OUR MISSION
is to promote healthy mental and physical development in girls through the sport of volleyball. We strive to create a welcoming environment that fosters personal growth, teamwork, and social connections. Through our programs, we aim to empower girls to reach their full potential in the sport of volleyball and off the court in life.
OUR GOAL
is to bring the best out in athletes through techniques that encourage resilience building. We teach our athletes to embrace failure and learn from it. We encourage athletes to develop positive mental performance strategies on and off the court that focus on building self-confidence and self-esteem. We believe that interperson
OUR GOAL
is to bring the best out in athletes through techniques that encourage resilience building. We teach our athletes to embrace failure and learn from it. We encourage athletes to develop positive mental performance strategies on and off the court that focus on building self-confidence and self-esteem. We believe that interpersonal relationships on and off of the court are critical to success so we foster an environment where teammates are encouraged to support one another in a manner that is positive, uplifting, and embracing.
OUR VALUES
are fairness, teambuilding, equality, equity, discipline, inclusion, perseverance and respect. Sport has the power to provide a universal framework for learning values that contribute to the development of the skills needed for responsible citizenship and community.
16U/17U
5 - 6:30/7 pm
18U
6:30 - 8/8:30 pm
Location
14 Holy Helpers RC Church
1345 Indian Church Rd, West Seneca
The gym is in the back of school parking lot next to cemetery (building has 3 brick arches).
TO REGISTER FOR TRYOUTS PLEASE CLICK HERE
December 1, 2025 - End of May 2026
Travel Gym Master Coaches:
Carolyn Bell
Jenna Sonnenberg
18 Travel
Jenna Sonnenberg - Head
Madison Nuttle - Assistant
17 Travel
Carolyn Bell - Head
Chris Merz - Assistant
16/17/18 Regional
Jenna Sonnenberg and Madison Nuttle - Co-Coaches
*Tryouts for 12U and 13U in November 2025 (dates posted in September)
12U
Tammy Nuttle
13U
Carolyn Bell
DAY:
Wednesday & Friday
*Subject to change to Monday and Wednesday by September 1.
**The team will not practice on Friday travel weekends.
TIME:
17U and 18U Travel
6 to 8 pm
16/17/18U Regional Team
8 to 9:30 pm
14 Holy Helpers RC Church (West Seneca)
or
Our Lady of Victory Elementary School (Lackawanna)
SITE TBD
17 and 18 Travel Team Season Dues
$2950.00
16/17/18U Regional Team Season Dues
$1550.00
Families will be asked to commit to Competitive Edge Volleyball Club (CEVC) for the 2026 club season and pay the associated season fee in full without refund. Family commitment means that they are responsible for:
- paying the monthly payment plan fee by the 1st of each month (unless they choose to pay in full by September 1, 2025).
- paying a late fee of $50.00 if the monthly fee is not paid by the 5th of each month.
- transportation to and from tournaments and practices for the entirety of the season.
- supporting our coaches and players with positive communication, energy, and behavior during all practices, events, and travel.
Prior to commitment, families understand that there is a significant time commitment involved in practice and competition for both coaches and players. They will thoroughly review the practice schedule and fee structure and understand that the entire payment is required regardless of the duration of participation in the 2026 season. All payments are non-refundable as the budget for each team is structured around the number of players on the team without room for variation in payment.
Families understand that once registered with CEVC for the 2026 season, the player will be unable to transfer clubs or participate in other competing tournaments without the written consent of CEVC, USAV, and WEVA.
Families must commit to attend all events. This participation requirement, if cannot be honored, will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
What is included in the season fee?
Tournament Registration Fees
Head, Assistant, and Master Coach Stipends
Misc. Fees (website, unanticipated costs, insurances)
Meal, Lodging and Transportation for Head and Assistant Coaches
WEVA and USAV Registration Fees for Head and Assistant Coaches
Court Fees
Uniforms and Equipment Packages
All families who join the club are required to participate in our only fundraising event held at the Lancaster Elks Lodge in December 2025. Each family will be asked to donate a themed basket worth $50.00 and parents will be asked to work the event as needed. Players will not attend the event.
This event covers the end of year banquet, awards and trophies, and miscellaneous season overages that cannot be anticipated. Rather than put those unknown costs on the families ahead of time in the season dues, we do the fundraiser to cover those miscellaneous expenses.
All teams are able to host their own fundraising events if they wish. They do not need to be club wide.
The founder of CEVC, Carolyn Valone Bell, has been a coach and player at all levels of volleyball for almost 35 years now. She started her love for the game as a 12 year old girl who was initially cut from the first team she tried out for in junior high. Through perseverance, some really hard lessons along the way and great coaches and mentors, she learned how to be a successful player and an even more successful coach.
