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2023-2024 LHVA Coaches

Name
Sloane Dill Co-Director
Mark Finegan Co-Director
Beth Pirrone Assistant Director/ 17 Purple Head Coach 16 Black Co-Coach
James Horan Assistant Director/ 16 Purple Head Coach, 15 Black Head Coach 14 Purple Co-Coach, 13 Black Head Coach
Blaine Fitzgerald 17 Purple & 16 Black Co-Coach
Doug Zani 17 Black Co-Coach
Leslie Morales 17 Black Co-Coach 16 Purple & 13 Purple Head Coach
Alexandra Welch 16 Purple Assistant Coach & 14 Purple Co-Coach
Anthony Pirrone 15 Purple & 14 Black Head Coach
Melissa Noriega 15 Purple Assistant Coach
JoJo Fernandez 15 White Co-Coach
Denise Potenza 13 Purple Assistant
Angie LeCours 13 Black Assistant Coach
Chris Cabrey Additional Regional Team
Nora Fernandez Additional Regional Team
Joseph Teves Additional Regional Team
Jill Miller Additional Regional Team

LVHA has selected experienced volleyball coaches from around the county. Many of our coaches have played on the college level and have years of coaching experience. 


Directors


Sloane  Dill

Sloane Dill

Co-Director

Phone: (914) 557-2570

Sloane started her volleyball career at Pelham Memorial High School and continued to play for Nazareth College. While obtaining her bachelor’s degree, she coached for Volley FX in Rochester, New York. Shortly after graduation, she returned to Pelham where she and Mark Finegan began Lower Hudson Volleyball Association in 2007.  Sloane was also an assistant coach for Pelham Varsity Volleyball from 2007-2012, where she helped lead her team to the State Championship in 2011 and 2012. In 2015, she was the JV volleyball coach at Tuckahoe High School and was the Varsity Coach from 2016-2019. As the club now begins its seventeenth year, she is excited to continue to provide opportunities for girls to accelerate their volleyball skills.

Beth  Pirrone

Beth Pirrone

Assistant Director - 17 Travel Head Coach 16 Black Co-Coach

Phone: (917) 209-1215

For Beth Pirrone, volleyball is much more than a sport she loves;  it has become the focus of her career in ever expanding ways.  She  began her work as a volleyball professional in 2012 as the owner and president of Westchester Volleyball NY.  This organization provides both adult and youth volleyball leagues, programs, clinics, and tournaments on a year round basis, reaching over 1,000 participants. WVBNY is a promoter for AVP America, which is under the AVP (Association of  Volleyball Professionals) umbrella.  WVBNY has attained the status of the #7 promoter (of over 300 promoters nationwide) for  AVP America. Additionally, she developed and currently runs the largest Juniors Beach Doubles Volleyball program in Lower Westchester and has expanded the number of participants from 45 to 160.

In 2020, Beth became assistant director and continued her 8 year career as a certified head coach for LHVA (Lower Hudson Volleyball Association).  In addition to coaching the 17 travel, 16’s, and 13’s, she heads the positional and developmental programs.

From 2017 - 2020, Beth was the head varsity boys’ coach for Eastchester High School, NY, a  startup program.  She led the team to a Section 1 Boys’ Championship in 2019, and received the honor of Boys’ Section 1 Volleyball Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018.

In 2021, Beth added to her repertoire by serving as Assistant Volunteer Coach at Fordham University, NY,  Her responsibilities included helping in practice planning, managing and overseeing pass and serve, providing serving zones to players  during matches, watching film to scout opponents, and coaching at all home and away games, including the A10 Tournament.

 Beth coached 2 seasons the head Coach at SUNY Maritime College and has now gotten back into coaching High School Varsity Volleyball at Tuckahoe.  Sharing the knowledge she has gained over her many experiences with her enthusiasm, openness and willingness to build a positive team environment, will build the quest to reach the highest performance and strive to  become the benchmark of the season.

 She looks forward to being a 9th year coach at LHVA and passing along her knowledge and love of the sport to the young athletes she will mentor.

