COACHING STAFF

We have an elite coaching staff that has been coaching USAV junior athletes since 2001. 

The resume of our coaches include leading teams to a bronze, silver, and gold medal at the USAV Junior National Championships, a gold medal, silver medal, and 2 bronze medals at the Colorado Crossroads NQL, and 2 silver medals at the AAU Super Regional.

Additionally, we have had 14 Believe Beach teams qualify for the Jr. National Open Sand Tournament and AAU Beach Nationals, including 4 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 2 bronze.  Believe Beach has also won 12 championships in the grass in both Steamboat and King of the Mountain in Vail. 

Our reputable training system enhances and advances personal athletic development. Our program begins with focusing on the fundamental technique of each skill and continues to build upon the foundation through the growth of each individual athlete/team. We strive to motivate each player to become a responsible and competitive asset to her team. Promoting positive teamwork and sportsmanship in a family-like atmosphere is essential to our philosophy. 

Shawn Kissman

Shawn is one of the founders of Believe Volleyball and is coaching the 16 Premier team this year. Since 2001, he has coached in elite volleyball club programs across both the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions of USAV, including Believe Volleyball Club, Front Range VBC, and Nebraska Elite VBC. In that time, he has won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the USAV Junior National Championships, a gold medal at the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier, 4 JNQ bids to Nationals, 5 RMR Regional titles, a silver medal at the AAU Super Regional and 2 bids to Junior Beach Nationals. In addition, he has coached several Believe Beach teams to a championship title at the Vail King of the Mountain Doubles Tournament.

  • Shawn's influence has extended into the high school realm as well by coaching at the Freshmen and Junior Varsity level at Eaglecrest High School. It was with these younger teams that he established an atmosphere of competitive excellence and instilled a desire to win that eventually led to Eaglecrest becoming a volleyball powerhouse in the Centennial league and throughout the state.

    Shawn has been around athletics all his life. His father attended college on a football and track scholarship and played semi-pro football for the Tulsa Thunderbirds and briefly for the Houston Oilers. His father then became a high school football coach which enabled Shawn to gain valuable insights into training and competition. His father also taught him the importance of not compromising his character or his faith in God while striving for his best in his athletic endeavors. Shawn played baseball on an athletic scholarship in college as well as basketball and has three daughters who have received athletic scholarships for volleyball.  Shawn is the Believe VBC Head Lead Coach over all teams.  Since 2011, he has head coached 13 Jubilee, 14 Praise, 15 Hope, 16 Shine, as well as Believe Beach teams.

    Shawn has been married to his high school and college sweetheart, Michele, since 1987. Together they have raised 3 daughters who were all club, high school, and scholarship college volleyball players. His daughters have been an integral part of building Believe VBC and Believe Beach as lead coaches. The greatest blessing to him is that they are also all devoted followers of Christ. His day job is in the Information Technology field. Shawn’s main desire is for all our athletes to come to have a saving faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is consumed with sharing the Gospel and incorporating his faith in all aspects of competition and giving God the glory in everything we do on the court.

Jordan Kessler

Coach Jordan has played a pivotal role in the success of Believe VBC teams since 2012 when she began her club coaching career. She is the Co-Club Director for Believe Volleyball. This season Jordan will be instrumental in continuing to train all coaches, players, teams, and assist in differing capacities - to help make our program the best it can be. Jordan spent 13 years playing volleyball at an elite level. She played for 8 years at Front Range Volleyball Club where she earned many regional titles, JNQ bids, and MVP awards in addition to a USAV Junior National Gold Medal in 14 National. She played for Eaglecrest High School where, as a 4-year varsity setter, she finished in the final four in 2005, state runner-up in 2007, and won the 5A state championship in 2006 with a perfect 36-0 record.

