Looking for private lessons? Those on staff with an email link below can be contacted or you can send a general inquiry where a coach will be appropriately matched up according to the request made.
John Lysik – Executive Director /Founder 
John has been coaching volleyball juniors for over 20 years and is the lead coach and coordinator for all beach club training at Southern Sand Volleyball. All questions regarding beach club training can be sent to him. John had coached many successful teams at several volleyball clubs on the indoor side of the game. He also served as the Assistant Volleyball Coach at William Peace University, and had been a High Performance Coach within the USAV system for 8 years. He has also served as lead trainer at various volleyball camps and clinics throughout the region, plus he has provided private training to over 100 athletes. Numerous players he has coached have gone on to receive scholarships at the NCAA DI and DII levels, for both beach and indoor. He is recognized by area junior volleyball players and their parents for offering personal, knowledgeable, experienced, and passionate instruction. He is USAV Beach IMPACT and Beach CAP certified. John also has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Connecticut, with a master’s degree in Management, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He spent 10 years in software design and development, obtaining two US patents. The next 10 years of his career were spent as a program manager, before getting out of engineering and into coaching volleyball.
Mark Nalevanko – Associate Director/Founder
Mark has been organizing and running beach programs in NC for around 15+ years. He is the lead coordinator for leagues and tournaments at Southern Sand Volleyball. All questions regarding those programs can be directed to him. In the Fall 2012, he played a major role in establishing sand volleyball as a club sport at North Carolina High Schools which has grown from the inaugural season in Spring 2013 featuring 9 schools to over 50 schools in recent years. Additionally over the last 10 years he has served as the Beach Director for the Carolina Region/USA Volleyball with primary duties focused on coordinating the region’s popular junior beach tour that has seen over 20 events with 1000+ teams participating across the state each year. With over 20 years of sand volleyball playing experience, Mark brings an engineer’s mindset, having both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Computer Engineering from North Carolina State, in playing the beach game where strategy and skill diversity are important keys to being successful.
Jenny Moore – Coaching and Administrative Staff
Jenny unlaced her indoor shoes and stepped onto a beach court over 17 years ago. She was an indoor hitter in high school earning MVP and All-Conference in both softball and volleyball. In college, with the help of two dedicated coaches Janet Kennedy and Sue Smith, she was able to step up her performance earning All-Region and All-Tournament team while also leading her team in kills. Of all of her athletic accomplishments she values meeting her husband on the volleyball court most of all. They have been coed partners for 17 years and can be found playing volleyball together every chance they get. She has two children that share her passion for sports and being active.Jenny believes that the friendships and lessons learned on the court will carry over into other aspects in life, and she is dedicated to helping the younger generation of players find their passion and confidence on and off the court.
Lisa Lysik – Coaching and Administrative Staff
Lisa’s knowledge of the human body and her experience in working with orthopedic diagnosis helps guide each participant’s conditioning needs. As an occupational therapist, her expertise is in performing “task analysis” as a way to determine how to pair exercise for improved performance and strength. This concept also applies to pairing eye hand coordination drills and practice for improved performance on the court. Her high energy motivates individuals to accelerate their overall development.
Lisa has a degree in occupational therapy from Quinnipiac University. She has 25 plus years of experience, with a focus on orthopedic and pediatric therapy. She enjoys working with kids and young adults, as well as the adult population. Lisa also applies her therapy knowledge and passion to help the individuals she coaches. Lisa is actively involved in the sport through pick-up play, leagues, tournaments, and assisting in private lessons. She has 10 plus years of sand volleyball playing experience. Lisa most recently serves as an office administrator for Southern Sand.
Darren Roberts – Coaching Staff
After playing 2 seasons indoor at Santa Monica College, Darren moved to the sand where he began learning the vastly different game of Beach Volleyball. He played 2-man Volleyball for nearly 15 years in Hermosa and Manhattan Beach. In that time, he was invited by Coach Anna Collier to join the Training Team for many of the top AVP Players and future Olympians. He spent 5 years working with the worlds best players and learning the game at an elite level. He has also worked at the collegiate beach volleyball level serving as a coach at Jacksonville University. Darren was honored to be part of the Coaching Staff at Southern Sand, working with North Carolina players preparing to play at the college level and beyond.
Brian McKay – Resource Coach/Programming Staff
Brian has had a passion for volleyball since the early age of 15 playing pick-up games on the sand at Atlantic Beach, NC along with surfing, running, and training for high school sports of football and basketball. His mom’s Hawaiian heritage and her love for volleyball fueled his enthusiasm for beach sports. Brian has been organizing volleyball events and teams along with competing in tournaments and leagues for 37 years. He has his BS degree in Business Management from Mount Olive College and has worked as a manager in mortgage servicing for many years.
