Coaching Staff
Set Apart Coaching Staff
We provide a very experienced coaching staff. The majority of our coaches have played and/or coached at the college level. Our coaches are passionate about coaching and care for their players on and off the court. We strive for our players and other programs to see Jesus in our staff. At Anthem we prayerfully select the right coaches to lead our teams. Because we want the perfect fits for our organization, we will not fill more teams than we can provide quality coaching for.
STAY ON THE LOOKOUT ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES as we will be announcing all of our NEW 2022-23 Coaches leading up to Tryouts!! We have added a lot of new faces to the team and are excited for the year ahead!
Tori Malone
18-Navy Coach and Club Director
Coach Tori is the club director of Anthem United Volleyball Club. Tori founded Anthem in an effort to combine her passion for the Lord with her passion for volleyball. Her goal when coaching AU Volleyball always been for players to see Christ in the way Tori interacts with her players and Anthem families.
Tori has been playing volleyball competitively since 2006 and has played almost every position on the floor, only excluding middle hitter. Tori played for East Hamilton High School where she helped her team finish 3rd and 5th in the Tennessee State Finals her junior and senior seasons.
Tori played up in age groups many years while playing club volleyball and finished her club career playing on the 18-1 power team for Ocoee Heat in Cleveland, TN. Tori was offered several division 2 scholarships to continue her volleyball career but ultimately chose to stay local and play as a libero for Dalton State College in their inaugural season where she knew she could make an immediate impact as their starting libero. Tori recorded the first dig in Dalton State history and was her teams’ captain as a sophomore.
Tori continued her playing career playing some sand volleyball, winning 3 tournaments locally and placing second in a tournament in Brazil. Tori began coaching in 2013 for Set for Life for two seasons, Force Elite, and then founded Anthem United in 2016.
Tori served 2 years as the JV Coach and Varsity Assistant Coach for Boyd Buchanan High School. In 2019, Tori became the Head High School Coach for Christian Heritage School where in her 1st season she led the Lady Lions to beat their school record of most wins in a season, exceeding it by 10 wins. Her second season she helped bring her team to the GHSA State Tournament for the 1st time in School History and has continued to take them to State every year since. Tori continues to play volleyball competitively in adult leagues locally.
Tori works as an Educational Therapist. Tori has been married 6 years and has one daughter, Katelyn. She is eager to get this year started with her 18s and help them find the best colleges for them if they choose to extend their volleyball careers.
Savannah Wilbanks
17-Navy Head Coach
Savannah Wilbanks is a graduate of Sonoraville High and Brenau University. Savannah accomplished a lot in her years of volleyball, with accolades such as: 4 straight region championships, elite 8 and final four appearance, GHSA All-state, GHSA all-star game, and all-freshman team while at Brenau. Savannah started her coaching career coaching club at Prolink Atlanta and served as the JV coach for Sonoraville High School.
“From the very first time I played volleyball in 7th grade, I fell in love (enough to give up two other sports to focus on volleyball full time). I absolutely love playing, but what I enjoy even more is helping girls grow their love of the game just like my coaches did for me. This will be my 6th season coaching and I could not be more excited. I look forward to a wonderful season this year and more to come.” Coach Savannah has been with Anthem for 4 seasons. She has led 15s,16s, and 17s teams for us in the past and we are so happy to have her with us again.
Baylea Richards
Coach
Baylea has played volleyball for 11 years. She is a graduate of Sonoraville High School and Middle Georgia State University. During her time at Sonoraville, she accomplished many things such as a Sweet 16 appearance, two Elite 8 appearances, and a Final Four appearance. She was 90+ percentage in aces for all four years, ranked 41st in digs out of all classifications, and was named All-Region and All-Area for 2 years. Throughout middle school and high school, Baylea played club ball every year. She continued her volleyball career as a starter for all four years at Middle Georgia State University. She played all 6 positions at some point during her college career and was a captain for two years. She was named All-Academic team for all 4 years and was ranked 3rd in the school’s history for the most amount digs.
Baylea began coaching her freshman year of college. She coached 13s-15s for Tsunami Central GA. She is currently in her 2nd season as the JV coach/Varsity Assistant for Sonoraville High School, who just finished 1st in their Region and are headed to State. Coach Baylea says, “Once I picked up a volleyball in 6th grade, I knew I wouldn’t put in down for years to come. I love this sport and I love helping girls find that love and passion for the game." Last season Baylea led the a 17s team and we are excited for year 2 with Baylea!
