Playing

I have been playing Beach Volleyball since high school and really became passionate about it in college. Going to school in South Carolina, there was a longer outdoor season than in many other regions of the Country, and there was always a competitive sand or grass tournament right up the road. To extend the season even longer, I started playing indoor, where I was stunned by the speed of the game and pleasantly surprised by my enhanced jumping ability. I was hooked and now had a year round passion. I still love playing outdoor as much as possible, but equally enjoy the strategy and teamwork required for competitive indoor. I still play as often as I can with my fellow Battle Volleyball coaches, CYA coaches, athletes I have coached, and anyone else that wants to play!

Coaching

For me, coaching started 12 years ago as a way to pass along the love of the game to my kids. When my daughter expressed an interest in a local Volleyball league for girls, it wasn’t long before I was coaching her team and assisting with all program levels. I coached with this program for three years and I found it so gratifying to be able to help the younger ladies develop their fundamental skills and develop their own passion for the sport, as well as help the advanced HS and Club level teens hone their skills. With my daughter fully involved in Club and various other volleyball programs, I decided to look for options to get my sons similar opportunities, but couldn’t find any good boy’s programs in our area, which took me to Fairfax county and the CYA & CVC volleyball programs. I coached a few seasons with CVC and coached at CYA for 5 years at the Middle School and High School levels.  Just as we had started Battle Volleyball Club to provide additional Club Volleyball teams for the girls local to Haymarket/Gainesville, VA, it was time to provide boys the same opportunities; we now have the only HS program for boys in Prince William County and in 2020-2021 we are starting our fourth season of our boy’s club volleyball program for Prince William County.  

Philosophy

I believe success in coaching is measured with individual growth only when it is hand in hand with successful team chemistry. Building confidence and improving every player on the team is equally as important as developing a strong team bond. Respect, teamwork, and sportsmanship should never take a back seat to winning, as these qualities are critical to a successful team dynamic, which will ultimately take the individual much further than they could achieve on their own.  

Playing

I've been playing volleyball ever since high school. I had the fortunate opportunity to play for my high school club team, high school student association club team, college club team, and college intramurals. In high school, I played in student association tournaments every year, almost every church tournament, high school volleyball club team league, and competitive recreational leagues. I had so much fun, I just could not get enough. In college, I spent some time playing with our school club team in organized practices. However, I had found a new passion in college playing doubles on the grass. I grew so much more playing doubles as I had to become a better all around player in order to be competitive. I learned to read opposing teams to anticipate their attacks. I learned to become a better passer, setter, and hitter. I had the opportunity to play in inter-collegiate tournaments at different colleges which was an amazing experience. After college, I moved to the DC area and immediately sought out open gyms and played on a couple 6 man competitive leagues while I was single. I continued playing competitively where ever I could find a team or open gym.

Coaching

As I've gotten older, my physical abilities have diminished and I can't do all the things I wish I could do. My passion for this game turned to coaching about 6 years ago. A local private school was going to offer a girls volleyball team and I immediately jumped on it because I wanted my daughter to love the game I love. I became the head coach for the team which was composed of middle schoolers who had not played volleyball before. I loved encouraging and teaching each of the players. I coached at the school for 3 years before my daughter switched schools. After a year off, I became the head coach for the new school. This time, it was an older group of players. I spent a lot of time working with the girls in season and out of season to help them improve. The first year was definitely a growing experience but it paid off as the following year the girls won their conference championship as well as a trophy for character. I also spent 3 seasons coaching CYA, 1 on rec level, 2 on select level. The girls finished 1st in rec level and select level.

Philosophy

I've got a pretty simple philosophy when it comes to playing and coaching. I'm trying to train players both technically and mentally to play at a competitive level and have fun. Getting better has to be fun. I stress fundamental techniques of passing, setting, hitting, and footwork. All the bio-mechanical functions need to become second nature and muscle memory. This comes through A LOT of repetition. Once the fundamentals are good enough, then we start incorporating knowledge. What should I be thinking about and taking notice of before the ball is in play? What does the opposing team offense look like? This also comes with a lot of repetition but through actual play. Finally, team strategy. I'm trying to train players to think and make decisions on their own during the game.

Coaching

Dan Liberto comes to us from Marymount University where he has just completed his sixth season as Head Coach of the Men's Volleyball team. In his six seasons, the program has amassed an overall record of 99-54, with a 36-18 record in the Continental Volleyball Conference. The 2023 season saw the Saints Men’s Volleyball program record back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in program history. The Saints set new heights in the 2022 year with the program’s first ever NCAA appearance, after earning an at-large bid to the tournament following a program best 23-win season.