Coach Carolyn thrives on building confidence and resilience in young girls. She focuses her player development on 1) being a good person and community member 2) being a good teammate and friend, and 3) being a solid athlete and player. Her goal has always been to make an overall positive change in the lives of girls while still developing very successful female volleyball players. This has been exemplified in her success as a coach both in club volleyball with an overall record of 446 wins and only 139 losses at the club level. Her success in college was even more significant with 129 wins and 34 losses. She has produced numerous all-conference, all-state, and all-American athletes throughout the years. She was named the Minnesota Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and been honored with several professional awards in coaching.
Coach Carolyn has been given invaluable opportunities to coach the littlest tots all the way up to college and professional level volleyball athletes. She is a proponent of teaching safe and mechanically sound hitting and jumping techniques in her players to minimize injury. She knows how to train her players to move faster and be more efficient on the court. Coach Carolyn has trained under some of the best coaches nationally as a coach at elite summer camps and coaching clinics in the Midwest. Some of her most valued knowledge has comes from the late Dr. Mike Hebert (University of MN), Hugh McCutcheon (men's and women's Olympic coach) and Russ Rose (retired from Penn State).
Coach Carolyn loves the game but more important, loves the relationships that she builds with her athletes that last a lifetime. Coach Carolyn says there is nothing better than hearing from a former athlete from decades ago who attributes "that one moment where she believed in them" to have impacted them for a lifetime.
Coach Carolyn currently works full time at Best Self of Western New York. She also has two daughters ages 10 and 11.
This will be Coach Jenna's 2nd year with the club. She coached the 16-1 team for the 2023-2024 season.
Jenna Sonnenberg has been a volleyball player since the mere age of 9. She played for NFVB on their travel 1s team from 12-18, where she met founder Carolyn Bell. She attained several All tournament team awards during her club campaign and during her high school career at Niagara Wheatfield. During her senior year of high school, she led her team to states where they took 2nd place in the Class A division. She received 1st team All-State and All-WNY and was named Niagara Gazette Player of the year.
After completing a successful club/high school career, she moved on to play at the division 1 level for the UB bulls. Coach Jenna played as DS/libero and served her team as a captain for 3 years. She received numerous accolades for her performance in the classroom and on the court: MAC Commissioner's Award, MAC presidential Award and Academic All-MAC. This campaign recently ended in 2022 with the Bulls making it to the MAC tournament semi-finals, the best performance in program history.
Coach Jenna is currently a Doctor of Physical Therapy student at the University at Buffalo and planning to graduate in May 2025. She has spent a lot of her time playing during school and is excited to start coaching to get back into the sport. Coach Jenna has had many opportunities to coach camps through UB as well as some local clinics. She has participated in numerous community service opportunities to coach as well.
Coach Jenna loves to create a positive atmosphere for her players, as she knows it has been the most conducive environment to learn and get better in. She believes that lots of communication, positive energy and strong work ethic can overcome any obstacle in sport. Being a good leader and respecting teammates is the best attribute any player can bring to their team. Her goal is to pull this out of each of her players to make them the best version of themselves for both volleyball and in life.
While seeing skill improvement is very important to her, Coach Jenna is looking to teach younger players what it takes to be a good person/teammate. The lessons volleyball teaches us all can be applied in many situations outside of it. She will put her players in the best position possible to grow and have fun while doing it.
Shelby Kersten has had 10 years of experience in high-level volleyball. She was a member of NFVB's travel team from 2015-2019, while also playing for Alden High schools Varsity Girls Volleyball team for 4 years. During this time, Shelby broke school records for blocking and attacking. She also led the team to three Section Championships and well as two appearances in regional play. Shelby was also awarded Student-Athlete of the month, Letterman Award, as well as New York State First Team for women's volleyball.
After her high school career, Shelby committed to Daemen University to play play Division II Volleyball and study Psychology. During this time, Shelby participated in three Conference Championships, winning two, as well as participating in the NCCA Elite 8 Championships in 2021. During this time Shelby also had the opportunity to work with the program CAUSE, which she worked with neurodivergent athletes in multiple sports. She was also awarded the 2023 Senior Thesis Award for her graduating class for her research investigating cognitive functioning and perception.
Now in her professional career, Shelby works in a school setting supporting children and families through social emotional learning. She has also worked to integrate mental health and wellness into sports related programs for children, as she believes setting this foundation for youth will not only benefit them in sport, but in all aspects in life. Shelby wishes to continue her professional career by obtaining her PhD in Adolescent Clinical Psychology.
