15 club volleyball tryout tips from a Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee and elite club coach who's helped hundreds of athletes navigate tryouts successfully.

Laurel Brassey Iversen, A Girl Volleyball Player Better Than The Boys

If your athlete struggles with consistent serve receive, gets subbed out, or is overlooked for playing time—this is the fix you’ve been looking for.

Struggling with passing consistency?

I help talented passers tired of getting pulled from games because of inconsistent serve receive skills BUILD passing confidence without expensive private lessons using the same 3-step system that's helped dozens of my athletes get recruited.

Download my eBook for $7.99 and start building the passing confidence that keeps you on the court—and gets you seen by college coaches.

Volleyball Stories Laurel Brassey Iversen

When I was in elementary school, I loved all sports. I had a brother, three years older whom I loved to tag along with, much to his dismay.

His friends never wanted me around and would always complain saying "Can't you get rid of the runt?"

I was little, but tenacious. I absolutely hated the nickname and they always called me that. The more they tried to lose me, the harder I fought to stay close to them.

My greatest satisfaction however was that I was always one of the first chosen when we were forming teams to play baseball, or touch football or other neighborhood games.

At the same time, at school, I was labeled a tomboy, which in the sixties, was not really a popular designation. I didn't mind at all, but I was also called that because I was very skinny.

As a young child I hated those names and I was very conscious about my body. It seems silly now to think those things bothered me so much that I cried often about it, but kids can be very cruel to each other, when we are young, being accepted is so important.

My parents encouraged me to participate in sports and never discouraged me from playing with the boys or from playing sports for that matter.

My mother was an athlete in her day, playing lots of sports and my Dad played semi-pro baseball.

Volleyball Stories
Laurel Brassey Iversen

My Mom was a great role model for me.

Also when I was in the fourth grade, we learned about the Olympic Games and I became enraptured with Wilma Rudolph.

Wilma overcame great adversity to become an Olympic champion, winning gold medals in the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

I wanted to be like her and run in the Olympic Stadium with thousands cheering as I broke the finish line tape first.

I loved all sports, but I didn't even know about volleyball until I reached high school. This sport was different.

I soon realized that I loved to JUMP! I also loved to get down on the floor and dig, roll and dive for the ball.

This was my Sport.

I got more satisfaction and had more fun playing volleyball than any of the other sports I had played.

I also remember the frustration of learning some of the volleyball skills, spiking in particular.

But it seemed that I was always driven harder to excel at things that were difficult. If I couldn't do something, it just made me want to do it even more.

Volleyball Stories
Laurel Brassey Iversen

I was also constantly told that I was too small to play volleyball. That just made me want to prove them all wrong

I really believe that fighting to keep up with my brother all those years and be accepted as one of the best players in the neighborhood are some of the elements that helped me strive for excellence in volleyball later on.

Laurel Brassey was

the first woman to play on a men's NCAA varsity team,
member of the 1980 USA Women's National team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics and
member of the 1988 USA Women's team that competed in Seoul, Korea.
University of New Mexico's winningest coach with a record of 290-210, over 17 seasons. 1983-86, 1988 - 2000

Volleyball Stories Laurel Brassey Iversen was written by former professional player and one of the world's top setters Laurel Brassey Iversen exclusively for the Volleyball Voices project created and produced by April Chapple.

Sources

GoLobos.com

San Diego Tribune

Read more about the professional volleyball players in the pages below.

April Chapple My Volleyball Story
"I had to get the leg braces off and learn to walk again"..this is my volleyball story f. April Chapple
Sheilla Castro Brazilian Olympic Hitter Volleyball Player Profile
A two time Olympic gold medalist, Sheilla with the help of her teammates managed to win every championship title available in world class competition.
Teee Williams Olympic Bronze Medalist Tells Her Volleyball Story
Olympian Teee Williams learned how to became a better volleyball player, through faith and her will to never give up learning about the game no matter what.
The Shortest Volleyball Player on the Court US Olympian Debbie Green
Debbie Green, Olympic silver medalist setter describes what it's like to be "the shortest volleyball player" on the team
Mary Jo Peppler The Female Volleyball Player America Had To Respect
Mary Jo Peppler "The Female Volleyball Player America Had To Respect" written by Mary Jo Peppler for the Volleyball Voices project produced by April Chapple.
Get Inspired By 8 Pro Volleyball Players Personal Volleyball Stories
Get motivated by the volleyball stories told by inspiring female pro volleyball players with their personal stories of overcoming obstacles. Be inspired!
Famous Female Volleyball Players Rose Magers 1984 Olympian
One of America's famous female volleyball players Rose Magers-Powell a 1984 Olympic player earned the first silver medal in US history for women.
Inspirational Volleyball Stories: Once upon a time ..there was a girl
Once upon a time...don't all great volleyball stories begin that way?
Legendary USA Olympian Beach Volleyball Player The Liz Masakayan Story
Liz Masakayan, one of America's best beach volleyball player and raised in a single parent household talks about how she trained and improved her skills.
Heather Bown, Middle Hitter and American Olympic Silver Medalist
The untold story of how Olympic Silver Medalist Heather Bown gained confidence in her volleyball skills
Flo Hyman, The Volleyball Story of America's Best Outside Hitter
One of the most famous volleyball players in the world Flo Hyman is still loved by many fans
Middle Hitter Volleyball Stories Elaina Oden on Being A Good Player
World class middle hitter, US Olympic bronze medalist and professional volleyball player Elaina Oden shares her volleyball story on what motivated her as a teen
My Motivational Volleyball Story Inspiring Stories by Great Players
Follow along as eight (8) iconic legendary players share their inspirational volleyball story of overcoming obstacles on and off the court.