Bringing a surplus of knowledge to Marymount, Liberto has coaching experience at countless schools and camps since 2010 along with playing four years, including two years as captain, at DIII volleyball powerhouse State University of New York (SUNY)-New Paltz. 

From 2014-2017, Liberto spent three seasons as the head coach for the men's and women's volleyball programs at SUNY Polytechnic in Utica, New York. On the women's side, he accumulated a 63-36 tally over the three-year stretch, including guiding the Wildcats to back-to-back regular-season championship titles in 2015 and 2016. He was named NEAC Coach of the Year twice while claiming major awards of NEAC Player and Rookie of the Year in 2015. On the men's side, he pieced together a three-year total of 51-41 while seeing six of his players earn All-Conference selection.

Prior to his time at SUNY-Poly, he worked as an assistant at Keuka College, SUNY-Geneso and Nazareth College. Additionally, he has coached at the boy's club level with the Pace Bootlegger and Victor Volleyball clubs in Rochester, New York. His 17-under boys' team finished in the top-15 nationally in 2013. He has worked a number of collegiate volleyball camps including the University of Texas, American University, University of Minnesota, Cornell, SUNY-Binghamton, and Nazareth. 

Philosophy

Coaching for me began after a playing career where I was fortunate to have the opportunity to play in both high school and college. While I loved playing, I quickly found a deeper passion through coaching the sport I had played for many years. The connection with the athletes, hearing their stories, seeing the small improvements and being a resource during times of challenge are the reasons I love what I do. I strive to create lifelong learners of volleyball, and more importantly, to build lifelong connections. Volleyball has given me so much, and I'm thankful to be a part of a club that puts a family atmosphere at the core of their foundation. I'm excited to be here at Battle, and I look forward to teaching all the athletes within the club!  

COACHING

My volleyball coaching career began with Springfield South County Youth Club recreation where I coached coed elementary, middle, and high school levels for ten years. I created a competitive Select league within the SYC recreation group growing the skill set and enabling the players to have confidence to compete in club and their high school teams. Coaching is about helping the players reach their individual and team goals through skills development and practice plans.

I assisted MB Volleyball Club U15 girls team before transitioning over to Battle Volleyball Club in 2020 - assisting the 2021 U16 boys team and Head Coaching the Battle Boys U15 team in 2022-23.  I have been coaching the St. Paul VI’s Girls Freshmen Volleyball team since 2020.

PHILOSOPHY

Work hard, play hard, and have fun!

PLAYING / COACHING

Some say they were born to play volleyball. I think that’s true in my journey. My mom was 3 months pregnant with me when she started to coach at a private school in El Paso, Texas. I spent my first 2 years of life in a gym. There was a pause with volleyball where I played softball and basketball competitively. I was 10 years old when I started to play club volleyball. I played with the El Paso Sunspots and the El Paso Stars. I also played three years of Varsity volleyball at America’s High School. My most successful high school season was my senior year. I led my team to multiple tournament championships and we were Bi-District Champions. In 2014, I was the runner-up for Best Setter in El Paso, Texas. I could not wait to share my love for the game, so during my senior year in high school, I volunteered to coach and mentor young athletes. At that time, I was also recruited by the New Mexico Military Institute. My freshman year as a setter, we won NJCAA Region V Championships and attended the National Tournament. During the off-season, I continued my love for mentorship as an assistant coach for a local club team. I continued my volleyball career at Delaware State University, where I learned the most about myself and how to be a great coach due to the culture of the team and the different roles I had to play. I also coached at two different clubs in Delaware, where I started to get my footing on my style of coaching. Moving to Northern VA I couldn’t stay away from volleyball and coached two seasons as the head of JV and Head of Varsity at Trinity School at Meadow View. 

PHILOSOPHY

My coaching style highly values the fundamentals; serve receive, communication, coachability, understanding the value of being a team, and most importantly, the mental aspects of the game. Volleyball is really a game of who can minimize errors on their side of the court with solid fundamentals and serve receive.  These two things can really be the difference between winning and losing. Another big aspect of the game that a lot of people talk about but don’t work into their coaching is the mental aspect. Mental toughness, as well as Volleyball IQ, are just as important as our court skills. Taking the love for the sport to the next level with understanding the game in film review as well as getting a better understanding of the game inside and out. Mental toughness is about being able to handle what’s in front of you even when the odds are not in your favor. Being coachable means that you can take critique and apply it. I have respect for players who can fail a couple of times and can turn it around because they’ve applied feedback. At the end of the day growth on the court is awesome, but seeing players evolve as a human is what it is all about.

