BOONE, N.C. — App State Volleyball head coach Chad Sutton announced his coaching staff Thursday with the addition of three assistants. His staff will include Ed Tolentino as associate head coach, Brooke Phillips as assistant coach & recruiting coordinator, and Valerie Sutton as assistant coach & director of volleyball operations. 
 
“I am really excited about the staff that is joining me in this endeavor to take App State over the top,” Chad Sutton said. “As with recruiting, my goal is always to bring the very best of people together. This staff consists of high-character, high-quality people first and foremost. Their acumen for the game and ability to teach, connect, and inspire further sets them apart. Lastly, what makes me most excited about each of them is their desire to impact our student-athletes beyond the court. This is a staff that truly cares about our players’ experience and works to enhance it in every way. I thank them for their belief in me as a leader and cannot wait to work alongside them each and every day.”
 
Ed Tolentino | Associate Head Coach 
“I’m excited to start this new chapter of my coaching career and use my experience to help continue the rise of this program,” Tolentino said. “I share the same vision and goals as Coach Sutton, and I look forward to coming to Boone.”
 
Tolentino comes to Boone after leading Xavier’s volleyball program as the associate head coach. He had served as Xavier’s associate head coach since 2017 and was an assistant coach for the Musketeers for the 2016 season. Last season, the Musketeers recorded four sweeps and a pair of five-set victories. Xavier also had its first Big East Co-Freshman of the Year in four seasons in Margo Kemp, who recorded a hitting percentage of .345 and appeared in all 28 of Xavier’s matches during the 2024 campaign. 
 
In 2023, the Musketeers went 18-12, placing fourth in the Big East regular season standings and appearing for a second consecutive year in the conference tournament. Xavier also notched its first program victory against No. 11 Creighton, a Big East rival, marking its first ranked win since 2007. Tolentino also mentored four-time Big East honoree Carrigan O’Reilly. O’Reilly was the second Musketeer to eclipse 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs in addition to tallying six career triple-doubles and 47 career double-doubles. Tolentino was a member of the staff that won the 2022 Big East Coaching Staff of the Year award after helping guide Xavier to a 21-12 record, a third-place finish in the Big East regular season standings and an appearance in the NIVC Quarterfinals. Across his nine seasons in Cincinnati, Tolentino guided eight athletes to All-Big East honors, two athletes to AVCA All-Region First-Team accolades and one athlete (Abbey Bessler) to an AVCA All-America accolade.
 
Tolentino has been a collegiate volleyball coach since 1997, and his coaching journey has included stops at UConn, Morehead State, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern Michigan, Madonna (Mich.), and Oakland. 
 
In 2015, Tolentino assisted UConn to a 16-15 (10-10 AAC) record and two All-AAC honorees. 
 
For two seasons, Tolentino was on the coaching staff for Morehead State, where he helped guide the Eagles to their fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) title and second NCAA Tournament appearance. 
 
From 2009-12, he was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech. He assisted Georgia Tech to 72 wins as well as an appearance in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Individually, he guided three athletes to AVCA All-America accolades. 
 
Tolentino has also coached at the club level with the Premier Volleyball Academy in Maumee, Ohio, and M-Juniors in Ann Arbor, Mich. 
 
Tolentino is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and National Athletic Trainers Association. Before becoming a volleyball coach, he was a minor league trainer for the Detroit Tigers Organization. 
 
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Detroit Mercy in 1997. During his collegiate playing career, he was a setter and defensive specialist at Macomb College before studying at Detroit Mercy.
 
Brooke Phillips | Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join App State Volleyball and work alongside Coach Sutton and the rest of this talented staff,” Phillips said. “I’m eager to build relationships, attract outstanding student-athletes, and help push this program forward.”
 
For the 2025 spring season, Phillips was a graduate assistant coach at Mercer. She also capped her playing career as a setter at Mercer during the 2024 season. Phillips, who was named the 2024 SoCon Setter of the Year, appeared in 33 matches and 123 sets for the Bears. She averaged 9.77 assists per set, totaling 1,202 on the year. 
 