Brian has played with teams that have won many outdoor/indoor tournaments and leagues in Open, AA, and A levels and still continues to compete at Southern Sand and in area leagues and competitions. He has worked as a coach for junior players, especially the Boys program at Southern Sand and as a player coach for adult USAV teams over the years. He also helps direct tournament events at Southern Sand. He has his USAV Indoor and Beach Impact certifications..
Selena Dickinson – Coaching Staff
Coach Selena fell in love with sand volleyball when she moved to North Carolina in Fall 2016. Previously an indoor club volleyball coach for NC Volleyball Academy and a 4-year collegiate defensive specialist for Milwaukee School of Engineering, Selena is excited to help athletes translate their skills learned in the gym to the sand. In high school, Selena was a libero/outside hitter and captain of the varsity Volleyball and Track teams, helping to lead her volleyball team to two back-to-back Regional Championships. Her work in high school led to being awarded 2nd Team All-Conference Defensive Specialist, Honorable Mention All-Conference Libero, and WIAA Scholar Athlete. Selena played 4 years of varsity college volleyball, and graduated with high honors in Biomolecular Engineering. Coach Selena is very happy to be part of the Southern Sand family, where players are taught key volleyball techniques as well as invaluable life skills like hard work, determination, and teamwork.
Kelly Wiles – Coaching Staff
Kelly began her volleyball career playing indoor volleyball at NC Volleyball Academy where she first began coaching at middle-school tryout camps. She began playing at Southern Sand in 2014, instantly falling in love with the game of beach. In 2016, Kelly left indoor behind to play at Southern Sand year-round. Kelly started coaching the super juniors program at Southern Sand in 2018. She recently graduated from High Point University having studied finance and environmental studies. Kelly is excited to be back at Southern Sand again coaching and playing in leagues and hopes to share her love of the game with our athletes.
Rebecca Diederich – Coaching Staff
Rebecca started her volleyball career over 20 years ago playing indoors. She played club volleyball in high school for the Jammers in Durham and in college at NC State University where she served as team captain her senior year. Since graduating with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, she has transitioned to playing sand volleyball. She is excited and dedicated to training athletes to improve and refine their skills on the court. While Rebecca loves coaching, her real passion is teaching girls to become strong and confident young women.
Jaeger Prisk – Coaching Staff
Jaeger’s volleyball journey began at Southern Sand as a player in the boys program in 2021. That fall, he left for the mountains to attend Appalachian State University, joining their indoor club team. He would quickly become enamored with the game, serving as the club’s vice president in 2022. Jaeger would spend his summers at the sand courts in his hometown of Chapel Hill, ultimately transferring to UNC in 2023. As a student, he studies neuroscience and exercise science, always eager to implement this knowledge while assisting with SSV programs. In coaching, Jaeger is thrilled to help foster a love for the game in new players and play a role in growing the boys beach volleyball community.
Russ Zacek – Resource Coach
Russ has been playing beach and indoor volleyball for the past 26 years. He played club volleyball at Hamilton College, followed by USAV Club volleyball in New York and Virginia. He started playing beach volleyball in 1996 in leagues and tournaments in upstate NY and has been playing consistently since that time. Within the past year, Russ posted 2 tournament wins in local tournaments and a 2nd place in Wilmington, NC. Russ is married to Marleigh, his wife of 24 years who he started dating in 1995 on the volleyball court. They have 4 children who all love and play the game. He has also coached football for the past 12 years, so has much experience in coaching. He has a passion to see students grow, compete and succeed in life and sports
Natalie Harper – Coaching Staff
Natalie is Southern Sand Alumni after playing at SSV since 2018 & also a former indoor player from Charlotte, NC. She now attends college at Wake Tech University and will soon be transferring to NC State University to begin her major in Fashion Design. In high school, Natalie began to help coach the SSV Super Juniors. Since then, her passion for teaching the beach game to younger boys & girls while also watching them grow every step of the way has been an amazing continuing journey.
Claire Register – Resource Coach
Claire is a former indoor player and current beach player. She played both indoor and beach through middle and high school, but her love for the beach game continued through college. Claire is a student at NC State University, where she also plays on the club beach volleyball team. Last year, Claire was co-president for the club team at NC State and has transferred those skills to coaching at Southern Sand.
Lizzy McDaniel – Resource Coach
Coming soon….
Megan Longley – Resource Coach
Megan is a Southern Sand alumna after playing at SSV for two and a half years. She graduated from Cardinal Gibbons High School in 2017 and is continuing her academic career at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she studies Elementary Education. In High school, she coached a middle school indoor volleyball team for two years and helped coach the Wake County Special Olympics Volleyball Team for four years. During her senior year, she was named the defensive beach player of the year in 18U for the Carolina Region. She played in multiple tournaments, winning a few Carolina Region events and earning a bid to the Junior Beach Tour National Championship. She now plays in adult tournaments in Wilmington while pursuing her degree.