West Volleyball Club

Samantha has been with WEST Volleyball for over ten years bringing her passion and love for the game to our youth athlete's every day. Samantha played on four varsity sports teams in her four years at Taft High School in Woodland Hills and led the Taft volleyball team to the CIF City Championships three times. In 2006, her team won the City Championship with a perfect season for the first time in Taft history, receiving the All-City and MVP awards. After high school, she competed on the Santa Barbara City College team for one year before transferring to Pierce College where she led her team to a State Championship in 2010 for the first time in college history. Samantha continued her collegiate career at Cal State Los Angeles as an outside hitter. She graduated in December 2013 with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Television, Film and Media Studies. (You may have also seen Samantha as runner up on America's Next Top Model.)  Samantha has been coaching volleyball for more than 15 years and has recently been named Club Director given her vast experience and valuable leadership abilities. Sam is also a PE teacher at the Willows Community School and coaches boys and girls of all ages in multiple sports. She brings high energy and enthusiasm to her teams, always bringing out the best in her players!  Email: potterville2020@yahoo.com

Tara earned a degree in Business Marketing from Long Beach State in 2013 where she competed for the 49ers earning First Team All Region as a setter for the indoor team and two time All American honors while competing for the Sand Volleyball Team.  She has competed overseas with the USA Beach Volleyball Team earning gold medals in the 2009 U18 Junior Olympics in Australia and in 2010 U21 Junior World Championships in Turkey. Tara has coached indoor and sand for the Long Beach State volleyball camps as well as varsity high school and club here in Southern California. Tara, along with coach Caitlin, is one of only two players to make 4 AVCA Championships (team and individual pairs, 2 years in a row) in Collegiate Sand Volleyball history. Tara currently heads the CROSSROADS Volleyball program in Santa Monica. WEST Volleyball Club is excited to have Tara a part of the coaching staff and values the skill and knowledge she brings to the club.  Email: troenicke@aol.com

Raul Aviles joined the coaching staff at Venice High School in 2008. Raul has been a pivotal part of the boys and girls programs since his arrival. As lead assistant he has been instrumental in its players development, exposure and teams success. Raul works with all 3 levels-Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh/Soph for girls volleyball as well as Varsity and Junior Varsity for boys volleyball.

Raul Spent his playing career at Venice High School as a Middle Blocker for the Gondos and Coach Allen Hunt.

Raul took over the head coaching duties for both boys and girls’ varsity levels in 2019. He has led them to a Division 1 championship match in 2019, back to back  open division invitations and has made it to the semi finals of the open division playoffs in 2022. Leading the girls’ team to a Division 1 championship in 2019, an Open Division semi finalist in 2020, an Open Division Championship in 2021 including a Division 2 state playoff berth, and a semi finalist in the 2022 Open Division playoffs. We are excited to have Raul this year at WEST!

Madison Shields is currently a graduate transfer in her first season with the Women of Troy (USC)
2022 · SENIOR at PEPPERDINE
AVCA All-America second team
AVCA Top Flight Award winner (with Melanie Paul at the No. 1 position)
All-West Coast Conference first team
West Coast Conference All-Academic first team
Went 25-9 overall in her only season on the sand
Partnered exclusively with Melanie Paul to play only at the No. 1 position
Had a season-long seven-match win streak between March 11-19
2018-21 · INDOOR VOLLEYBALL at PEPPERDINE
2020 West Coast Conference Libero of the Year
Two-time All-WCC second team (2020, ’21)
Two-time WCC All-Academic first team (2019, ’20)
Three-time WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll Gold Honors (2019, ‘20, ’21)
Three-time Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete (2019, ‘20, ’21)
Seven-time WCC Defensive Player of the Week
Played in 109 matches, including two seasons as the primary libero
Appeared in 402 sets and finished with 1,152 digs (2.87 dps), 36 service aces, and 204 assists
Recorded one double-double in assists and digs
Tallied 56 double-digit digs matches and led the Waves in digs 44 times and in aces 12 times
Reached a career high of 34 digs against BYU (Feb. 24, 2021) and against Central Florida in the NCAA first round (Dec. 3, 2021)

Sarah Martin is a passionate volleyball player and coach.  She was a 4-yr Varsity Letterwoman at Louisville High School and played Club volleyball for 7 years.  While playing at Pierce College Sarah led her team to the State Championship, earning the honor of California All-State MVP.  In addition to multiple Pierce College and League MVP honors, Sarah was also a CCCAA All-American, Female Athlete of the Year at Pierce College and later inducted into the Pierce College Athletic Hall of Fame. From Pierce, Sarah was recruited to West Texas A&M University, earning 2nd Team honors at the Regional Championship tournament.  Sarah began her coaching career at her alma mater, Louisville HS, followed by coaching at Santa Monica College, Mission Volleyball Club. Sarah is currently on the Brentwood High School coaching staff for both Varsity Girls and Varsity Boys.