  • She also made the prestigious list of Top Ten Freshmen in 2005 and Top Ten Sophomores in 2006 by Prepvolleyball.com as well as 1st Team All-City, 1st Team All League, and 1st Team All State. Her senior year, she was named Female Athlete of the Year for Eaglecrest High School. Jordan then went on to receive a full scholarship to play Division 1 volleyball at Georgia Tech. After being a red-shirt freshman, she transferred to North Dakota State University where she earned “Freshman of the Year” honors for the Summit Conference as starting setter for the NDSU Bison and led her team to the NCAA Div 1 tournament. While attending NDSU, Jordan was an assistant coach for the NDSU men’s club volleyball team and also coached many of the university’s middle school and high school training camps. After a serious bout with mononucleosis late in her sophomore year, Jordan moved back home to Colorado in the summer of 2012 to recuperate. After obtaining a release from NDSU, she transferred to Colorado Christian University in 2013 where she played for two more seasons as the starting setter; leading the Lady Cougars to the final four of the RMAC conference; and being named to the Second Team – All RMAC. She also led her team to a second place finish at the NCCAA National Championships in 2014. In 2015, Jordan earned her degree in Criminal Justice and then began working full time for Believe VBC as a lead coach. Jordan is an accomplished doubles player as well as Believe Beach coach. Since 2013, she has been instrumental in coaching three teams to gold and bronze medal finishes at the USAV Regional Junior Open Sand tournament as well as earning 4 bids to nationals. In 2015, Jordan coached 18 Agape to a silver medal finish at the AAU Super Regional. Since 2012, she has coached 14 Praise, 15 Hope, 16 Liberty, 17 Rise, and 18 Agape as well as Believe Beach teams.

    Jordan is married to Believe Volleyball coach and former NDSU Men’s Volleyball Team Middle Blocker (All-American), Todd Kessler, and cherishes being mommy to Esther, Job, Tobias, and Micah. She is driven to see that every player has a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it is to that end that she spends countless hours in the gym to not only train athletes in the sport of volleyball, but to turn them into disciples of Christ in the process.

Makenzi Langer

Makenzi is Believe’s Club Administrator and Co-Club Director. She has been an integral part of the success of each of her Believe VBC teams since her first year on 14 Praise. Makenzi began playing club volleyball at just 10 years old. Prior to playing for Believe VBC, she played for Front Range VBC and Nebraska Elite VBC. During her club years, she won 2 silver medals at the President's Day Classic in Omaha, NE, a silver medal at both the CO Crossroads and Northern Lights National Qualifiers, and a silver medal at the AAU Super Regional. As a setter and DS, she finished 13th at the USAV Jr. National Championships in 2009 and 2011. 

  • In addition to her indoor accomplishments, Makenzi has been an outstanding force in junior doubles with Believe Beach. Adding to her hardware in indoor, she and her doubles partner won the championship in the Juniors 16U division at the Vail King of the Mountain. Her final year with Believe Beach, she finished 3rd in 18U. She and her partner also took first in the RMR Beach Series. Additionally, as a junior player, Makenzi partnered with her sister/coach, Jordan Kessler, and won the Steamboat Doubles Women's BB championship, beating out 53 other adult teams; and then took 5th at the Breckenridge Doubles tournament in Women's A. She also made an impact on her Eaglecrest HS team. She played on the varsity team all four years and showed her versatility as a player by contributing to her team as a setter, outside, ds, and libero. The Raptors attained much success finishing in the final four of 5A her freshman year and getting back to state her sophomore year. She received All City 2nd team honors both her sophomore and senior years. Makenzi played collegiately for York College and made a tremendous impact to the Panthers lineup as a starting setter. She was named to the KCAC All Conference team while also attaining a 4.0 GPA.

    Makenzi began her coaching career as an assistant coach to 14-1 Praise and 15-1 Hope. She has been the head coach of 18 Agape, 17 Rise, 15 Hope, 14 Praise, and 13 Jubilee. Makenzi led her 17 Rise teams to bronze and silver medal finishes at CO Crossroads in 2022 and 2023, and a gold medal finish at the Triple Crown Bighorn Bash in 2022, a gold medal at Triple Crown Avalanche Havoc and silver at Triple Crown Bighorn Bash in 2023. Makenzi is married to Drake and has a beautiful new little one named Lany. Makenzi's passion is training players and supporting the coaching staff at Believe VBC while sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and glorifying the Lord on the court.

