She Aced That

In this episode of She Aced That, I sit down with Sarah Lindstrom — co-founder and executive director of L2 Volleyball Club out of the Legacy Center in Brighton, MI. If you've been around the Michigan club scene, you've seen L2 at your tournaments. But before the club, Sarah has spent over a decade as a high school head coach at Divine Child, Walled Lake Central, and Northville. In this co...

In this episode of She Aced That, Alyxandra sits down with Maya Winterhoff — middle blocker for the Columbus Fury of Major League Volleyball and App State's first-ever professional volleyball draftee. Selected No. 20 overall in the 2025 MLV Draft, Maya was the only player from the Sun Belt Conference drafted that year, capping off one of the most decorated careers in App State history: four-ti...

What does it actually take to run a volleyball club? Not the polished version — the real, behind-the-scenes, phone-calls-every-morning, budgeting-over-a-year-in-advance version. In this episode, I sit down with Alan Patterson and Rob Conley, the Club Director and Assistant Club Director of Dynamite Volleyball Club out of South Lyon, Michigan. Al founded Dynamite — not because he set out to build a...

This week I'm sitting down with Alejandro De Mendoza, also known as @thevolleyballcoach! Alejandro is the club director at Momentous Volleyball Club in California, a coach with over a decade in the sport, and someone who spent years working alongside the USA Women's National Team. We get into growth mindset and why that one little word "yet" is more powerful than you think, the d...

The future of volleyball is now — and Emily Ehman has been at the forefront of it! Emily grew up in Bloomington, Indiana as a multi-sport athlete playing both volleyball and track at a high level. She played club at Circle City in Indianapolis, driving over an hour each way. At 5'8" she could touch 10 feet — a direct result of her cross-training as a jumper and sprinter. She committed to...

Pitt Volleyball assistant coach Kamalani Akeo joins She Aced That to talk about what makes one of the most successful programs in college volleyball so consistently elite. From culture and buy-in to direct communication and what Pitt calls "small conflicts," Kamalani breaks down the foundation that has led to multiple Final Four appearances and national championship runs. Kamalani's...

Holly Toliver ran the Michigan State volleyball camps I attended as a kid and was one of the players I looked up to at Jenison Fieldhouse. She was part of MSU's historic 2017 Elite Eight run, ranked second in the Big Ten in aces, and went on to play professional volleyball across the world and at Athletes Unlimited alongside Olympians like Jordan Larson. This conversation is one of the most ho...

Elise Hardesty-Irvin, NAIA college coach, 17U club coach, and the creator behind @letstalkvolleyball joins She Aced That! In this conversation, we discuss: What it really takes to be a setter - the mental fortitude, leadership, and constant feedback Practical advice for athletes dealing with injuries and mental blocks Recruiting truths every athlete and parent needs to hear (when to start, how oft...

Dr. Anitra Brockman continues to make history! As the head coach of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Men's D1 Volleyball Program, the first NCAA D1 HBCU to add men's volleyball, Dr. Brockman is breaking barriers and paving the way for the next generation of female coaches. In this episode, we dive into: How she went from parent coach to D1 trailblazer What it's really li...

What happens when you break your back in three places at 15? For Victoria Clay, it became the catalyst for an incredible journey from Division I cheerleader to fitness entrepreneur impacting well over 100,000 people. In this episode, Victoria shares her philosophy that changed everything: "Confidence comes from your preparation." Using her powerful balance beam analogy, she breaks down w...

Leah Wilton-LaBoy just finished her senior season at the University of Utah! She started at Utah State, transferred to Oklahoma, then finished her college career at The University of Utah. Three programs, three coaching staffs, three completely different groups of hitters - and she still hit 2000 career assists! In this conversation, Leah shares about: → Growing up in a volleyball family → Winning...

What's really going on in your head when you freeze up in big moments? Why are you so much harder on yourself than you'd ever be on a teammate? And how do you actually build confidence instead of just faking it? This week I sat down with Alison Gorrell, a mental performance coach who played D1 basketball, went pro overseas for seven years, and got her masters in sport and exercise psycholo...