Prior to her time in Macon, Ga., Phillips made stops at Lipscomb (2019-Spring 2021) and IU Indy (Fall 2021-2023). Across three seasons at IU Indy, then called IUPUI, Phillips appeared in 83 matches and 316 sets, totaling 1,001 assists (3.17 per set) and 743 digs (2.35 per set). She also served up 120 aces with the Jaguars. During the 2021 spring season, Phillips competed at Lipscomb, appearing in 13 matches. She ranked second on the team in the assists category, tallying 178.   
 
Valerie Sutton | Assistant Coach & Director of Volleyball Operations 
“I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to help take App State Volleyball over the top,” Valerie Sutton said. 
 
Valerie Sutton served as an assistant coach at Mercer for two seasons and had coached in a similar role at Coastal Carolina. 
 
She joined the Mercer staff in 2023. In her two seasons with the Bears, she helped lead the team to a 42-19 record. Last season, the Bears went 26-7, marking their best program record, and clinched the program’s first outright SoCon regular season title as well as their first postseason appearance. She also helped guide the Bears to a 16-12 overall record and 12-4 SoCon record during the 2023 season. The 2023 season was highlighted by the program’s first win at Samford in nearly three decades. 
 
In 2022, Sutton was part of the coaching staff at Coastal Carolina, where she helped guide the Chanticleers to 17 victories and a runner-up finish in the Sun Belt East Division standings. The Chanticleers recorded a team hitting percentage of .235, and their non-conference slate was highlighted by a shutout of Virginia Tech. 
 
Sutton made her coaching debut as an assistant coach at McCutcheon High School in Indiana. She helped guide the Mavericks to the program’s first state championship, a record of 30-6, and 26 sweeps. In the program’s seven matches in the state tournament, the Mavericks only dropped two sets. 
 
A two-time All-American at Purdue, Sutton (then Valerie Nichol) appeared in 455 sets and 132 matches for the Boilermakers from 2011-14. She registered 903 kills and a career hitting percentage of .215 with 2,149 assists, 623 digs, 213 blocks, and 57 aces. Additionally, she notched 30 double-doubles and four triple-doubles and was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. She was also a member of the USA National Collegiate A2 Team (2012, 2013) and a member of the USA College U22 National Team that made an appearance in the 2014 Global Challenge in Europe. In 2017, she received an invitation to the USA National Team Training Camp. For eight years, she competed professionally in Germany, Poland, Puerto Rico, and the United States.
 
In 2015, she earned her bachelor’s degree in movement and sport science from Purdue. She married App State head coach Chad Sutton, whom she had coached with at Coastal Carolina and Mercer, in 2023. They had their son, Brody, in 2025. 

New in 2025, the All-Big West Teams are composed of individual players rather than pairs, with 20 student-athletes on the first and second teams and a six-member All-Freshman team. All seven programs have at least one honoree dotting the listings. Big West Champion Long Beach State swept the individual awards.  

The junior duo of Hagenah and Gementera are earning their third All-Big West First Team honors along with Pairs Team of the Year. The Beach duo are the first from LBSU to earn the league’s top pairs honors since sport sponsorship began in 2016.  The duo is 33-4 on the sand from the No. 1 position, and winners of their last six matches and eight of their last 10. Thirty of their wins in 2025 have come in straight sets and the point on Court 1 was the match clincher for LBSU on eight occasions. 

Cal Poly first team All-America pairing of Piper Ferch and Erin Inskeep see their names on the All-Big West first team in consecutive seasons. For Ferch, a senior from Redmond, Wash., this is an impressive fourth first-team nod. The No. 1 tandem for the Mustangs are 27-6 from the top flight in the lineup, winning their last six matches and eight of their last 10 heading into the national postseason. 

After compiling a 29-7 overall record for Cal Poly, No. 2 pair Logan Walter and Izzy Martinez also earned first-team distinction as well as second-team All-America. Martinez, a junior from Winnetka, Calif., is making a third All-Big West first team with Walter up from the second team a season ago. The two currently hold Cal Poly’s longest streak with eight consecutive dual points won.  

After earning second-team honors in 2024, the Cal State Bakersfield pairing of Ella Erteltova and Vivi Kaelin both made the first team for the Roadrunners. The twosome has played from the top three positions all season long compiling a record of 18-6, including a 10-3 mark from Court 2. Erteltova, a senior from Zilina, Slovakia, has been paired with Kaelin, a sophomore from Lake Oswego, Ore., the past two years as the couplet is up from the 2024 All-Big West second team. 