Nicole Johnson

Coach Nicole joined us in the fall of 2016 after graduating that spring from York College. Nicole was a huge asset to the Panther lineup during her tenure there. She was a starting middle blocker for the Panthers all 4 years and racked up the school record for 1,044 kills during her collegiate career. Nicole started playing volleyball in 7th grade for Gold Crown on the Grandview HS team. During her high school years at Rock Solid, she was on the varsity team for the Denver Eagles. Nicole's club experience was at both Altitude VBC and 303 VBC. Nicole has assisted 16 Shine, 16 Liberty, 17 Rise, and became head coach for 14 Rejoice and 17 Rise. This year, Nicole will be coaching 17 Premiere. She has also been the JV coach at Chaparral High School, working with Believe VBC coach and CHS varsity head coach, Amanda West for several years.

  • In 2019, she assisted coach Amanda in winning the 5A State Championship. In 2023 and 2024, Nicole led her 18 Agape team to a bronze finish at CO Crossroads, a gold medal at the Triple Crown Avalanche Havoc, as well as, a gold medal at the Triple Crown Bighorn Bash. It is obvious that Nicole has a heart for coaching and increasing her coaching resume through a variety of opportunities. Nicole married her high school sweetheart, Nathan, the summer of 2023. We are thrilled to have Nicole a part of the Believe Volleyball family and for being a godly example of what it looks like to pursue Christ while competing in the great sport of volleyball.

Celis Coplen

Coach Celis has been a part of Believe VBC since her first year on 14 Praise. She played for Believe VBC for 4 years in various positions, including outside, rightside, DS, and libero. She was also a utility player, able to fulfill any role she was asked to do during her high school career at 5A Mountain Vista HS. Celis was also a top beach player in the RMR and VOTR while playing for Believe Beach. She won the 16U championship at the King of the Mountain tournament as a 15U player and finished in the top 4 for 14U and 16U. She and her partner also finished 5th at the RMR Regional Sand tournament her 16's year. Celis coaches for Believe Beach, is a positional coach, and has been a head coach for 16 Liberty, 15 Hope, and 13 Jubilee. We are looking forward to having Celis continue to train and coach Believe athletes and share her love for Jesus with them.

Katie Cory

Coach Katie began coaching at Believe BVC for the 2022-2023 season as assistant coach for 14 Praise. She is a teacher with 20 years of classroom experience, an instructional coach, and a mother of three daughters, Rebecca, Brianna, and Jessica. Katie started her coaching career at Aurora Academy Charter School in 2021 leading the middle school co-ed and girls’ teams to undefeated regular seasons for the past 2 years. Her emphasis on fundamentals and the mental game demonstrates her desire to create lifelong athletes. She came to Believe VBC as a parent in 2015 when her youngest daughter, Jessica, started playing on 13 Jubilee. Katie served as Team Chaperone the following 5 years building experience in tournament format, technical rules, and communication between coaching staff and parents.

  • Katie is also a hands-on student of the game and currently partners with her daughter, Jessica, in women’s tournaments. Jessica is both an indoor and beach alumna with Believe VBC. Jessica earned an academic-athletic scholarship for beach volleyball at Corban University and as a freshman, won the 2022 Invitational National NAIA Championship followed by a return trip to earn Runner-up National NAIA Champions in 2023. Katie is a blessed mother of three grown daughters, Rebecca, Brianna, and Jessica, and enjoys traveling and spending time with them. For the 2023-2024 season, Coach Katie will take on the role of head coach of 15 Hope. She looks forward to training and encouraging young athletes to compete at their highest level and bringing Christ into their life on and off the court.

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