter Current started playing volleyball as a freshman in high school while living in San Diego, CA. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Northern California where he started competing in club volleyball with Bay-to-Bay and in high school for Bellarmine College Prep. With improvement, Hunter earned the opportunity to play and travel for the U.S.  Junior National Program and also signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Southern California as a middle blocker. 

After graduation, he had the unique opportunity of being recruited to play for a professional team in Oulu, Finland.  Subsequently, Hunter continued to round out his volleyball development by competing during several seasons in B, A, and Open beach doubles tournaments while living in Los Angeles.  He enjoys helping dedicated players grow and improve their craft.


Alex DiGirolamo

Alex is a graduate of Salisbury University where he served as President and Captain on the Men's Volleyball Team and graduated from the Perdue School of Business with a Bachelor's Degree in Finance. Alex helped lead Salisbury to it's first National tournament in history, where they ranked in the Top-20 at the Division III level. He also served as assistant coach for the Division III Women's Volleyball team at Salisbury competing in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC). He also helped coach at various youth beach volleyball camps in Berlin and Ocean City including the Salisbury University Summer Program. 

Alex started his volleyball career at a young age in the sand, playing doubles up and down the East Coast. Moving indoors, Alex started playing middle and outside hitter for AVC in 2015 where he competed in three Boy's Junior National Tournaments. As a multi-sport athlete in high school, Alex earned recognition as a First Team All-SMAC player for golf in his senior year and helped lead the first lacrosse team from Calvert County to a State Championship victory in 2017.

Alex has served as an Assistant Coach and Head Coach with AVC's  boys national program. Additionally, he is a Lead Clinician in the recently established  Annapolis Volleyball Club Beach program. He is currently the Assistant Coach of the St. Mary's High School of Annapolis JV Volleyball team.  


Nate Eberle

Nate Eberle, an Annapolis native, graduated from Messiah University with a BA degree in Biology and now works in Baltimore as an Associate Clinical Oncology Specialist. During his tenure in college Nate played four years of NCAA college basketball, serving as Team Captain his latter two years. Nate was a multi-sport athlete his entire life, and fell in love with the sport of volleyball post college. Coach Nate enjoys competing in outdoor grass and sand tournaments as well as on a USAV Adult Men's Team. He has prior experience coaching youth on the court and in the weight room. 


JOE FONDALE

Joe Fondale serves as the Strength and Conditioning Coach and Professor in the Physical Education Department at the U.S. Naval Academy. 

Joe has also served as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for collegiate volleyball teams at The University of North Dakota, The University of Texas-El Paso, and Ohio University. 

From 2005 - 2008, the Ohio University Volleyball team captured 4 regular season conference championships and 3 tournament championships; maintaining a top 25 national ranking for 42 consecutive weeks.  The 2005 team went 33-3, advanced to the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, and finished the season ranked #14 nationally. 

Joe has certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, USA Track and Field Level I Coach, and USA Weightlifting Senior Coach.

He coaches youth softball with the Broadneck Baseball and Softball Club and youth track and field with Cape St. Claire.


SPENCER GRAF

Spencer Graf is from a volleyball family and began playing competitively in the Chesapeake Region at age 12. Coach Graf, an AVC alumni, played outside hitter on top National teams with the Club and was selected to participate in the USA Volleyball High Performance Program. Graf was recruited and continued his volleyball career at Lees-McRae College. He is employed full-time with Bert Jabin Yacht Yard and in his free time enjoys coaching, giving back to volleyball, and competing in competitive outdoor grass tournaments.

JIM GRAVES

Jim Graves has been an adult player for +30 years playing for Men’s Indoor USAV, beach, grass and co-ed. He began coaching in 1999 and is a former high school coach at Old Mill High School and Broadneck High School.  Coach Graves has also coached Navy summer camps and local clinics.  He has 12+ years volleyball coaching experience (ages 8-18 boys and girls) and 15+ years in coaching baseball.  He is Impact and Safe Sport certified.

DANESHA Y GROSS

Danesha Y Gross wasn’t introduced to volleyball until her freshman year of high school where she became a standout player and brought Thomas Stone High School their first Regional Title and State Finals visit in 1997. She won honors as the Female Athlete of the year at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCA&T;TSU) and Utility Player of the Year in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) her Freshman through her Senior year. She played in the MEAC Finals against fellow AVC Coaches Malia Witherspoon and Monica Haynes where her Aggies lost in 5 sets. They all vividly recall many of those moments and revive the memories in good fun. Mrs. Gross went on to receive numerous awards/honors at A&T throughout her 4 years there where she became the face of Aggie Volleyball. Although she is often asked to coach at the collegiate/professional levels, she has found it more important to create a platform where children could start volleyball at a very young age and build/improve the skills of the youth so that they have better knowledge and techniques as they grow in the sport.