If your athlete struggles with consistent serve receive, gets subbed out, or is overlooked for playing time—this is the fix you’ve been looking for.

Struggling with passing consistency?

Download my eBook for $7.99 and start building the passing confidence that keeps you on the court—and gets you seen by college coaches.

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Honored At UTK Champions Weekend

Lady Vol volleyball legend and record holder Coach April Chapple a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hall of Fame Inductee, 3-time All American, 3-time SEC Champion, SEC Tournament MVP, 2-time All SEC Team is celebrated with her 1984 SEC champion teammates at Neyland Stadium during Champions Weekend on November 1-2, 2024.

utkaprilcollegepiconneylandstadiumvideoboard

Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee, Coach April Chapple is

the first First Round Draft Pick for the first American pro indoor women's league
named to the first First Team All-Pro team for Major League Volleyball in USA volleyball history
former USA National team member
one of the few American women players named as an Italian Pro League D-I Championship Finalist, Italian Cup Finalist and Cup of Cups Tournament Finalist

April Chapple The first First round Draft Pick For Major League Volleyball the first American Women's Pro League Honored At Athlete Unlimited Pro Volleyball Match

Coach April's 2025 Private and Semi private Volleyball Training

Pre-Registration now open for 2025 Private and Semiprivate Training Sessions with Coach April . Get prepared for club tryouts or train with me during club season!

Email now for information on semiprivate or private indoor skills, individual or small group training volleyball classes and my Breakfast Club for College Players training for 2025.

Invest in your improvement while preepping for your next level and college goals while working hard and training smart.

Email me right now to register or for more information.

info@improveyourvolley.com

Serving slang is not just about individual techniques; it also relates to overall game strategy. A coach might instruct a player to serve a "short serve" or a "deep serve" to target specific areas of the opponent's court or exploit weaknesses in their serve receive formation.

Ari, my private training client and I are working specifically on serving on jump float cross court serves ...short to Zone 2

There's so much we work on to get to this point where she can contact the ball with

the same toss height and same toss location
the same armswing speed
the same timing for when her serving hand contacts the ball
the middle of the hand contacting the middle of the ball every single time
getting use to watching her serving hand contact the ball at the highest point of her jump ...before she starts to land
and finally contacting the ball in the precise spot on the ball so it goes where the coach wants the player to put it so in this case ..a short serve in the farthest short right corner on the court also called Zone 2.

kamiminerpac12setteroftheyearformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

Tommi Stockham All Big West Conference sophomore former Coach April Chapple private client 3 years

katepriorallwestcoastconferencebyufreshmanformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

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Dear Vegas Parent

Read my open letter to Las Vegas Jr high/high school volleyball parents about my predictions on individual and small group volleyball training trends for 2019/2021

Tennessee Athletics Honors April Chapple at Champions Weekend for Legendary Volleyball Achievements

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Produces Powerful Passionate Players...is that you?

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Congratulations to my seven Boys-18s Vegas Volley club players who played in two state championship finals yesterday, the 3A and 5A State champinship finals at Sunrise Mountain High School.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!

A-1 Vegas Volley VBC

In It To Win It Tournament

May 2 - 4, 2025 Tournament

Gold Medalists

18s Premier Division

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Making A-1 Vegas Volleyball history as the very first TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS! In the In It To Win It Tournament, May 2-4, 2025 Tournament, A-1 Vegas Volleyball Club Gold Medalists, 18s Premier Division