Julia Westby, a junior from Oceanside, Calif., is making a second appearance on the first team and third overall Big West honor. Westby primarily plays at the No. 2 spot in the lineup for LBSU, recording a 22-15 overall record playing alongside three partners.  

Hawai’i junior Alana Embry makes a second straight showing as a first teamer, playing from Courts 1, 2 and 3 this year. The product of Poway, Calif., finished the season with an overall record of 15-20 for the Rainbow Wahine.  

The second team listings see five programs in the listings. For the Beach, four players made the second team including seniors Megan Widener,  Natalie Glenn and Skyler Germann as well as freshman Demi Wagdy. Two from Hawai’i in juniors Sarah Burton and Caprice Lorenzo are joined by Sacaramento State senior playing partners Caitlin Volkmann and Bridgette Smith. Senior Kylie Miller represents UC Davis as an award winner and Cal Poly’s Ella Connor also earned second-team honors. 

The All-Freshman team, new in 2025, sees two players apiece for Cal Poly and CSUN, with the tandem of Dylan Hall and Hannah Heflin for the Matadors. The Mustangs see first-year players Maddy Byrne and Elise Lenahan, and Hawai’i freshman Jasmine Wandeler nabbed a spot on the team. The All-Freshman team is rounded out by Freshman of the Year Wagdy of Long Beach State.  

Wagdy, a first-year player from Eastvale, Calif., enters the national postseason sporting a 28-8 record. Playing primarily at the No. 5 position with senior partner Widener, the unit is 9-1 in their last 10 matches. The twosome played at the 3s at The Big West Championship, going 3-0 with one unfinished match. Wagdy also saw time on the sand with two other playing partners, Meagan O’Leary and All-Big West first team selection Westby.  Along with top freshman honors, Wadgy was named to the All-Big West second team, along with primary partner Widener. 

Mike Campbell picked up Big West Coach of the Year for the third time, also netting honors in 2017 and ’23. In the midst of a 10th season at LBSU, Campbell has guided the Beach to a 212-110 (.658) overall record in that span.  The team has enjoyed seven 20-win seasons with Campbell at the helm, including four straight. The Beach is making a third consecutive appearance in the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship. 

Cal Poly and Long Beach State continue the season at the 2025 National Collegiate Women’s Volleyball Championship, with first serve on Friday morning from Gulf Shores, Ala. 

 

2025 Big West Beach Volleyball All-Conference Team
Pairs Team of the Year: Malia Gementera & Taylor Hagenah, Long Beach State  Freshman of the Year: Demi Wagdy, Long Beach State  Coach of the Year: Mike Campbell, Long Beach State
All-Big West First Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Institution	Hometown
Alana Embry	Jr.	Hawai’i	Poway, Calif.
Ella Erteltova	Sr.	Cal State Bakersfield	Zilina, Slovakia
Piper Ferch	Sr.	Cal Poly	Redmond, Wash.
Malia Gementera	Jr.	Long Beach State	Chula Vista, Calif.
Taylor Hagenah	Jr.	Long Beach State	Oceanside, Calif.
Erin Inskeep	So.	Cal Poly	Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Vivi Kaelin	So.	Cal State Bakersfield	Lake Oswego, Ore.
Izzy Martinez	Jr.	Cal Poly	Winnetka, Calif.
Logan Walter	So.	Cal Poly	San Mateo, Calif.
Julia Westby	Jr.	Long Beach State	Oceanside, Calif.

All-Big West Second Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Institution	Hometown
Sarah Burton	Jr.	Hawai’i	Perth, Australia
Ella Connor	R-Jr.	Cal Poly	Kihei, Maui
Skyler Germann	Sr.	Long Beach State	Minnetonka, Minn.
Natalie Glenn	Sr.	Long Beach State	Southlake, Texas
Caprice Lorenzo	Jr.	Hawai’i	Mesa, Calif.
Kylie Miller	Sr.	UC Davis	San Diego, Calif.
Bridgette Smith	Sr.	Sacramento State	Salem, Ore.
Caitlin Volkmann	Sr.	Sacramento State	Longmont, Calif.
Demi Wagdy	Fr.	Long Beach State	Eastvale, Calif.
Megan Widener	Sr.	Long Beach State	Carlsbad, Calif.
Honorable Mention: Ella Ensign (Cal State Bakersfield); Dylan Hall (CSUN); Hannah Heflin (CSUN); Julia Lawrenz (Hawai’i); Elise Lenahan (Cal Poly); Tia Mendiola (CSUN); Madi Nichols (Cal Poly); Quinn Perry (Cal Poly); Lindsey Sparks (Cal Poly)

