Leadership Staff

Emily Hawthorne

Executive Director

Emily Hawthorne’s coaching career began in 1999 at Hoosier Heartland Volleyball Club and as a student manager for Indiana University. Since then, she has accumulated more than 100 high school victories, started many successful youth programs, and been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s (AVCA) 30 Under Thirty list. She is now a serving member on the Junior Volleyball Association’s Board of Directors.

Emily, at the age of 20, took over as the Varsity head coach at her alma mater—West Lafayette (Ind.) High School. In 2005 and 2006, she led Western Boone to back-to-back 21-win seasons, captured a conference championship, and was named Boone County Coach of the Year. The following five seasons were spent leading the Eagles of Zionsville (Ind.) Community, where she earned her 100th career high school victory in 2009 and was named the All-North Coach of the Year.

Prior to her Indiana high school coaching career, Emily had equal success in the state as a player. She was a four-year Varsity starter at West Lafayette and was named to the All-Area and All-Conference teams during the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

Emily lives in Zionsville with her husband, Steve, who is The Academy’s Director of Operations and Tournament Director, and their two daughters, Molly and Lucy.

Steve Hawthorne

Facility Operations, Tournaments

Steve Hawthorne brings 20 years of coaching experience to The Academy, including more than a decade at the club level. He has served as a club coach, tournament director and executive director.

Steve has coached 1’s team at The Academy in the 14’s – 18’s age divisions, regularly competing in Open competition. He previously coached five years at ages 14 and up at Indiana Volleyball Academy. His most successful team was 2011’s IVA 14-1’s, which finished 10th in 14 Open at AAU Nationals. Prior to coaching at IVA, Steve was a club coach at Lafayette Area Volleyball Academy, Indy Juniors and Performance Point.

Steve was the Noblesville (Ind.) High School Varsity Head Coach for five seasons. In 2014, he led the Millers to the Sectional Finals. He has eight prior years of high school coaching experience, including time at Western Boone (Thorntown, Ind.), Zionsville (Ind.) Community, Guerin Catholic (Noblesville, Ind.), and Lebanon (Ind.). He has accumulated two conference titles and multiple 20-win seasons.

A dedicated student of the game, Steve regularly works Purdue Summer Camps and attends American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Conventions. He is ASEP, IMPACT and CAP I certified.

Steve lives in Zionsville with his wife, Emily, who is The Academy’s Executive Director, and their daughters, Molly and Lucy. Steve has a daughter, Cori, who graduated from Lafayette (Ind.) Jeff High School.

Travis Fuller

Coach & Player Development, Recruiting

Travis Fuller has been coaching for more than 15 years and has been with The Academy since it was founded in 2014. He brings a remarkable commitment to and passion for on-court training to The Academy, where he is responsible for guiding the overall progress of the club’s coaching, technical training, recruiting and clinics.

Travis was the Varsity Head Coach at Greenfield-Central (Ind.) High School for three seasons (2016-18), and the American Volleyball Coaches Association recently named him one of the nation’s top 30 coaches under 30 years old. He was the Varsity Assistant at Noblesville (Ind.) High School in 2015, and spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons as the Volunteer Assistant at Purdue University, where he regularly trained various positions for the top-25 team.

Travis grew up with the sport of volleyball, frequenting Orlando, Fla., during summers to work on the ESPN/AAU campus with his Aunt Jan, a long-time Orlando Volleyball Academy coach. Flash forward to today, and he has already amassed many successful years as a high school and club coach.

In 2010, as the Varsity Assistant, Travis won a Class A State Championship with Lafayette (Ind.) Central Catholic. The following year, he became the Varsity Head Coach at McCutcheon (Lafayette, Ind.) High School, and built them into a defensive machine ranking in the top three in digs per set and blocks per set in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, all after graduating seven letterwinners the previous year.

Prior to coaching, Travis was a four-year letterwinner and team captain at Carmel (Ind.) High School. He was an Indiana All-Star in 2006 and 2007, and led his team as the setter to a semi-final finish in the 2007 IBVCA State Tournament. Also in 2007, he liberoed the Indiana Volleyball Academy Indy Assault 18-1’s to a T-21st finish at USAV Nationals in Atlanta, Ga.

In 2012, Travis completed his degree in aviation management with a minor in organizational leadership at Purdue.

Travis lives in Indianapolis, with his wife, Kylee and their children, Elijah and Jocelyn. His brother, Andrew, has been with The Academy since its inception and is the Boys Director.