Matt Malone
16-Navy Coach
Matt is one of our Club Directors, founded Anthem United in 2016 in an effort to combine his passion for the Lord with his passion for sports and growing the game of volleyball in our area. Matt was a tri-sport athlete at Gordon Lee High School, graduating class of 2011. After High School, Matt played college soccer at TN Temple University and began playing volleyball recreationally where he found a love for the game. Prior to Anthem, Matt served as an volleyball assistant coach for two seasons at a previous club and also spent a few years coaching High School basketball and soccer.
Since 2016, Matt has co-coached the 18-1's for 6 straight seasons, seeing tons of success on the court. Matt has also assisted his wife, Tori with the Christian Heritage School Varsity program for 4 seasons. Matt was a huge part of helping the team qualify for the GHSA State Tournament for the 1st time in School History and seeing a back to back appearance the following year.
Matt's favorite areas of the game to coach are helping players develop mental toughness, confidence, increasing their volleyball IQ, teaching hitting mechanics, and developing setters.
Kinsey Hargis
16-Navy Coach
Kinsey Hargis started playing volleyball in 6th grade and played competitively year-around until she graduated high school. Kinsey attended Heritage High School in Ringgold, GA where she played Varsity all 4 years. Although she began as a setter, Kinsey transitioned into an outside hitter and played defense in her later years of school. Kinsey was the captain of the Generals volleyball team her senior year and competed at the State level many times.
While Kinsey played on several travel volleyball teams in the area, she played her 18s season on the first ever Anthem United team in 2016. Kinsey attended the University of Georgia for college, where she was selected and chose to play in their very competitive club program. Kinsey is very passionate about taking her years of knowledge and helping other young players develop their skills and love for the game!
Rachel Priore
Coach
Rachel Priore has played volleyball for over 12 years. Originally from Chicago, Illinois she is a graduate of South Elgin High School where she played volleyball and basketball earning All-Conference Honors, All-Area Honors, Team MVP, and Team Captain. She played club volleyball and beach volleyball at Club Fusion Volleyball as a middle and outside hitter. In her time in high school, Rachel coached many summer camps and assisted with the boy’s high school volleyball team.
Upon graduation, Rachel attended DII California University of Pennsylvania where she played outside and rightside hitter. In her time as a Vulcan, Rachel earned All-PSAC Conference Honors twice, All-Region Honors, Cal U AD Honor Roll, PSAC Scholar-Athlete Honors, D2ADA Academic Achievement Awards, and Team Captain.
In college, Rachel was the President of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Rachel coached many summer camps and coached clinics for high school teams including Knoch High School who went on to win the 2017 PIAA State Championship. In the 2019 season, Rachel had a career-ending knee injury resulting in staying on the sidelines and taking on a coaching role for her college teammates. This is where she fell in love with coaching.
Rachel’s coaching career continued with one season of club ball before starting her coaching career at Anthem in 2021 as a 16s Head Coach. Following coaching club, Rachel served as the JV Head Coach and Varsity Assistant at Christian Heritage High. We are excited to have her for a 2nd year!
Annie O'Dell
15-Navy Head Coach
Annie O’Dell is formerly from Cincinnati, Ohio, Annie came to Chattanooga in 1996 on a volleyball scholarship at UTC. She spent the next 4 years as an OH with a phenomenal team that won the Southern Conference 3 times, played in the NCAA tournament twice and she captured a record high 100 career wins for the Lady Mocs.
She graduated with a degree in biology which led her to the next chapter of her life- teaching science and coaching volleyball at Ringgold Middle School and Ringgold High School.
Annie has been coaching club volleyball for almost 25 years, working with North Georgia Rage VBC, Cincinnati Attack Men’s VBC, and Anthem United VBC.
Annie and her husband Brandyn O’Dell were married in 2016 in the Eilean Donan castle on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. She has two children, Savannah and Bennett, who are involved in band and sports. She is a breast cancer survivor and loves coffee, dark chocolate, photography, and sharing her testimony.
Annie’s fight verse is Isaiah 40:31 and her motto is “He’s bigger than the battle.”
She is ready to take all of the incredible lessons life has given her and invest in her players. We are so lucky to have her for a 4th season with AU.