 

 

Mark Finegan

Mark Finegan

Co-Director

Phone: (914) 602-1912

Mark Finegan has been coaching volleyball for 33 years. From 1990-2000, he coached the varsity volleyball team at New Rochelle HS and then began at Pelham HS where he is still the head coach. While coaching high school volleyball, he led his team to 12 League Champions, 2  Section 1 Champions, 2 Regional Champions and 2 State Final Fours in 2011 and 2012. Amazingly, he has been the Section 1 Coach of the Year 9 times. Since 1996, he has also been a physical education teacher at Pelham Memorial High School. Additionally, in 1998, he started coaching boys varsity basketball at Pelham.  In 2007, he and Sloane Dill began Lower Hudson Volleyball Association. Today, he continues to show the love of the sport by dedicating his time to the game year round. He looks forward to another successful season with LHVA!

James Horan

James Horan

Assistant Director - 16 Purple / 15 Black / 14 Purple / 13 Black Coach

Phone: (516) 695- 3356

James grew up on Long Island and attended Plainview-Old Bethpage High School where he played soccer, football, and baseball. He played Division III Football at Alfred University and obtained his M.S. in Physical Education from Hofstra University. He is entering his 16th season as a Head Volleyball Coach and is currently the Varsity Head Coach at Briarcliff High School. 

He began playing volleyball over 15 years ago and continues to compete indoors and outdoors in the area. He looks forward to sharing his passion for volleyball - developing skills, building character & confidence, and promoting team chemistry on and off of the court.


2023-2024 Coaches

Blaine Fitzgerald

17T & 16B Co-Coach

Blaine is a NYS Section One native, playing Soccer, Basketball and Lacrosse for Haldane High School. He first joined the volleyball community as a competitive grass doubles player, and later joined the Men’s Club team at High Point University as an outside hitter, where he was a three-year captain and club president. Upon graduation with a B.S. in Biology, he returned to the Downstate New York area to work as a research technician in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and reconnect with the Hudson Valley volleyball scene.
Blaine is currently the assistant coach for the SUNY Maritime Lady Privateers Volleyball team in the Bronx NY. Previously he coached beach juniors as a part of WVBNY. He prides himself on his upbeat energy and passion to improve players strengths both on and off the court. He is excited to get integrated into the LHVA team and looks forward to a successful club season!


Joseph Teves

Joseph was introduced to volleyball in his early elementary years. Moving to the U.S., he found himself playing soccer, as volleyball was not an established sport in his high school. Joseph faced various injuries and one major injury that redirected his life and goals.

A few years after recovery and soccer in the past, he stumbled on a volleyball community in Peekskill and Westchester County which led him back into playing volleyball. Discovering the path of coaching and training athletes.

He is excited to be playing for Lehman College starting Spring 2024. He is currently coaching at Briarcliff Highschool as a  JV & Modified Volleyball Coach, assisting the Varsity team with James Horan, and under the great influence of many coaches such as Anthony & Beth Pirrone to gain more coaching experience and how to become a great volleyball player.

Sharing the love, passion, and being a student of the game is something Joseph wants to impart to the future generation of athletes.


Anthony Pirrone

15 Purple Head Coach / 14 Black Head Coach

Anthony Pirrone was an avid competitive swimmer.  He started playing volleyball about 14 years ago and fell in love with the sport.  He recognized the opportunity for adults to come together and play volleyball competitively, so he organized a league to foster great competition, skill building, and camaraderie. Currently, he runs a successful volleyball league (Westchester Volleyball NY) with his wife, Beth Pirrone, and each year, the pair has been able to expand and refine their program to include even more opportunities for adult athletes in the volleyball community. Six years ago he started coaching the modified volleyball team at Mamaroneck Middle School.  This will be Anthony's 9th year coaching for LHVA, and is excited to bring his love of the game and commitment to excellent play to these young players.


Melissa Noreiga

15 Purple Assistant Coach

Melissa has played many sports at a young age but volleyball has always been her passion. She has played volleyball since she was 11 years old and still continues to play as an adult. She mostly played as a setter but now she plays all around. She is a Pelham Memorial High School alumni and she also played for LHVA for 4 years. After she graduated in 2016, she started coaching younger girls from ages 14 and 15 years old. This is her seventh year coaching with LHVA and is very happy and excited to continue coaching these girls and share the love for volleyball with them.

