Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Sport: Volleyball

Valerie Armstrong

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  China

Valerie Armstrong’s education includes a Master’s degree from Concordia University (Irvine, Calif.) in coaching and athletics administration in 2012, a bachelor’s degree in agriculture business from Oklahoma Panhandle State University (2007), and an associate’s degree from Eastern Wyoming College (2005). While a member of the Eastern Wyoming program, Armstrong was named an academic All-American. She was also named Female Athlete of the Year honors while at Oklahoma Panhandle St.

Armstrong began her coaching career in 2007 as the Assistant Coach at the College of the Southwest (Hobbs, N.M.). There, her team was ranked top ten in the region for almost the entire 2007 volleyball season. In 2008, Armstrong became Head Coach at Colby Community College, and in 2009, she became the Head Coach at Vernon College. Armstrong moved to be Assistant Coach at Alabama State in 2013 then Binghamton University in 2014. In 2018, Armstrong became Head Coach at Midwestern State University, where she still is today.

Penny Lucas-White

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  China

Former U.S. National Team member Penny Lucas-White has just concluded her eighth season as the head volleyball coach at Alabama State University.

Shedraws her coaching expertise from an impressive playing career at the collegiate, national and international levels, as well as coaching some of the top scholar-athletes in the nation.

Career highlights include:
– Played at LSU (1980-83) and as a professional, domestically and internationally (1984-91, 1997)
– Played as a member of the U.S. National Volleyball Team (1985-86)
– Spent 26 seasons as a coach, 16 as a college head coach (Memphis 1991-95, Air Force Academy 1996-2009, Alabama State 2011-present)
Coached athletes that earned MIT, Rhodes and Alberta Bart Holaday Scholarships
– Guided the Lady Hornets four SWAC championships
Four-time conference coach of the year (twice at Memphis, twice at ASU)

During her tenure at the helm for the Lady Hornets, Lucas-White has upgraded the nonconference schedule to include trips against some of the top teams in the country.

Lucas-White has always emphasized work in the classroom and that has not changed since she arrived on the ASU campus. Following the 2012-13 season, the volleyball team received the Large Team Academic Award at the ASU Athletic Banquet based on the overall team grade point average.

As head coach at Memphis, Lucas-White led the program to back-to-back Great Midwest Conference titles in 1993 and 1994, earning Coach of the Year honors both seasons. Her Lady Tiger squads maintained a 3.0 team GPA during her tenure at Memphis.

Lucas-White took the reins at Air Force Academy in 1996, the school’s first season competing in Division I in the highly competitive Western Athletic Conference (now known as the Mountain West Conference). A total of 18 cadet-athletes earned academic All-Mountain West Conference honors, including one Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Among her community involvement, Lucas-White has been an active member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. In 2003, she helped the AVCA receive an NCAA minority coaches grant for a program entitled “Volleyball: Live it! Love it! Coach It!”

She earned first-team All-SEC honors, as well as the MVP award, in her first season playing at LSU. After a three-year career, she left college to begin her professional playing career domestically in the United States Volleyball League and internationally in Italy and Germany.

While competing professionally in the United States and Europe, Lucas-White began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Auburn from 1987-89.

Lucas-White earned the honor of playing on the United States National Volleyball Team in the 1985 NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean) Games, competing against the best players in the world.

Misty May-Treanor

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2010  –  Russia

Misty May was one of the greatest college athletes of her time. She won consecutive National Volleyball Player of the Year awards and as a senior was presented the Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation’s top collegiate female athlete in any sport.

After completing her collegiate eligibility, May joined the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team, but her traditional volleyball career did not last long. A few months later, May quit the team to focus on her budding beach volleyball career with partner Holly McPeak. The two participated in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games but did not medal.

Perhaps the most important moment of May’s experience at the Sydney Games was her family meeting the family of indoor volleyball player Kerri Walsh, which led to the two players becoming a beach volleyball tandem.

“She drove down to my house in California and I said, ‘Why don’t you just try it? Either you like it or you don’t,’ ” May said.

Together, May and Walsh became the most dominant team in the sport, winning gold medals at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and London 2012 Olympic Games. Along the way, May-Treanor (she married baseball player Matt Treanor in 2004) made sure to remember her roots; she would often sign autographs and take pictures with as every fan wanting one.

“You never know what conversation will change somebody’s life,” she said.

Michelle Osunbor

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  China

Michelle Osunbor began her volleyball career playing as a Middle at Hebron High School. At Long Beach University, she was the team’s Captain, Big West Leader in blocks, and a Middle Starter. Upon graduating, Osunbor played in Brøndby, Denmark, winning the League’s Championship in 2013-2014. Following Denmark, she played with the USA Volleyball PVL Team North Texas, winning the championship in 2015.

Osunbor’s coaching history has included: Zone in Volleyball Academy (2012), Vernon College (2012-2013), Alabama State University (2013), All-American Volleyball Camps (2013-2015), USA High Performance (2016), SLAM Volleyball (2016-2017), and Volleyball Factor (2014-2017). At Vernon College, Osunbor’s team ranked 15th Nationally NJCAA, and her team at Alabama State University went on to become SWAC Champions.

In collaboration with volleyball player Allison King, Osunbor co-founded AMO, an organization that provides volleyball skills classes and summer camps across the country.

Michelle Goodall

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Philippines

Michelle Goodall has more than 25 years of experience directing and coaching volleyball programs. She has worked with the Iowas Region of USA Volleyball at different skill levels for the past 10 years.