Mollie McCoy
Coach
Mollie is a Freshman at Chattanooga State and plays as Right Side Hitter. She has been playing volleyball for 9 years. Mollie attended Jonesboro High School in Jonesboro, AR and played all 4 years as both a Right Side Hitter and a Middle Blocker. In 2019, she helped lead her high school to the state finals where they won the 5A state championship and were undefeated the entire season. Additionally, during her 9th and 10th grade seasons they never lost a game with a combined record of 74-0!
This is Mollie's first year coaching with Anthem and she can’t wait to get this season started!
Josh Quinn
Coach
Josh played 4 years of club volleyball for the University of North Alabama as an Outside Hitter and Middle Blocker from 2016-2020. In 2020, he graduated from UNA with a Bachelor's degree in Geographic Information Systems.
He started his coaching career this past season as an Assistant Coach to Grace Baptist Academy alongside Coach Tony Hoekstra (12-Navy, 13-Nay).
Josh currently works as a Geospatial Technician for Hamilton County GIS in Chattanooga, TN. In his free time, he is usually playing volleyball, listening to music, or spending quality time with family and friends.
Josh is very excited to begin coaching with Anthem!
Ryen Hale
Coach
Ryen is from Northeast Arkansas and grew up in a small town called Highland. She plays Chatt State College. She is an Outside Hitter and has a huge passion for volleyball. Ryen has played volleyball from a young age and played for several different club teams during her career. Ryen received several honors during high school where she received Offensive Player of The Year, selected for the All-Star Team twice, and named to All Area team.
She loves helping people and being a leader to all ages. She enjoys taking pictures, exploring the outdoors and shopping. Bible studies come very easy to her and she is very open about her love for God. Ryen is super excited for this season and can’t wait to get started!
Ashlyn Boyd
14-Navy Head Coach
Ashlyn Boyd played volleyball all through middle and high school, lettering all four years as a Varsity member of Gordon Lee High. Ashlyn played club ball throughout school for C4, Force Elite, & ChooChoo City Volleyball Clubs before finishing her final two seasons with Anthem United on the 18-1s for Club Director, Tori Malone.
Ashlyn Boyd played one season of college ball at Chattanooga State as a DS/Libero. In High School she was given the Sidney Pierce award for desire & determination after helping lead her high school team to their first-ever state championship game.
Ashlyn has given volleyball lessons, assisted with positional training days, and coached Anthem United's 15-2's team last season. She loves to teach and wants to help each player reach their full potential. Ashlyn believes building confidence & team camaraderie are key to helping build a successful team. Volleyball is Ashlyn’s passion & she will bring lots of energy and excitement to her team.
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Gracie Thomas
14-Navy Assistant Coach
Gracie Thomas has played competitive volleyball for 7 years. Gracie played all throughout middle and high school, including playing club ball for Anthem United her entire club career.
Gracie played every hitting position on the floor at one point in her high school seasons. She contributed in a big way as a RS/MH for Gordon Lee High School, helping lead them to their first final 4 appearance her Junior year(2019). Her Senior season she helped lead the Lady Trojans to the finals of the State tournament, a first in school history as well(2020).
Gracie believes in playing for the love of the game and using competitive sports to build young women up. As a player, Gracie was known for her passion on the court and she hopes to bring this into her coaching style and instill intensity into her players.
Briley Considine
14-Red Co-Coach
Briley Considine played competitive volleyball for 7 years. Briley was a Varsity Middle Hitter and starter at East Hamilton all 4 years of High School. Briley was a key part of the Lady Hurricanes offense and helped them earn two back to back State appearances in 2011 and 2012. She helped her team finish 3rd and 5th in state her sophomore and junior seasons. Due to the large role she played, she was named All District and All Region several times in her high school career. Her Junior season she was named in the paper for being one of the Top 3 Chattanooga players to lead the area in Blocks.
Briley has coached one prior season of club ball and is excited to "be a positive mentor to players and help their spiritual growth. She knows that lessons learned through this sport will not only help them on the court but in everyday life." We are so excited to have Briley this season!
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Destiny Cavin
14-Red Co-Coach
Destiny Cavin has been playing volleyball for 8 years competitively. Destiny played as a middle and right side hitter her 4 High School seasons at Ringgold High School where she received multiple awards in her time at RHS for being a school leader in blocks and aces. Destiny was named to the 6-AAA All Region team her senior season. She played club with Anthem United for 3 years.