Katelyn Storms

Director, Marketing and Travel

Katelyn Storms has served as the Director of Marketing and Travel for The Academy since the Fall of 2017. She is in charge of marketing and social media for all three of our locations as well as travel accommodations for our athletes and families. 

Katelyn has been coaching at The Academy since 2016. She is the 7th Grade Head Coach at Fall Creek Junior High in Fishers, Ind. She was previously at SouthIndy and has coached at Center Grove North Middle School and Franklin Central Middle School. 

After graduating from Trine University in 2010, Katelyn stayed at her alma mater and took on the role of Assistant Director of Student Life where she planned student and athletic events. After Trine, she went to work at Purdue University where she was an Event Coordinator. In this position, she had the opportunity to coordinate events for the president, high level donors, and athletics which included the Mackey Arena Rededication in 2011. From Purdue, she went on to work at the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns as an Event and Database Manager before returning to higher education and taking a position at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business as the Assistant Director of Special Events and Audience Engagement. This role included coordinating events for students and alumni, running the school’s social media accounts, and developing marketing plans and campaigns. 

Katelyn was a 12-year letter winner at North Montgomery High School (Crawfordsville, Ind.) in volleyball, basketball, and tennis. She went on to play volleyball at Trine University (NCAA Div. III).

Katelyn resides in Fishers with her husband, Sean, and their sons, Duke and Pierce. 

Sean Keeve

Director, Monon Select

Sean Keeve joins The Academy staff with over 10 years of coaching experience at a variety of levels. He coached at Butler University for five years, two seasons as a Volunteer Assistant before being promoted to full-time Assistant Coach in 2019. At Butler, he was involved in all aspects of the program which included on court training, practice planning, opponent scout and match preparation, and recruiting.

Prior to coaching at Butler, Sean was an Assistant Coach at Division 2 School Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. There, he was the primary on court trainer, assisted in recruiting, and was responsible for developing defensive game plans. Sean has also coached Elite teams for a number of clubs including Performance Point, Vision, and Munciana Indy.

Sean’s was an All-Conference outside hitter and captain for the Waubonsie Valley High School volleyball program in Aurora, IL. He played club ball for Cyclones Volleyball club for 4 years. At Purdue University, Sean played for the Men’s Club Team before getting involved in coaching at the club and school level.

In 2015, Sean graduated with a degree in accounting and management from Purdue University.

Sean is happily married to his wife Rachel where they first met at The Academy over 5 years ago at an adult league tournament. They reside in Fishers with their daughter, Baker and dog, Maggie.

Jasmine Fullove

Director, Boiler Juniors

Jasmine Fullove returned to Purdue Fort Wayne in March of 2014 as an assistant coach for the women’s volleyball team. Fullove is no stranger to the Purdue Fort Wayne program having previously serving as a graduate assistant coach from 2009-2011 before spending two seasons at Youngstown State.

Jasmine Fullove served as the assistant coach under Steve Florio since 2014, and has coached a multitude of All-League performers. This list includes Emily Spencer, who in Fullove’s first year at Purdue Fort Wayne was the Summit League Player of the Year.

While as the assistant coach, Fullove has coached three Mastodon squads that finished .500 or better in conference play and finished in the top half of the league. In 2018 and 2019, she led the ‘Dons to back-to-back wins in the Summit League Tournament quarterfinal. In 2019, Fullove coached the first Mastodon team to earn a berth to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

In 2013, Fullove helped the Penguins to a 16-15 record, their highest win total since 1999. In her first season at YSU, the 2012 program won more matches than in the previous three seasons combined, making a 10-win improvement from the previous season.

In her previous stint at Purdue Fort Wayne, Fullove served under then head coach Kelley Hartley-Hutton. During that time the Mastodons eclipsed 20 wins in each of the three seasons Fullove was on the bench. The ‘Dons won their first Summit League title in 2009 and advanced to their first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance.
 
As a student-athlete, Fullove helped the Tennessee Lady Vols to four straight seasons of at least 20 wins and a Final Four appearance her senior year. Tennessee won the SEC Tournament, won 32 matches and advanced to the Sweet 16 her Fullove’s junior year. The Lady Vols then beat No. 17 Minnesota, No. 2 Penn State and No. 8 Missouri to reach the Final Four in the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

Fullove was a two-time All-State selection (1998 and 2000) with the Panthers of Snider High School, while helping her Junior Olympic teams to Bronze Medals in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000, as she was named a Junior Olympic All-American in 2000.

Fullove earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English at Tennessee in 2006, and she earned a second bachelor’s in secondary education at Purdue Fort Wayne in 2010.