Welcome back to Season 2 of She Aced That! This week we have Evie Doezema who just wrapped up her senior season at Michigan State after four years with the program. In this conversation, we talk about what loyalty looks like in the age of the transfer portal, switching positions at the D1 level, and how she's leaving MSU better than she found it! We also get into: Growing up in Grand Rapids an...

Welcome to the Season 1 finale of She Aced That! In this episode, I'm reflecting on six months of conversations with professional volleyball players, mental performance coaches, college coaches, and community builders. From Coach Kelsay's courageous conflict approach at Michigan State to Brooke Nuneviller's journey to professional volleyball and signing with Mizuno. From Bella Bergmark...

Mackenzie Yoakum was a three-time All-State player who led her team to states for the first time in 14 years. She had nearly 700 kills her last two years of high school. In this genuine conversation, Mackenzie walks us through navigating the transfer portal twice, choosing to redshirt, finishing a season 2-29, and the moment she realized earning her spot had nothing to do with playing time—it was...

Lindsay Rowe, founder of Ace Factory in Michigan, a mother of seven and a Marine Corps veteran spouse, saw a gap: families driving hours for indoor training, athletes missing opportunities because of cost, and kids needing positive spaces to belong. So she built it herself. We dive deep into: ​The night their 1906 farmhouse burned down and how her family escaped by jumping from second-story window...

What separates good athletes from elite athletes? The mental game. In this episode, mental performance coach Jess Knecht breaks down the Four Cs of Elite Mindset: Commitment, Confidence, Concentration, and Composure. Jess, a partner at Max Out Mindset who works with Division I athletes, championship teams, and professional players shares actionable strategies you can use TODAY to train your mental...

Why do so many talented athletes dominate in practice but freeze in games? In this powerful conversation, mental performance coach Kristen Woodman breaks down the real reasons athletes underperform—and how to fix it. Kristen shares her personal journey of using volleyball as an escape and how those experiences shaped her approach to training mental toughness. We dive deep into: - The practice vs....

Fresh off signing with Mizuno, Brooke Nuneviller joins She Aced That to share her incredible journey from college standout to professional volleyball player. As a three-time All-American at the University of Oregon and the only player in Pac-12 history to record 1,500+ kills and 2,000+ digs, Brooke has built a career defined by versatility, grit, and passion for the game. In this episode, Brooke o...

Playing scared or feel burnt out at the end of your school season? This episode is your game plan for the gap between high school and club season. We're talking about what playing scared actually looks like, how to tell if you're burnt out vs. just having a bad week, and the exact framework for using your off-season to reset. Week-by-week guidance on rest, low-pressure play, cross-training...

From Stanford star to Team USA gold medalist to Director of Volleyball at Athletes Unlimited, Cassidy Lichtman has played every position in volleyball—and now she's building the future of this sport in America. In this episode, Cassidy shares her incredible journey including: How she "snuck into" the national team gym and stayed for 5 years The revolutionary Athletes Unlimited model...

In this powerful episode of She Aced That, we sit down with Ellen Dempsey, the winningest volleyball coach in Hiram College history turned Executive Director of the Side-Out Foundation. Ellen shares her incredible journey from dual-sport athlete at Michigan State (volleyball & track), through a career-ending injury that launched her coaching path, to becoming a championship coach with 2 confer...

Three months in: midnight edits, morning meetings, and how I know I was made for this. If you're waiting for the "right time" to start that thing you've been thinking about, spoiler alert: there isn't one. The time is now! Connect: @sheacedthat | sheacedthat@gmail.com MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Michigan State Volleyball Coach Kelsay Interview Bella Bergmark Interview New epis...

Join me for an insightful conversation with professional volleyball player Bella Bergmark, who takes us from her early days as an outside hitter to becoming a two-time NCAA champion middle blocker and has played professional volleyball on various continents. Bella opens up about her pivotal coin flip decision that led her to transfer from Cal to Texas, where she won back-to-back national champions...

In this episode of She Aced That, I sit down with Kathryn to explore her journey building a boys high school volleyball program from nothing. Two years later, her players are heading to college teams—athletes who had never touched a volleyball before their junior or senior year. Kathryn shares the reality of starting something terrifying, the unexpected differences between coaching boys and girls,...