Destiny is currently on a volleyball scholarship at Chattanooga State for her freshman season. Destiny is majoring in exercise science with the intent to continue coaching volleyball in schools or other capacities post college.
Destiny was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Destiny is very excited to coach this season, she says, "I’ve learned a lot from my coaches and can’t wait to pour my knowledge into young players."
Mya Hathaway
14-White Head Coach
Mya has been playing volleyball for 8 years. She started her career in 6th grade at Saint Rose Catholic School in Murfreesboro, TN. She played all 4 years in High School at Oakland High and played on Varsity for three of those years. During her senior year, she received a award for All District in triple A.
Mya has played both as a Setter and Defensive Specialist for her career. She started her club career at Mid TN Volleyball. Then decided to play three years at Tennessee Performance Volleyball. She desribes herself as an underdog but her drive and determination is what got her where she is today. She also assisted her mom with coaching Saint Rose's Varsity volleyball team. She had fun watching and helping them grow through the start of some of their careers as well.
To her volleyball is not only a sport but something she can put all of her energy into. Mya said she is blessed to be able to play a sport that brings her so much joy. Mya is also a very competitive person and believes structure and working hard is the best way to achieve her goals!
Tony Hoekstra
12-Navy / 13-Navy Head Coach
Tony Hoekstra has been coaching volleyball for over 25 years. His coaching career includes:
1994-2000 Walnut Hills High School JV Girls Coach
1995-2002 St. Williams School Boys 8th Grade Coach
1996 Thunderbirds 16 Girls Junior Olympic Team
1997-2016 Cincinnati Attack Boys Junior Olympic Coach for ages 13-18s
2006-2016 Cincinnati Attack Club Director for Boys 13-15s
2016-2019 Summer Camp 16-18s Girls Coach for Shepherd University.
2019-current Anthem United 12's & 13's Girls Head Coach
We are so blessed to have someone with Coach Tony's coaching experience back with us for the 3rd season.
AJ Howard
13-Red Head Coach
AJ started playing volleyball when she was 10 years old but grew up watching her older sister play. Club season was always her favorite because she learned so much more from those coaches and got gold medals! She was looking at colleges to play at and got some offers but tore her ACL during her junior club season. It was a long recovery but she got back to playing the day she was released. She played indoor and grass intramural volleyball all four years while she attended Clemson University. She has also been coaching instructional to 12 and under as well as Volleyball refereeing for four years at Clemson/Central Rec. AJ cannot wait to share the love she has for volleyball and help young girls reach their goals!
Larissa Braley
13- White Head Coach
Larissa has a great passion for volleyball. She grew up playing volleyball in the Birmingham area and eventually earned a college scholarship to a school in Alabama. Larissa then completed her playing career at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama.
After college, Larissa volunteered with various programs in Montgomery. When Larissa and her family moved to Chattanooga she assisted with the Patriots homeschool volleyball for a couple of years. She took a short hiatus from the sport to raise her two precious children and has now returned to the sport once again since her daughter has fallen in love with volleyball. Ultimately, she wants to share her love of volleyball, and help the girls grow in skill, leadership, confidence, and character.
Playing Experience:
1991-1992 Pelham High School
1992-1995 Thompson High School
1991-1995 Birmingham Volleyball Club
1995-1997 Central Alabama Community College
1997-1999 Faulkner University
Past Coaching Experience:
Prattville Christian Academy - Volunteer Assistant (2 years)
Brew Tech - Head Coach (1 year)
CSTHEA Patriots - Assistant (2 years)
CSTHEA Patriots Head Coach (1 year)
Anthem United 12s Head Coach (1 year)
Positions Played:
A little of everything, but her specialty is Defensive Specialist / Libero.
Larissa has a heart for the Lord and her players. She matches the mission of our club and ministry so perfectly. We are so excited to have her with us again this year!
Anna Wilks
Coach
Anna started playing volleyball when she was in 4th grade and played all the way through her senior year of high school. She played for various well-known clubs in the Chattanooga area. The travel team she played for her sophomore year qualified for a national bid. Anna played for Heritage High school on their varsity team all four years. Her freshman year, she played as a Defensive Specialist, and Libero for the other three years. She was named to the All-Region team all three years when she played libero. Her senior year, she helped lead her team to win the region title and went all the way to the final four — which had never done before. She loves the game of volleyball, and thinks it helps build leadership and communication skills that will last a lifetime.