Coach Denae Buss is a Co-Director and helped start the D-League Volleyball Program. Denae will begin her 7th year as Cedar Catholic’s Head Coach this fall, leading the Team to 4 state appearances, two State Runner up titles and a 4th place finish. Previously, she also was an assistant coach for Stanton high school for 2 seasons after finishing her collegiate career. Coach Buss also has been Cedar Catholic’s head junior high coach for the past 5 seasons and works with many youth through volunteer programs she puts on at the school. Denae has also been actively involved in club volleyball for the past 5 years running and coaching her own club, Nebraska Edge, for 5-12 grades and with NE Power for One season.
Coach Tracy Kuester-Burtwistle is a Co-Director and helped start the Nebraska D-League Volleyball Program. Kuester-Burtwistle brings a plethora of coaching experience to the Nebraska D-League after coaching a year as a volunteer coach with NECC. Along with her five years prior at Stanton where she guided the Mustangs to the state tournament four times during her five-year tenure. At Stanton, Kuester-Burtwistle had a 143-31 coaching record, while capturing a state championship, a state runner-up finish and two third-place finishes. She also guided the Mustangs to the East Husker Conference championship, adding two championship trophies and two runner-up trophies in five years. Prior to being named the head coach, she was a volunteer assistant coach for three seasons. In the community, Kuester-Burtwistle has been a staple for many youth development volleyball programs. She was an executive committee member for the Stanton Youth Development Volleyball program and a volunteer youth coach for 16 years. As an executive committee member, she manages the administrative duties such as recruiting coaches and scheduling practices. Kuester-Burtwistle is also a volunteer coach for the Stanton Juniors USAV program where she assists in the development of volleyball players, and coached with NE Power for a year. From 1994-2003, she was a volunteer youth coach for the Leigh Youth Development Volleyball program, before rebuilding the volleyball program at Allen Community School from 1992-1993. At Allen, Kuester-Burtwistle held a 36-8 coaching record and guided her team to the Nebraska State Volleyball tournament in 1992 and the sub-district finals in 1993. Tracy believes strong fundamentals are a key ingredient at an early age. She brings to Nebraska D-League Volleyball Program a proven track record in building a team culture, coaching sound fundamentals with her knowledge of the game as a Hall of Fame inductee in 2007, Kuester-Burtwistle played collegiately at Wayne State College. She was one of the team members of the 1991 WSC volleyball team who was inducted into the Wayne State College Athletic Hall of Fame. Coach Kuester-Burtwistle truly believes in preparing athletes to succeed as adults with the life lessons learned through the process playing on any team or individual sport.
Teresa has been involved with club volleyball for 26 years in Northeast Nebraska. Coaching junior high and elementary for Battle Creek Juniors, and junior high and high school for Stanton Juniors, along with teams from NE Power. Her success over her 24 years as the head coach at Battle Creek believed in a program based on strong fundamentals, hard work, team first concept and a family atmosphere. At Battle Creek lead teams to 3 State appearances. Teresa also has 2 years of experience at Stanton as a Volunteer Assistant Coach with an emphasis on setter’s training, and contributed to Stanton’s State appearance with the captured of State 3rd Place.
Coach Luettel is currently in her 4th season as head coach for Boone Central High School. Jordynn currently works within her high school and youth volleyball programs to instill fundamentals at a young age. Coach Luettel brings 4 years of club coaching experience prior to becoming a head coach. Her club experience comes from metro clubs such as Performance Volleyball Club (Omaha), Electric Force Volleyball Club (Omaha), as well as coaching 17U Waverly Jrs while playing collegiate volleyball. Jordynn played 2 years of collegiate volleyball at Doane University where they made nationals both years. Her philosophy is to grow each athlete as a person by emphasizing how sports can teach athletes discipline, respect, character and life lessons that will be used not only on the court, but after you have hung up your jersey.
She then took a teaching job at Leigh with the opportunity to coach varsity volleyball for 3 years. She also was the varsity coach the first year of the Clarkson/Leigh COOP. While being a head coach, Coach Hollatz was hands on with the youth programs focusing on girls feeling the love for volleyball through fundamentals and success. The past 8 years she has stayed current with the game of volleyball by being a varsity ref. Coach Hollatz played at the collegiate level and developed more of a sense of the game. Her philosophy for volleyball is fundamentals and knowledge of the game, along with hard work and dedication, will go a long way and lead to greatness.
Coach Zach Weber is in his first year as Pierce’s head coach. Prior to his head coaching duties, he served as assistant coach for four years, which included a district finals appearance. Zach has also been actively involved in youth and high school club activities along with his wife Brittany who is the club director in Pierce.
Coach Fisher comes with 21 years of coaching experience. She started as a club coach while she was playing collegiate volleyball at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Coach Fisher also has head coaching experience at the high school and junior high levels. She knows first hand how important it is to develop strong fundamentals at the younger ages so these athletes can have success at the high school level. Coach Fisher fell in love with the game of volleyball in 7th grade and she aspires to encourage that passion to the next generation of volleyball players. Northeast Nebraska has a deep culture of volleyball talent and Coach Fisher is excited to be a part of continuing that tradition.