Jenifer attended King Drew High School and graduated in 2022.  She just finished her first year competing for the WLAC Wildcats and joins the WEST Volleyball club coaching staff as an assistant.  Jen played her first season as a starting OH, but brings a full range of skills to the WLAC Volleyball team.  Jen's positive attitude and great work ethic has proven to be a great asset to her teams.  This past year, Jen assisted with both the 18Black and 15Black teams.

Crystal attended Bright Star Academy in Los Angeles and graduated in 2021.  She just finished her second year competing for the WLAC Wildcats and joined the WEST Volleyball club coaching staff last seasson as an assistant.  Crystal remains one the best ball control players to come through WLAC.  Crystal's passion for the game, learning and teaching technique, brings a great coaching dynamic to her teams.  This past year, Crystal assisted with both the 13Black and 15Black teams.

Tania attended University High School in Los Angeles and graduated in 2021.  She just finished her second year competing for the WLAC Wildcats and joined the WEST Volleyball club coaching staff last season as an assistant. Tania played through high school as a setter and was the starting setter the for WLAC Wildcats for 2 years. Tania was able to lead the Wildcats to the most successful season in the past 13 years through her ability not just as a setter, but also in defense and serving.  This past year, Tania assisted with both the 12Black and 16Gold teams.

Samantha attended King Drew High School in Los Angeles and graduated in 2021.  She just finished her second year competing for the WLAC Wildcats and joined the WEST Volleyball club coaching staff last season as an assistant. Samantha played through high school as a libero and was the starting libero the for WLAC Wildcats last season. Samantha led the Wildcats in digs and was an integral part of serve receive.  This past year, Samantha assisted with both the 14Blaack team and helped as a second assistant to the 16Black and 18Black teams.

Taliyah attended Foshay Learning Center in Los Angeles and graduated in 2021.  She just finished her second year competing for the WLAC Wildcats and joined the WEST Volleyball club coaching staff last season as an assistant. Taliyah played through high school as a MB and OPP and spent two seasons as passing OH for the WLAC Wildcats. Taliyah led the Wildcats this past season in kills deeming her a critical part of the Wildcat offense.  This past year, Taliyah assisted with the Royals program and served as the Head Coach for one of the Team Royals first club competitions.

Johnny has over ten years of competitive sand and indoor volleyball experience beginning as a youth athlete competing in multiple AAU National Beach Volleyball Championships.  Johnny attended Thousand Oaks High School where he was a four year varsity player as an outside hitter, set school records for serve receive efficiency and aces per set, and earned 2 time All Marmonte League First Team honors as well as First Team All County his senior year and Team MVP for Beach and Indoor.  As a high school athlete, Johnny also represented USA as a setter in the High Performance Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. (2017) and Tulsa, OK. (2018), and competed for several top ten nationally ranked indoor club teams in the USAV Championships open division.  Johnny began his collegiate volleyball career in NCAA Division 1 at CSUN where he started as Libero his first two years.  Johnny will currently begin his third year competing in NCAA at Concordia University Irvine under the tutelage of renowned Head Coach and former USA Men’s National Team OH, Riley Salmon.  Johnny has over four years of coaching youth indoor and beach volleyball and started with WEST VBC in 2021 as an Assistant for the 15Black and WEST Beach Volleyball Team. 

Natalie played indoor and beach volleyball for Westlake High School receiving Marmonte League MVP honors her Junior and Senior year for the indoor team as an outsider hitter.  Natalie also competed for WEST Volleyball helping her club team achieve a USA Volleyball Top 30 National ranking for three consectutive years. After high school, Natalie continued her competitive career with the University of Arizona Beach Volleyball Team for four years as an undergraduate. She received PAC-12 All Academic team honors each year as a competitor and recently received the Most Underrated UofA Athlete award.  Natalie returns this year to UofA as a graduate student to compete for the SandCats while earning her Masters degree in Accounting.  Natalie is daughter to WEST Volleyball Director John Anselmo and assists with the Summer WEST Volleyball Beach Program.