Playing

I started my volleyball “career” in junior high school. During this time I was fortunate enough to represent Washington DC as part of the volleyball youth games which played other teams along the US east coast. Winning multiple medals and trophies during the youth games solidified my love for volleyball. My joy of playing volleyball continued into high school and college. During my senior year of high school I was lucky enough to be voted on to one of the county’s MVP team. In college I played for the University of Maryland men’s club team for less than a year before injuring my knee and ending my “career”.  Aside from playing for official school team’s my joy of volleyball extended to playing any volleyball tournaments or events I could participate in including grass, sand, asphalt… Yes, 9 men teams on asphalt.

I am blessed to have a family that enjoys volleyball and I am able to share my love of volleyball with them.

Coaching/Philosophy

My second life of volleyball started when I began coaching and teaching my son to play volleyball when he was around 8 years old.  I spent several year’s coaching my son’s team at CYA and his cousin's coed team Cyburi. Due to COVID, we took two years off and in 2021 we were back into volleyball with Battle Volleyball Club.  I assisted in coaching my son on the Battle U16-2 Red Team and quickly rose to the rank of head coach (smiling).

Coaching volleyball or any sport is about understanding the players and helping players learn the game so they can better themselves and achieve their goals. I’ve seen many players who have great technical skills but are unable to progress or enjoy the sport more because they don’t understand how the sport is played. There is so much to volleyball than spiking the ball or making an awesome jump serve.  I hope as a coach I can help players learn the game. Just like anything someone experiences in life…. one can achieve a higher level of love and appreciation for something (such as a  person or sport) once they learn and understand them completely. 

PLAYING

My love for volleyball started back in high school after making the JV team.  Boys volleyball is big in Buffalo, NY and my 3 years on the team gave me so much more than just a love for the game.  I loved the competition, the comradery, and the mental challenge of the sport.  Since high school, I have shared my love of the game with friends and family, and played as much possible.

COACHING

I moved to Northern Virginia in January of 2006 for a middle school teaching job.  I was beyond thrilled to find out that there was girls volleyball offered for middle schoolers in Prince William County.  That fall I joined the Bull Run team as an assistant coach.  In 2007 I took over as the head coach.  After a few years, I moved to the high school level and coached the Freshman and Junior Varsity teams at Osbourn Park.  When Reagan Middle School opened up in 2012, I made the move back to middle school and have been there ever since.  From 2007 to 2020, I also coached 13s, 14s, and 15s for Clash Volleyball Club.  My 15 years of coaching have been exceptionally humbling and rewarding.  

PHILOSOPHY

My coaching philosophy and style is constantly being tweaked and updated, but the values that I hold dear echo those of Battle Volleyball Club.  As a coach of younger girls, their experience on my teams often shapes their passion for the sport.  I have the duty to teach my athletes how to be competitive, respectful, relentless, resilient, confident, a good teammate, and focused on growth.  

PLAYING/Coaching

My love for volleyball began early in life, but due to a lack of high school boys volleyball in our area it wasn't until my college years that I got any formal instruction. I played on various USVA and city leagues and assisted with the women's team at college. My dedication was noticed by the athletic director so that I was selected to be an assistant coach for my college women's team my senior year. Since then I have continued to play and officiate volleyball, but returned to coaching last year as an assistant coach at Battle to instill my love for volleyball in younger players.

PHILOSOPHY

Of course good fundamentals are key, but I believe that volleyball also needs to be a learning process mentally as well. Players always need to be looking at why they do things and not just how they were taught at one point in time so they can evolve as a player. Volleyball is also a sport that relies on teamwork. So developing an appreciation and understanding of what every position does is key for the whole team to function at its peak effectiveness. Finally as I have gotten older I understand that I cannot play the game in the same way that I once did. But the things we learn about ourselves and others playing volleyball can also be applied to other situations in life. These are things that I want to demonstrate and teach.