Shelby has seen for herself how sport can bring people together, build life skills, bring new opportunities, and give young women confidence and empowerment. Shelby wants to give back to the community that has given so much to her and is grateful for the opportunity to do so.
While seeing skill improvement is very important to her, Coach Jenna is looking to teach younger players what it takes to be a good person/teammate. The lessons volleyball teaches us all can be applied in many situations outside of it. She will put her players in the best position possible to grow and have fun while doing it.
Madison has been playing volleyball since she was 11 years old. She played for NFVB on their travel teams from ages 12-18. She met founder Carolyn Bell through NFVB and grew significantly as a player through private lessons with her. She played varsity at St. Mary’s High School in Lancaster from sophomore to senior year where she won two CHSAA state titles.
After high school, Coach Maddy pursued her undergraduate education at SUNY Geneseo, majoring in neuroscience. She played competitively on the Division II club team where she led her team to two regional titles during her junior and senior year. In the future, she plans on pursuing her graduate studies in psychology.
As a player she has faced lots of adversity. Over the years, she has found that her versatility as a player gave her the opportunity to overcome adversity and contribute to every team she was a part of in a different way. Her main position is outside, but she has also played right side, libero/ds, and setter throughout her career. She is excited to take what she has learned from her experiences as a player and apply them through her coaching.
She believes a key component of being a good athlete is coachability. Showing up with an open mind to trying new things is important for an athlete's development and success. Her goal is to give her players skills that will help them overcome any challenges they face both on and off the court.
Tammy Nuttle has been coaching volleyball for 10 years. She started out by coaching her daughter, Madison Nuttle, in middle school and continued coaching her son’s team in middle school as well. Once both had moved on to high school, she began coaching modified girls at Holland Central School for 6 seasons. Her competitive drive stems from watching both her son play hockey and daughter play volleyball for many years.
Being both a parent and a coach gives her a unique perspective of the game. She understands how important time management is for being a successful student athlete, especially when an athlete chooses to play multiple sports at once. She also understands the difficulties faced as a parent of multiple athletes.
Her passion for the game is what encourages her to shake things up and she will push players to succeed in multiple positions. From watching the game evolve as her daughter grew up, she has gained a lot of insight into different strategies, the importance of making smart plays, and the impact a single play or change can have on the momentum of a match.
She believes every athlete should be willing to trust the process and be ready to try new things. Success takes time, but in the end, it is always rewarded. She also believes strongly in a positive and mutually respectful coaching environment. She is very excited to be given the opportunity to coach at a higher and more competitive level. She strongly emphasizes technique with the goal of setting players up for success as they move on to a higher level of play.
Coach Carolyn worked with Jenna on the Niagara Frontier Volleyball 13-1 and 17-1 teams. Jenna played as a defensive specialist and libero at University of Buffalo.
Jenna stated, "Coach Carolyn has been one of the most influential coaches in my career. She helped me set my foundation both in physical skills and intangible characteristics. I am so grateful to her for everything she has done for me! I was fortunate enough to compete at the Division I level in college and couldn't' have done it without her knowledge!"
Coach Carolyn worked with Julia from the age of 12 as her team and private lessons coach. Coach Carolyn also had the honor of coaching Julia on the Niagara Frontier Volleyball 13-1 and 17-1 team.
Julia was a versatile attacker both in the middle and the pins. She went on to play NCAA Division I volleyball at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. She is currently the assistant coach at Texas A&M Corpus Christi!
Julia stated, "I had Coach Carolyn as a young volleyball athlete. I was new to the sport and had a lot to learn! Carolyn did a fantastic job of both pushing me to improve, while being wildly supportive. I played 5 years of Division 1 volleyball and won two Division 1 conference titles in my career as a student athlete. As I look back on my career, I like to remember where it started. Carolyn Bell was so impactful on my growth as a not only a player, but a person and leader, as well. Coach Bell has a strong background in coaching and raising girls to be strong on and off the court. I know anything she she chooses to pursue, she will do it well! Any young player is lucky to be a part of what Carolyn Bell is creating!"
Carolyn coached Kendall at Niagara Frontier Volleyball in 2012 on the 18-1 team. She attended Penn State and played as a defensive specialist and libero.
Kendall stated, "Volleyball is continuing to lead as the fastest growing women's sport and with great reason, it teaches discipline, teamwork, competitiveness and resilience. It teaches you how to work together with others and work towards a common goal. Carolyn has always made the pillars of the sport her foundation for teaching. Before you can be great, you have to want to be great and you have to be open to learning new things. Carolyn has seen the sport through all of its phases; from a kid's first time picking up a volleyball to when they put on their first jersey for a collegiate level game, and she has been a pillar of support throughout every athlete's experience."