Jack Lesure

Program Director

Andrew Fuller

Director, Boys Program

Andrew Fuller has been at The Academy since it opened in 2014, and he is in his seventh season as club head coach. In 2019, he was named the Director of The Academy Boys Program.

Andrew is the Boys Varsity Head Coach at Guerin Catholic (Noblesville, Ind.) High School, having founded their boys program in Winter 2016. With Guerin Catholic, Andrew has brought three winning seasons and four sweet sixteen finishes,  as well as a regional championship in 2021 in just four seasons.

In 2021 Andrew was the Head Coach for the 16 Adidas program where he led them to a top ten national ranking throughout the entirety of the season (per Advanced Event Systems or AES) as well as leading them to six championship matches,  eight gold bracket appearances/top five finishes, and three tournament championships as well as a 2021 Open Bid to the USAV Boys Junior National Championships in Kansas City, MO. 

Andrew was named the Girls Varsity Head Coach for Shelbyville (Ind.) High School in 2018 where he led the Golden Bears to their first .500 season in five seasons in his inaugural year. The Golden Bears were 6-17 in 2017. He concluded four seasons with Shelbyville exceeding 60 wins. 

Andrew was the online broadcast voice of Purdue Volleyball for the Fall 2017 season, traveling with the Boilermakers during regular season and postseason play. He spent previous falls coaching girls high school teams: Varsity Assistant at Center Grove (Greenwood, Ind.) High School in 2016, and Freshmen Head Coach at Zionsville (Ind.) Community High School in 2014-15. Andrew has contributed two sectional championships at both Zionsville and Center Grove.

Andrew began playing volleyball at age 11, eventually becoming a standout libero at Carmel (Ind.) High School, where he played on teams that won back-to-back state titles and were ranked in the top 25 nationally (2011, 2012). He was also a member of club teams that finished third at Asics Junior Nationals and fourth at USAV Junior Nationals.

Andrew was most recently named to the 2021 AVCA 30 Under 30 High School Coaches awards which ranks him amongst some of the best and prestigious high school coaches in the country under the age of 30. 

Andrew’s brother, Travis, is The Academy’s Director of Coach & Player Development.

Michael Ortman

Director of Events

Cody Drattlo

Associate Tournament Director

Cody Drattlo joined The Academy staff in the spring of 2021 as the Associate Tournament Director. He beings his third club season with the Academy and has coached 14’s & 15’s. 

Cody served as the Director of Volleyball Operations at Mississippi State for three seasons from 2018-2020. Before Mississippi State, Drattlo graduated from Indiana University in 2018, where he was a student manager for IUVB. 
 
He was an assistant coach with South Indy Club for the girls 18-1’s in 2014. Drattlo also worked with the Hooiserland Volleyball Club coaching 16’s, 17’s and 18’s from 2015-2018.

A native of Greenwood, Ind., Drattlo earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Sport Management and Marketing with a minor in Coaching.

Hunter Martin

Youth Coordinator, The Academy

Hunter got started with volleyball in high school when he made the decision to become a manager for Wes-Del High School’s girls volleyball team. While with the team, they reached the final 4 in his junior year and were state champions his senior year. He got into coaching right after graduating and became the volunteer assistant for the team for one season before becoming the JV volleyball coach for 2 seasons. He also was a coach for the Warrior Volleyball Club at his high school for a season with the 10/11 year old age group.

After coaching for a few years, Hunter focused on college and playing club volleyball while at Ball State University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education while playing club volleyball as a setter for the team for 2 years. The team finished in the top 10 in their division at the NCVF National Tournament in both his sophomore and junior seasons, and the team was also the conference champion for their division his junior season. He was the secretary of the club for 2 semesters and the president for 1 semester. 

Lauren Clendenen

Youth Coordinator, Monon Select

Austin Hillman

Assistant Director, Boys Program

Austin Hillman enters his third season The Academy after directing Indy Elite Boys VBC for four years. He has many years of experience coaching nationally and locally and youth and high school ages. Austin also serves as the Assistant Boys Director, Master Youth Coach and Youth Director for the Academy boys program.

Austin, alongside his assistant Andrea Pawlik, have led five USAV qualified teams in the U14 division: three different Indy Elite 14U boys teams to Open bids at USAV Nationals (2016, 2018, 2019), an Academy U14 team to a USA bid (2020) and most recently an Academy U14 teams to an Open Bid and a 10th place finish at USAV Nationals. Prior to starting Indy Elite, he coached two seasons at South Indy VBC.

Austin is currently the Boys Coordinator at Saints Francis and Clare, where he has captured five City Championships and five Runner-Up finishes in the Catholic Youth Organization. He has also served on the girls and boys staffs at his alma mater, Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind. He previously assisted Roncalli High School’s boys program, helping them to State Runner-Up finishes in 2015 and 2016.