PLAYING

I began playing volleyball in 5th grade when my family was stationed in Southern California. My Dad was in the United State Marine Corps! I played through the middle of my freshman year and then we moved to Georgia! At that time, Georgia did not have high school volleyball, so I played basketball! We moved to Virginia Beach at the beginning of my junior year of high school. I attended Kempsville High School and volleyball was just starting in Virginia Beach! I played volleyball and basketball both my junior and senior year as well as travel volleyball for Tidewater Volleyball Association. During the summers I would play beach volleyball! After graduating from Kempsville High School I played volleyball at George Mason University under Coach Pat Kendrick. I was also on George Mason’s Women’s rowing team! I currently play on an indoor women’s volleyball team and an indoor coed volleyball team!

COACHING

I am very excited to be coaching a sport that is near and dear to my heart. Now that my daughter is playing volleyball I try to help out when I can for the teams she plays on! But more than just helping out, now I will be coaching! I have had the privilege of having amazing coaches during my athletic journey. Two of my past coaches were Olympic gold medalists!  I will be gathering all that they have taught me over the years to share with the players on my team. On a side note: my husband is also a coach! But not for volleyball! He coaches jiujitsu!

PHILOSOPHY

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am very competitive, and I like to win. I also like to put in the hard work that goes into winning. Pushing yourself to levels that you didn’t think were possible and achieving goals that seemed too far off to achieve are gratifying and worth the sweat to make it happen. I will strive to really build up the fundamental skills to create a solid base that is made up of strength, consistency, speed, and teamwork. Add in discipline and focus and creativity and fun……and you’ll have something special! Each player will contribute to the overall success of the team and I will push them to be their best!

Playing

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico you are meant to play volleyball…it’s almost natural!  At the age of 9 years old I started showing interest in playing as I was watching the older kids play.  One day my elementary school PE teacher said “hey, you are tall, lets get you to play volleyball” and boy he didn’t realize the monster he was creating.  At the age of 11 yrs. old I was enrolled in club volleyball and played in the U13 age group.  I went to a small private school K-12.  By the time I was in 7th grade, I was in the Varsity team and started being team captain from 9th grade through 12th grade and was named MVP every year.  While I played at school, I also played for my town in several competitive leagues at the highest level of play compared to “open” level at the age groups of U14-U17.  When it was time to go to college, I had gone through some injuries and while I was offered to play, I decided to part ways with volleyball for a while and concentrate on school.  After moving to the US in 2002, I continued playing recreational tournaments in doubles and quads at the sand volleyball courts in Washington DC.  

Coaching/Philosophy

Since 2017, I decided to venture out coaching and started coaching at the Boys and Girls Club recreational leagues.  At the Boys and Girls club I coached from the beginner’s level to the advanced level teams and conducted several drills and skills clinics.  In 2021, I had the joy of my youngest son to demonstrate interest in playing the sport and we joined the Battle Volleyball family.  In the 2022 season I joined Battle as a coach of the U17-2 boys’ team.  

As a coach, to me is very important to teach the players good fundamentals and understanding the game.  Teaching the serve receive mechanics.  As a coach, I do my best to provide the players with the tools they need to be good players and good team members.  Volleyball is a team sport, and there is no “I” in team.  We have fun together, but we also work hard.  Players tend to concentrate on spiking and there is much more in volleyball than the spike.  We learn every position in the court.  I want the kids to be complete players with a solid Volleyball IQ.  My main goal every season besides teaching them good volleyball, is to ensure that the kids are taking advantage of the club opportunity and create their own love and passion for the sport. 

Playing

I started playing volleyball back in middle school, but my love for the game began my 8th grade year, when I started playing club. When I started, I was a middle, but during my sophomore year when I played at Clash Volleyball Club, I was moved to be an outside hitter/all the way around. During my freshman year of high school, I was pulled up to varsity for district and regional play. After that, I played and started on varsity the rest of my high school career.

Coaching/Philosophy

I began coaching in 2019 at Clash Volleyball Club. I was an assistant coach to the 16’s team. In the fall of 2019, I was asked to coach the Freshman team at Osbourn Park. The following 4 years I moved up to coach JV. Now I am in my 5th year at Osbourn Park, where I am the new Head Varsity coach. Since I began coaching, I have fallen more in love with the game, due to the opportunity to share my love and knowledge with these young girls. Coaching has been by far, the most rewarding job. In my 5 years of coaching, I am constantly working out my coaching style and philosophy. I am still a student of the game and still learning new things as the game evolves. Like all sports, volleyball teaches you valuable life lessons, so my wish as a coach is that the girls take those with them as they grow older.