 


Doug Zani

17 Black Co-Coach

I moved to America from Brazil when he was 10 years old, in Brazil volleyball is just as popular as soccer and everyone starts playing from a very young age and I did both. When I moved to America there was no volleyball in any of the schools in this area, so I pursued my career as a soccer player for mount Vernon high school. After I graduated I was offered a job as a trainer at total form fitness where I still work up till this day doing what I love the most which is helping people stay in shape and be involved in sports at the same time. Thru totalformfitness I was introduced to other coaches and players who play volleyball in adult leagues and was finally able to start playing volleyball again. In 2015 I started coaching for Scarsdale high school as a JV coach, also Scarsdale volleyball club, and became obsessed with helping kids improve, succeed and have fun at the same time. In 2018 I was moved to assistant varsity and continue till today.


Alexandra Welch

16 Purple Assistant Coach

Alexandra has played volleyball for over 10 years, playing at RHAM High School (CT) and local Connecticut clubs. After being ranked the top high school team and top setter both her junior and senior year, Alexandra committed to play Division III volleyball at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. She played four years, where she transitioned to being an opposite attacker, receiving All-New England recognition. Alexandra also represented her collegiate conference as a member of the National Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Post-graduation, Alexandra was a head coach with Surge Volleyball Club in Rhode Island for two years for their 15 Open and 16 Open teams. Alexandra recently moved to the Westchester area and is excited to use her experience to be a part of the development and success of LHVA players.


JoJo Fernandez

14 Black Assistant Coach

Jojo’s love for volleyball started after playing on a company team more than 17 years ago. Ever since, he has been eager to play wherever he can find a game, whether it be indoor, grass, or beach volleyball. His passion for the game evolved into coaching.

 

This year will be his 7th year coaching club volleyball. He is also an assistant coach at WCC, a D-III college team in Westchester. His first experience coaching with LHVA was summer 2022 beach volleyball camp, fall 2023-24 will be his 2th season.

One thing he loves to hear from his players is “Hey coach, did you see that?” He loves to see their excitement to show off what they have learned. He enjoys seeing progression and improvement in each individual.

His ideal retirement is playing volleyball and daily walks along the beach. He will coach until he can’t.


Angelique LeCours

15 Black and 14 Purple Assistant Coach

Angelique played volleyball through middle school and high school in Irvington graduating in 2020. She is an LHVA alumni. She played multiple positions including outside hitter and setter. In the past, she has assisted with multisport classes at House of Sports, Irvington youth volleyball and i9 sports volleyball clinic/league. She is in her second year as the Assistant Varsity Coach at Briarcliff High School. Angelique is excited to start her second season as a club coach at LHVA! She looks forward to sharing her passion for volleyball and further developing skills for all players she encounters in the program.


Leslie Morales

17 Black Co-Coach 16 Purple & 13 Purple Head Coach

Leslie Morales had been playing volleyball for the last 11 years, 4 of those years were taken place at Manhattanville College playing Division 3 volleyball.  She is a Mamaroneck High school alumni where she has come to return not only as an alumni but as the Varsity Assistant coach and is in her second year there. Leslie has been coaching different age groups for the last 4 years. She is now entering her second year with LHVA and is super excited and looking forward to coach this club season by developing athletes passion, love and knowledge for this amazing sport!


Chris Cabrey

Chris grew up playing soccer, football, and lacrosse in the Philadelphia Catholic League. He began his coaching career in Philadelphia as an assistant high school football coach for 5 years. Chris’s volleyball career began when he started playing rec volleyball in the Philadelphia area. The sport stuck. Ever since, he has ingrained himself in volleyball; always pushing to improve, learn more, and hone his skills. Chris marries his love of volleyball with his passion for teaching and helping others to reach their potential. He has coached club volleyball for 6 years now, and played competitively for over a decade.


Nora Fernandez

I was born in Paraguay, South America.  I played team handball and volleyball for my school until I moved to NY.  I was part of the team-handball national team from 13 to 17 years old traveling throughout South America representing Paraguay. At age of 17, my family and I moved here and I joined the White Plains High School volleyball team and a team in the NY metropolitan women's soccer league. I've been playing indoor and outdoor volleyball for many years now.  I'm a sports lover and I'm excited for this new adventure!  I hope I can help others improve themselves and also keep learning about volleyball by helping coach this beautiful game. 


Jill Miller

Additional Regional Team

Meet Jill...I grew up playing sports and found my passion for volleyball early on. I played Varsity and Jr. Olympics Club in high school and competitive intramurals in college at USD. My continued passion for playing has led me to coaching volleyball and I am looking forward to my first season at LVHA.