COACHES

ROBIN LAMOTT SPARKS

Travel Division Volleyball Director

15-1s Travel Coach

Coach Robin has coached for over 25 years, including 6 years as a Division I Head Coach. She was also named the Times Union (Albany) Coach of the Year when she led Troy High School. She worked with the USA Volleyball High-Performance Program and the USAV Coaching Accreditation Program (CAP) training coaches across the country. Coach Robin has her CAP III certification, is a collegiate and USAV official, and served on the Board of Directors of WeCOACH, a national organization supporting women in collegiate coaching. Coach Robin is also a graduate of the NCAA Women’s Coaching Academy where she was awarded the Judy Sweet Most Inspirational Coach Award. She is currently a Board and Executive Leader consultant with Lamott Sparks Consulting.

KATIE URYCKI

17-1s Travel Coach

Katie Urycki is currently the Associate Head Coach at Quinnipiac University, where she helped lead the team to a historic 2022 season which saw the program win its first ever conference title. She is in her fifth season at QU, where she played as an Outside Hitter from 2013-17. She received her Masters degree in Athletic Administration from the University of Miami, and is also a certified Strength and Conditioning coach!

ARYANAH DIAZ

15-1s Travel Assistant Coach

EMILY SMITH

17-1s Travel Assistant Coach

EVIE GIRARD

17-1s Travel Assistant Coach

Coach Evie is from Greenwich, Connecticut where she played growing up for local clubs such as Greenwich Volleyball Club and Northeast Volleyball Club.  Previously, she has coached club for 4 years and currently plays as a libero/DS on the University of New Haven volleyball team.

RILEE JESSEE

16-1s Travel Co-Coach

Rilee Jessee, also known as Coach Roo, has played collegiate volleyball for the past 4 years as a libero at the University of New Haven. As a libero, she started almost every match and recorded over 1,000 digs, 80 aces, and 130 assists while serving as captain for two season. She is originally from Columbus, Indiana, where she played club growing up for Team Indiana. She is coming into her second season coaching with NE Shock.

MICHELLE HENWOOD

16-1s Travel Co-Coach

Michelle Henwood is originally from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, but volleyball brough her to the northeast! She played 4 years of college volleyball at Saint Anselm’s, where she was a 3 year all conference setter and 2 year captain. She recorded 2,943 assists during her career, and is very excited to be a part of the University of New Haven volleyball program to finish her career. She hopes to become a Speech & Language Pathologist next.

JEN ROBINSON

14-1s Travel Coach

Coach Jen is returning for her second season with NE Shock after coaching our 13s last year. She’s not only coached at the NCAA D-I level; she played at it as well.  She was a two-year captain at Michigan State, where she helped the team to a pair of Big Ten Conference championships and a trip to the NCAA Final Four.  As a graduate student at the University of Florida, she helped lead the Gators to a Southeastern Conference title and was named the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player. She also played professionally and represented Team USA at the World Championships.

KARINA TORRES

14-1s Travel Assistant Coach

MOLLY HAMMACK

14-2s New England Coach

Molly has been playing volleyball for ten years and is a very excited first-time coach. She grew up in Granby, Connecticut where she was the Libero for her high school team when they won their state championship and then continued on to play for the UCONN club team during her college career. Molly works as an Events Coordinator and Planner in Hartford, and in her free time beyond playing volleyball- enjoys working out, playing with her dogs, and doing artistic DIY projects.

MADDY HALTEMAN

13-1s New England Coach

NICOLE ALBERT

14-2s New England Assistant Coach

SYDNEY SPARKS

13-1s New England Assistant Coach

BAILEY BRASHEAR

12-1s New England Coach

Bailey Brashear is currently a sophomore middle blocker on the Quinnipiac University volleyball team. She is originally from Kentucky, where she has experience working with young athletes. She is extremely excited to be joining NE Shock this season!

SHEILA CASTRO

12-1s New England Assistant Coach

RON SPARKS

New England Division Volleyball Director

12-2s Coach

Coach Ron has coached at every level from 5 year-olds to NCAA Division I. He was a part of the University at Albany staff when the Great Danes won their first America East Championship and participated in the NCAA Championship Tournament. While there he coached 4 different AE First Team players, 2 Players of the year, and an All-American. While coaching high school his team appeared in the state tournament 5 straight years, and were awarded the Scholar Athlete Team Award 4 years running. Coach Ron is not only coaching but also officiates NCAA Volleyball. He is dedicated to growing the sport, and has developed youth volleyball programs in several area elementary schools.

 

KENDALL FERREIRA

12-2s New England Assistant Coach

RHI ROZZA

12-2s New England Assistant Coach