Mrs. Gross is the creator and developer of ‘Little Spikes, LLC’, (est. 2016) in Calvert County, MD which was one of the first youth programs in the country to teach volleyball starting at the age 4 years old. From there, Junior Spikes and Elite Spikes was born and is evolving. Ms. Gross also currently coaches in the Southern MD Athletic Conference (SMAC) at Huntingtown High School where she is known as “Coach D”, and their record in 2.5 years is 39-7 with 2 Regional Final appearances, 1 Regional Finals win, and a visit to the State Finals in 2021. Mrs. Gross’ has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a M.S. in Systems Engineering where she works as an Engineer and Program Manager. Mrs. Gross has 2 children and a husband who are all huge volleyball & sports fanatics. She resides in Calvert County with her family.


MONICA HAYNES

Monica is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. A graduate of Princeton High School where she played three years of Varsity as an all-conference setter. Monica also played for Tri-County Volleyball Club out of Cincinnati.

Monica played Division I volleyball at Morgan State University where she led the Lady Bears to Back-to-Back MEAC Championships. She earned MEAC "Rookie-of-the-Year" and All-MEAC honors. Monica and her teammates (including AVC Club Administrator, Malia Witherspoon) also made history in 1997 becoming the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to earn a spot in the NCAA Division I Tournament. Monica finished her collegiate career as the all-time assist leader and third all-time in digs. Recently, Monica was inducted into the Morgan State University Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2018).

Monica received a B.S. in Marketing in 1999, and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Marketing in 2004. She enjoyed coaching under legendary MSU Head Coach Ramona Riley-Bozier for two seasons as Graduate Assistant Coach and lead recruiter. Monica has been coaching with AVC at the 14U, 15U and 17U levels and enjoys developing young, enthusiast talent.

Monica is married to her husband Lenny and are the proud parents of daughter Hayden (age 14) and son “LV” (age 12).


CHRISTINE IRWIN

 

Coach Irwin, a multi-sport athlete (volleyball and track and field) from State College, PA, is a recent graduate of Juniata University where she was an outside hitter on the volleyball team.  She contributed on the court all for years logging impressive statistics in kills, digs, and hitting percentage during her tenure.    Following graduation, Coach Irwin accepted a teaching position at Arundel High School where she also serves as the Assistant Coach of the Varsity Volleyball team. 


Jeff Kristick

Coach Kristick grew up in a volleyball family in York, PA.  His brother, John, played with Coach Schwob at George Mason where they led the team to two final four appearances.  Jeff was a “Fab 50” high school recruit coming out of high school and accepted an offer to attend the United States Naval Academy.  At Navy, Jeff was a four year starter at outside hitter for their Division 1 varsity program - earning all east honors.  After graduating Jeff played for the All Navy volleyball team, and various highly competitive club teams.   

Jeff has been active in youth volleyball for a number of years.  Jeff and his wife, Tara, live in Vienna, Virginia.  They have three children who are all active in many sports - football, basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball.   

Jill Labrador

Jill is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and a graduate of Roger Bacon HS where she played two years of Varsity volleyball as an opposite attacker earning All-GGCL honors her senior season. Jill also played for the Cincinnati Aces Volleyball Club.

Jill played Division III volleyball at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.  Jill was a 4 year starter in the defensive specialist position and led the Polar Bears to three NCAA postseason appearances including two trips to the Elite-8.  Jill graduated with the ONU all-time digs record.

Jill completed her BA in Education from Ohio Northern in 2000 and her Masters of Education from Xavier University in 2005. After college Jill coached 14U for the Cincinnati based Blue Chip Volleyball Club and High School at Indian Hill.  Recently, Jill coached the 7th and 8th grade team at Yellow Springs Middle School in Ohio.

Jill works for Anne Arundel County public schools as an IEP Facilitator. Jill lives in Annapolis with her husband Paco and two daughters.


Hannah Melchner


Allison Orr

Coach Allie is from Crofton, Maryland and began playing volleyball for local clubs at the age of 12. Allie was a 4 year varsity player at Arundel High School and was the President of club volleyball at the University of Maryland. Coach Allie also served as the JV Coach for Arundel High School for 4 years and earned two County Championship titles. 


Joe Parks

 

Coach Parks began playing volleyball as a beach player in 1989.  He was the Vice President of the Jacksonville Beach Volleyball Club from 1992-1994.  In 1996 he was a ball boy on center court for the first ever U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball Trials.  While on active duty in the Navy, he began playing indoors in 1991 and played on numerous Navy teams, including Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (while on an exchange program with the British Royal Navy), was nominated for the All Royal Navy Team (but unable to play due to training commitments), and a member of the All Navy team in 2005.  He served as a member of the staff for both the Naval Academy Men’s Club team and the Women's Varsity team. 

He has coached high school volleyball in Anne Arundel county for 16 years, including 9 years at Severna Park (making it to the State Finals in 2001), 1 year at Broadneck, and 6 years at Chesapeake Science Point.  He has been a coach with AVC since 2015. Coach Parks resides in Severna Park with his wife Stephanie, daughter Maddie (away at college), and son Logan.