Coach Julie Kvols has completed her 4th year as LCC head volleyball coach, during that time competing in a district final match last year. Julie enjoys helping teach fundamental volleyball to all ages including the Laurel youth program. She has helped with this program for 10+ years. I am excited for this opportunity to coach club volleyball as these are some of the best memories of playing volleyball. I believe athletics gives adolescents an opportunity to instill good work ethics, accountability, and teamwork to help turn our youth into successful adults.
Coach Jessica Eriksen just finished her 4th year at Laurel-Concord-Coleridge with head coach Julie Kvols. They have turned the program around and finished 3rd and 2nd, respectively, as well as a District runner-up finish in 2019. She has experience coaching youth fundamentals and club volleyball. Coach Eriksen played college volleyball for the Wayne State Wildcats. Her philosophy is to help give players the tools they need in order to be successful on and off the court. She is passionate about building a team culture based on hard work, character, and discipline. Her mission is to create the best experience for every athlete and help lead them to a successful future!
Coach Katie Wright Oswald just completed her 11th season as a high school volleyball coach. She has coached at the C1, B, and A levels with experiences at Syracuse, Raymond Central, Omaha Mercy, and most recently Norfolk Public. In addition to coaching at the high school levels, Coach Wright also has coached club seasons in the Omaha Metro area and made appearances at Nationals in Orlando, Florida with her teams. What she values most about coaching are the relationships she has formed with her players and coaching staff. She is looking forward to continuing to develop the skills of the talented athletes in Northeast Nebraska.
Coach Alisha Siebrandt was the Assistant Coach at Stanton High School for 9 years. She helped the Mustangs capture their State Championship, State Runner-Up and two 3rd place titles. Having been coaching and on the Head Committee for Youth VB at Stanton for 9 years. As well as coaching club VB at Stanton for 10 years.
Coach Jessie Brandl has been competing in volleyball since 3rd grade. She played for the Stanton Mustangs all four years of high school, earning appearances at the state volleyball tournament. The team finished runner up her freshman year, state champs sophomore year, and junior and senior year 3rd place. She competes at a college level for the Wayne State Wildcats as a libero/defensive specialist/ OH. She loves the game of volleyball and she hopes to carry on the tradition of love towards volleyball from the youth. She is very excited to meet new faces and have fun with the game of volleyball.
Coach Susan Lindsley is currently an Assistant Volleyball Coach at Humphrey St. Francis. During the 4 years with the Flyers, Coach Lindsley helped lead the team to 3 State appearances, including a Runner-up and 3rd place title. Prior to her years of coaching, Susan attended Doane University and became the first Tiger to be a 4 Time Volleyball All-American. Through her time playing on the collegiate level and coaching the Flyers, Coach Lindsley has learned the importance of fundamentals. She believes that any athlete that presents a coachable attitude and willingness to learn will have the ability rise to a greater level on the court and in their life.
Coach Jaclynn Rethwisch has been involved in club volleyball for the last 3 years. She is excited to share her experience with players and help them to gain confidence and knowledge of the game. She loves to be around volleyball and is so excited to a part of the D-League program.
Coach Jennifer Remmereid has just finished her second season as an assistant for the Clarkson-Leigh Patriots. Prior to teaching at Leigh, she was the head coach at Ord High School for two years and assistant/junior high coach for 11 years. She was the Nebraska X club director for five years and coached various club volleyball and basketball teams for 16 years. During her college volleyball career, Jen earned All-American honors while playing at Central Community College-Columbus and played two years at Emporia State University. She is passionate about the game of volleyball and helping young athletes compete at a higher level.
Coach Kelsie Cada attended Bishop Neumann High School where she was a four year starter and made 3 state tournament appearances. She played 7 years of club volleyball in Lincoln, Nebraska for VCN. She was apart of the 16 U Premier National Championship team in Orlando, Florida and received All-tournament honors. She now competes at the collegiate level as a 6 rotation outside hitter for the Wayne State College Wildcats. She has grown up around the game of volleyball and wants to share her love and passion for the game with all the aspiring young volleyball players!
Coach Mlnarik began her coaching career many years ago! After graduating from Northeast Community College where she played Volleyball and Basketball, then Graduating from USD with an Elementary Education Degree and also playing Softball for 2 years and a student assistant for a year, she started teaching at Clearwater Public School and was the Head Volleyball and Head Girls Basketball Coach. During her 12 years Coaching the Clearwater Cardinals and the Clearwater/Orchard Cyclones Volleyball Teams, she took her teams to state 3 years. During her 21 years of coaching basketball, she coached girls at Clearwater for 11 years making 2 trips to state and earning a 2nd place finish. She then made the switch to Coaching Boys Basketball at Clearwater and Clearwater/Orchard taking her boys to the state tournament 2 times and earning a 4th place finish! Over her coaching career, she has coached numerous youth teams and also started a Youth Basketball and Volleyball League. Coach Mlnarik joined the D League Coaching Team last year as one of the 15’s Girls Basketball Coach!