In 2016, Goodall was called to serve as the team leader for the women’s national sitting volleyball team. She is an active high school coach and since 1999, she has served as the head coach for Class 5A Kennedy HS. Under her, the school has become one of the largest volleyball programs in the state. She has also served as a high performance coach for the Iowa region, is an active USAV club coach and oversees her school’s feeder club program.

Linda Gomez

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Moldova

Linda Gomez is a Classroom Certified Teacher, an Athletic Director for K-12, a Volleyball Coach (Elementary, High School, University, and USAV Club), a Sitting Volleyball Coach at USA Volleyball and Army Warrior Games, a USAV Sitting Volleyball Coordinator for the Old Dominion Region, a USAV Sitting Volleyball Liaison Florida Region of USA Volleyball, a USAV IMPACT Instructor, a USAV CAP III Certified, and a Blaze Adapted Sports Specialist Level 1.

In 2016, Gomez founded Get Set 4 All, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide adapted sports opportunities for youth, adults, and military wounded warriors.

Kayla Jeter

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2021  –  United Arab Emirates

Beginning her volleyball career at Solon Highschool in Ohio, Kayla Jeter was rated No. 67 on the PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces list and was named to the AVCA High School Senior All-America Team. During her four years at Solon, the team reached the playoffs in all four seasons, nabbing district championship crowns each year, conference titles in the final three and a trip to the state tournament as regional champions in 2006.

Jeter went on to a play as a Lady Vol at the University of Tennessee from 2008-2012. During her career at UT, Jeter accumulated numerous honors and awards, including 2011 Preseason All-SEC Team, 2011 SEC Community Service Award, 2010 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, 2010 AVCA All-South Region, 2010 First Team All-SEC, and 2009 Second Team All-SEC.

In 2012, Jeter graduated from UT with a major in Sociology and a minor in Gerontology.

Katie Charles

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2021  –  United Arab Emirates

Hired in January 2008, Katie Charles took over as the Kenyon Ladies’ head coach after spending one year as the director of volleyball operations at the University of Georgia. Prior to that, she worked as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College for one season (2006-07) and as an assistant coach with both the men’s and women’s teams at Endicott College for one season (2005-06).

Charged with rebuilding the program, Charles laid the foundation over her first two seasons during which began to pay off in 2010 when Kenyon posted a 13-win season — its best mark in six years. At the conclusion of the season, three members of the 2010 recruiting class received All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors marking the first time since 2000 multiple Ladies claimed the accolade. The Ladies built upon that success in 2011 with a 14-win campaign that included eight NCAC victories — the most ever by a Kenyon team.

To date, she has developed players that have totaled eight all-conference selections and one NCAC Newcomer of the Year honoree.

A native of Lancaster, Pa., Charles is a 2005 graduate of Juniata College with a Bachelor of Arts in Peace Studies, Politics, and Economics. While at Juniata, she played four seasons of volleyball for the Eagles, who made three final four appearances during her time and captured the 2004 NCAA national championship. Charles was a two-time all-conference selection and was named both an all-region and All-America player in 2003. She finished her collegiate career with 888 kills, a hitting percentage of .302, 450 digs, and 130 blocks in 100 matches played.

Jill Stephens

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2010  –  Zambia

Jill Stephens was named as an associate athletic director at Florida Southern in January of 2018 following one of the most prolific head coaching runs in Florida Southern history. Stephens spent 17 years as the head coach of the Moccasin volleyball program, and took the Mocs to the NCAA Division II championship match in her final season.

In her new role, Stephens will continue to hold the title of senior woman administrator. She will oversee the scheduling of athletic facilities and serve as the administrator to a number of different sports, while continuing to serve as the department’s Title IX coordinator. Stephens finished her head coaching career with a record of 396-183 (.684) including a 188-82 record in Sunshine State Conference action.

During her time as the head coach at Florida Southern the Moccasins made 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, won two Sunshine State Conference championships (2006 and 2017), and won the 2017 NCAA South Region championship. A former volleyball all-American for the Mocs, Stephens began her coaching career at Florida Atlantic where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach before returning to Florida Southern to join longtime head coach Lois Webb’s staff in 1997.

In 2001, Stephens was named as the head coach at her alma mater and helped continue the tradition of success for Moccasin volleyball. In her 17 years as head coach, the Mocs posted 20 or more wins 13 times, including each of her final six seasons. Under her guidance, the Moccasins had 20 AVCA all-America selections and more than 30 all-Sunshine State Conference performers. She was also named as the SSC Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2017, and was the AVCA South Region Coach of the Year in 2017.

In addition, Stephens coached 26 AVCA all-South Region honorees and multiple CoSIDA academic all-district selections. Her teams were also consistently awarded the AVCA Team Academic Award, and her student-athletes were a mainstay on the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll. She retired from coaching with 38 victories against top-25 opponents, and saw her team finish No. 2 in the final AVCA poll of the season in her final year at the helm of the program.

Erikka Gulbranson

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2008  –  Brazil

Erikka has had 28 years in the sport of volleyball with her experience ranging from playing, coaching, directing and managing youth, collegiate, USA and international teams. As a founder in Sports Academy, she has been instrumental in the development of sports programming. With her extensive knowledge of sports curriculum and implementation, she will lead Sports Academy athletes into the full-circle development model through systematic training sessions, clinics, and camps.

Erikka grew up locally, is a volleyball & softball alumni of Thousand Oaks High School as well as So Cal VBC & Zuma Bay VBC. She is married and holds an M.S. in Education, a B.S. in Physical Education, and a California Teaching Credential. She spent 10+ years in several So Cal school districts teaching physical education and developing fitness & sports curriculum for elementary schools. She is also a USAV C.A.P. III certified teaching instructor and National Teams Master Coach.