Maddie Parks

Coach Maddie Parks first began playing volleyball as a practice player in 2015 with AVC. She has played on AVC teams from 12U to 18U.  In 8th grade, Maddie was the team manager for the inaugural JV volleyball team at Chesapeake Science Point.  In 9th grade Maddie was a JV captain and was asked to move up to Varsity at the end of the season for playoffs.  She was a 3 year varsity starter for CSP at setter and a captain for 2 years.  She helped Coach the middle school volleyball club at CSP for a couple years and was the de facto Assistant Coach for the CSP JV team in 2022.  Maddie started coaching with AVC in 2022. Maddie is currently studying Architecture at RPI. 

Danny Remington

CLINICAN

Danny Remington grew up in Southern Maryland and graduated from Salisbury University where he was a member of the Mens' Club Volleyball Team.  He continues to play in USAV adult indoor leagues and compete in beach tournaments.  Coach Remington has served as an AVC Practice Coach, Evaluator, and as an Assistant Coach with AVC Boys' National Teams.  Danny is a Lead Clinician in the recently established Annapolis Volleyball Club Beach program and he has experience coaching youth football and basketball teams in Southern Maryland.  Danny is USAV IMPACT Certified.

Danny and his wife Theresa, reside in Dunkirk, MD with their 2 boys – Ryan and Reece, both collegiate volleyball players.  He enjoys nothing more than getting out and playing some beach volleyball with family and friends, whether it be in Ocean City, Southwest Florida, or just outback.

Reece Remington

Remington

Reece Remington is a recent graduate of Salisbury University with degrees in Marketing and Professional Sales.  He played on the Salisbury Men's Club Volleyball team for three years serving as President and Captain.  Coach Reece's volleyball career started as a little kid hitting around on the beach. In 7th grade, he regularly attended practices and watched his older brother compete on an AVC team. In 8th grade, Reece represented AVC on its 16U National Team and continued playing on AVC national teams throughout high school as a libero and setter. Coach Reece is an active beach volleyball player and is excited to get back into the indoor game! 


Tanecha Rice

Rice was tabbed AACC head volleyball coach in August 2021. She comes to AACC from Rocket City Volleyball Club in Huntsville, Alabama, where she served as head coach for 20 seasons, guiding her team to many tournament championships, notably a second-place finish in the 2019 Southern Region Volleyball Association tournament. Rice also handled all administrative duties for the club ranging from scheduling for the club’s 21 teams, to registration, skill assessment, eligibility, and equipment management. Prior to RCVC, Rice transformed the Lee High School volleyball team, guiding the team to back-to-back winning seasons and bringing the Generals to the region tournament after a five-year absence. Rice was named Huntsville Times Coach of the Year in 2008.

In addition to her extensive coaching background, Rice served four years as an official for the Alabama High School Athletic Association and five years in the Southern Region Volleyball Association.

A four-year starter at outside hitter for Martin Methodist College (now University of Tennessee Southern), Rice led the team and division in hitting percentage and kills, and was a four-time First Team All-NAIA selection. She was named to the Redhawks’ All Sesquicentennial Team in 2019.

Rice earned a bachelor of science in human services from Martin Methodist College in 2006, and a master of social work from Alabama A&M University in 2011. She holds a credential for strengths-based family workers and is a Maryland Licensed Master Social Worker. She lives in Odenton, Maryland and has four adult children and four grandchildren.


Brian Schwob

Coach Schwob is a current Setter for Division I Queens University of Charlotte Men's Volleyball team while pursuing his MBA degree.  Brian is a graduate of Division I Lindenwood University where he competed as a Setter on the Men's Volleyball Team in the MIVA Conference.  Coach Schwob offers assistance at AVC camps and clinics and during the tournament season, especially with setter development .  

Robert Schwob


Will Schwob

 

Will Schwob is a  graduate of the Grand Canyon University (GCU) where he served as Captain of the Division I Mens’ Volleyball team.   A standout multi-sport athlete in high school, Schwob was named Athlete of the Year for Broadneck High School and Athlete of the Year Nominee for the Baltimore Sun.  Schwob began his club volleyball career with AVC as a Middle Hitter.  He was selected to compete at the USA Volleyball HP Championships where he was named to the All-Tournament Team.   During Schwob’s tenure with GCU he played Opposite and Outside Hitter on a team that broke school records and was ranked in the Top 15 Nationally. 

Schwob has served as Head Coach and Assistant Coach of AVC boys’ National teams and assisted with AVC girls‘ Regional teams.  He is a Lead Clinician at AVC camps, clinics, and individual training sessions. Schwob continues his competitive volleyball career as an outside hitter with the Volleyball League of America (VLA), a professional league in the United States. 


Shevonne Wells

Shevonne Wells began playing indoor volleyball in 1993 in her hometown of Newark, Delaware where she played for Christiana High School and the Delaware Juniors Volleyball Club. She was a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Division I volleyball team from 1998-2002 and played with the All-Navy team in 2008. Upon graduating from the Naval Academy in 2002, she was selected to serve as the Naval Academy Preparatory School women’s volleyball team head coach in Newport, Rhode Island for her first assignment where she led the team to a 10-1 record-breaking season. Throughout her Navy career, Coach Wells has continued to enjoy recreational volleyball and golfing with her husband, Eric. They reside in Annapolis, MD.