As a coach, she feels it is super important to make sure that there is a strong fundamental base and providing the tools young athletes need in order to not only succeed on the court but in everyday life. She wants athletes to have a good work ethic, be a team player and accountable which will in turn will help make them successful off the court as well! She is excited and honored to be part of the D League Family!
Coach Nancy Prauener brings a great amount of experience to our program. She has been helping with all levels of volleyball for over 14 years, including high school, junior high and multiple clubs.
Coach Taryn Janke is currently in her third year as head coach for Howells-Dodge Consolidated schools. She was the assistant coach for Howells-Dodge for three years before taking the head coaching position. She was the jr. high volleyball coach for two years and still runs their program, along with taking over the youth program within the last two years. In her time as head coach, Janke has had two state tournament appearances in 2020 and 2021, and helped her team to win the D-1 2021 Championship this year. Her team won the East Husker Conference championship in 2020 for the first time in Howells-Dodge history and took Conference Runner-Up in the 2021 season. Coach Janke is looking forward to being a part of the D-League program and helping out in any way she can.
Coach Liz Christensen will be coaching the 13 and under teams for Nebraska D-League this year. She is a graduate from Stanton High School, and continued my volleyball and academic career at Northeast Community College. Due to COVID, she was able to play volleyball at Northeast for three years. She has participated in many forms of competitive volleyball, high school, various club teams, and college. And each experience has taught her more about the game with every play. Volleyball has always held a very special place in her heart, and she is very excited to share her passion and love for the game through coaching!
Coach Allie Spence is currently studying at Wayne State College to major in Physical Education and minor in Coaching. She started playing volleyball in 3rd grade and played for Stanton High School for 4 years. While competing in high school she participated multiple times at the state volleyball tournament. The team placed runner-up her sophomore year, champions her junior year, and third place her senior year. She was an assistant coach for Hartington Cedar Catholic for the 2021 volleyball season. She loves the game of volleyball and can't wait to spend the rest of her life helping young volleyball players achieve their goals.
Coach Lori Ickes finished her first year as O’Neill St. Marys assistant coach and JV head coach. She has been working with the youth volleyball program at St. Marys for the past 6 years.
Coach Klinetobe began her coaching career in O’Neill and continued in Stanton and Norfolk. Her 21 years of experience coaching resume includes assistant varsity basketball, head varsity softball, head varsity volleyball, JH volleyball, youth basketball, youth softball, and club volleyball. Coach Klinetobe strongly believes that starting at the youth level with strong fundamentals and teamwork mentality builds successful programs. Coach Klinetobe built successful programs in her softball and volleyball teams by instilling these beliefs. She believes that any athlete involved in a team sport learns to connect their experiences of hard work, dedication, and teamwork into their everyday life. Coach Klinetobe is excited to work with the youth at the beginning level so she can help them become stronger individuals on and off the court.
Coach Bailey Lemburg graduated from Clarkson Public Schools in 2021, where she played for the Clarkson Leigh Patriots since 3rd grade. She was lucky enough to play in the state volleyball tournament her senior year of high school. After high school, she went on to play volleyball at Northeast Community College as a defensive specialist. This is her first-year coaching for the Nebraska D-League and she is super excited to share her love of the game with the D-League program.
Coach Christi Boyer has chosen to be involved in many aspects of volleyball and other sports since moving to Plainview. She has coached levels from third grade to high school and club focusing her attention on fundamentals. Her goals for each girl include improving their own volleyball skills along with attitude, character, effort, energy, teamwork, and work ethic for all life experiences. Another objective she likes to work to achieve is finding each girl’s strengths on and off the court and having them and their team utilize them.
Coach Boyer looks forward to the opportunity with D-League, getting to know each of the girls, and working together with all the staff.
My dad was a high school basketball coach in the Omaha area, so from a young age I spent everyday after school in the gym. Basketball was my passion and I was taught from a very young age how to dribble, footwork, and fundamentals. Needless to say volleyball didn’t really run in my family, and I had never touched a ball until my 8th grade year. I fell in love with a game I never even had in my vocabulary until then. It also came very natural to me, especially the defensive side. After that I was constantly practicing, watching film, and studying other players and teams. When I graduated high school I went to college in Florida and played in the NAIA. My first coaching position was for a Class 4A school in California, Faith Baptist Schools. The first two years the varsity made it the the state tournament finishing the the quarterfinals. The next year the team won the state title. After California, I returned home to Bellevue, Nebraska to help rebuild a small volleyball program at a private school. The first year the team played mainly at the JV level, and the next year the girls won 2nd place in their bracket at the National Homeschool Tournament held at the TVA. The following year I moved to Battle Creek, NE and began coaching junior high at St. John’s Lutheran School. This last year I was given the privilege of being an assistant at LHNE and coached the JV. Building relationships with my girls and their families is one of the best components of coaching. Watching the girls grow into amazing young ladies and athletes is the greatest reward any coach could ask for.
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