Big West All-Freshman Team
Student-Athlete	Institution	Hometown
Maddy Byrne	Cal Poly	Newbury Park, Calif.
Dylan Hall	CSUN	Honolulu, O’ahu
Hannah Heflin	CSUN	Glendora, Calif.
Elise Lenahan	Cal Poly	Seal Beach, Calif.
Demi Wagdy	Long Beach State	Eastvale, Calif.
Jasmine Wandeler	Hawai’i	Stans, Switzerland

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Junior Noemie Glover, a new transfer opposite hitter for Sun Devil Volleyball, has been named to the USA Volleyball U21 National Team and will be training for the 2025 NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup.

Glover is one of 18 athletes who will train at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. After training is completed, 12 will travel to San Jose, Costa Rica to compete in the Pan American Cup. For the full roster and more information, head to USA Volleyball’s release here.

Glover is no stranger to representing USA Volleyball. In 2023, she was an alternate for the U19 squad that won the world championship. 

The native of Rancho Santa Fe, California comes to Tempe after two seasons at Oregon, where she helped the Ducks reach the NCAA Regional Semifinals last year, notching 263 kills after playing in all 32 matches.

LEXINGTON, Ky., — The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Jose Loiola as the AVCA National Assistant Beach Coach of the Year on Thursday.

Loiola just completed his second season as an assistant with the UCLA beach volleyball team in 2025, helping the Bruins earn a No. 1 seed in this weekend’s NCAA Championship.

• Loiola and the Bruins arrive in Gulf Shores as the top seed in the NCAA Championship after going 30-6 during the 2025 season.
• This is the beach volleyball Hall of Famer‘s second year as an assistant under Bruin Head Coach Jenny Johnson Jordan.
• He has helped the Bruins to the No. 1 ranking in the AVCA Beach Poll in seven of the 11 weeks this season.
• The 2025 UCLA team had four players earn AVCA All-American honors: Maggie Boyd, Peri Brennan, Natalie Myszkowski, and Sally Perez.
• This is Loiola‘s first AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year award.

UCLA Head Coach Jenny Johnson Jordan also earned this distinction in 2019.

The Bruins open NCAA Tournament play tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. PT/10:00 a.m. CT against 16th-seeded Chattanooga on ESPN2.

AVCA COLLEGIATE BEACH NATIONAL ASSISTANT COACHES OF THE YEAR

2018: Marcio Sicoli, Pepperdine University

2019: Jenny Johnson Jordan, UCLA

2021: Majo Orellana, Texas Christian University

2022: Steve Grotowski, Florida Atlantic University

2023: Gustavo Rocha, University of Southern California

2024: Angela Rock, Cal Poly

2025: Jose Loiola, UCLA

Ben Bakshian will study neuroscience at the university in Westwood. (photo courtesy of BHUSD)

Beverly Hills High School announced that Ben Bakshian, a member of the class of 2025, will be attending the University of California, Los Angeles. Bakshian will major in neuroscience at one of the top public universities in the nation.

Bakshian’s time at BHHS has been defined by excellence, balance and ambition. Whether in the classroom, in leadership or athletics, he made the most of every hour. He challenged himself with a demanding schedule of AP courses, completed four levels of French and spent three years in the Medical Science Academy, ultimately serving as MSA co-president.

Beyond academics, Bakshian’s leadership and service set an example. He founded the BHHS club Generation SOS, supporting students in conversations around substance abuse prevention and served as co-vice president of DECA, empowering young entrepreneurs. Bakshian was also a varsity athlete on the water polo and swim teams and found time to pursue his passion for creativity through the culinary arts program.

Bakshian’s BHUSD journey began in sixth grade at Hawthorne Elementary and continued through BVMS to BHHS.

“Ben is the kind of student who lifts every environment he’s part of,” BHHS Principal Drew Stewart said. “His intellect, leadership and heart have made BHHS a better place, and we can’t wait to see the incredible impact he’ll have at UCLA and beyond.”

For information, visit bhusd.org.