Austin is a graduate of the Indiana University Kelly School of Business, with a concentration in marketing and supply chain management. He is the Vice President of Commercial Solutions for Offprem Technology, a Salesforce Implementation Firm. He live with his Fiancé, Mackenzie, daughter Remi, and two dogs, Finnigan and Oakley.

In his free time has enjoys skydiving, being a Scuba Diving Instructor, and rock climbing.

Carlos Capo

Boys Program Advisor

For years, Carlos Capo has been a driving force behind the development of boys volleyball in the Indianapolis area, and he will be back for his sixth season at The Academy.

Carlos is currently the Varsity Head Coach at Fishers (Ind.) High School. In 2014, he restarted the boys program at the school, and just five seasons later, the team captured the 2019 State Championship with an in-state record of 36-0. Carlos was named Indiana Coach of the Year in 2019, and Conference Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2019. Other team achievements include three consecutive Regional Championships (2017-19), a conference championship (2019), and Indy Metro Tournament Champions (2019).

In 2021, the Tigers of Fishers repeated as State Champions only dropping one match the entire year. They also kept their active regional, metro, and conference championship streak alive.

In 2010 and 2011, Carlos ran a boys league, and that league has grown into an official CYO program since the 2012 season. He was the original Boys Volleyball Coordinator and a coach at St. Pius Catholic School in Indianapolis and served in those capacities for six years. In 2015, Carlos received the CYO Monsignor Albert Busald Service Award in recognition to his volunteer contributions to CYO Boys Volleyball. In 2013, he led the 5th/6th A Team to an undefeated season and the school’s first City Championship. He also captured another City Championship in 2015 with St. Pius’ Cadet A team. Prior to developing boys volleyball in the area, he coached a St. Pius 7th/8th grade girls team for three years.

Additionally, Carlos helped with Irish Juniors during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Carlos was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where volleyball is a very popular sport. He started playing the sport in seventh grade and eventually played for the Purdue Men’s Club Volleyball Team, for which he was a two-year captain. He continues to play in indoor and outdoor competitive leagues and tournaments.

Carlos earned his bachelor’s from Purdue University in hospitality management before obtaining his MBA from The University of South Florida. When not involved with volleyball, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons, golfing and playing basketball.

Robin Snyder

Office Manager

Robin Snyder joins The Academy administrative staff, bringing her high-level organization management skills to the club. She has spent multiple seasons working at The Academy in a part-time role, providing great support with team apparel.

Robin most recently spent 10 years working in merchandising. She spent the previous 10 in bank branch management.

Robin has a bachelor’s in sociology from St. Mary’s College. She lives in Fishers with her family, which includes 18 Elite Fury member, Jill.

Anna McKean

Operations and Community Outreach at Boiler Juniors

Erin Meaux

Executive Assistant

Kim Wilson

Office Assistant

Barb Tease

ProShop Manager

Barb Tease began playing volleyball in Portland, Ore., in the sixth grade. Since then, she has been a high school and collegiate all-star, an official, and a middle school and club coach.

Barb is the seventh grade head coach at Fall Creek (Fishers, Ind.) Junior High and was previous in the same role at Hamilton Southeastern Junior High. She has been a leader of volleyball in the area since she and her family moved to Indiana in 2002. She served as the HSE High School Varsity Assistant (2010-12) and their Volunteer Assistant (2005-10) before transitioning to middle school coaching.

Also while in Fishers, Barb created and led two volleyball-promoting organizations, SPORTS Youth Volleyball League and HSE TNT Volleyball.

Barb moved to Indiana from Dallas, Texas, where she was a standout player at Dallas Christian College. In her two seasons as a Crusader, she was a two-time team MVP, conference MVP, TCCAC All-Conference Player, and NCCAA Regional Volleyball Tournament Player.

After graduating from high school in Portland, Barb was invited to play for Team USA Northwest, which played an 18-day summer tour in 10 cities in China.

Barb and her husband, Geoff, have two children, Laura and Jessie.

Sarah Evans

Apparel Manager

Shanna Smucker

Office Administrator

Shanna Smucker joined The Academy staff in December 2020. Shanna has 12 seasons of club experience and 20 seasons of high school experience. Shanna is the current Varsity Head Coach at Knightstown (Ind.) High School and led the Panthers to a 2A No. 8 ranking in 2013; she was named Mid-Hoosier Conference Coach of the Year that season.

Shanna’s previous Varsity coaching experience includes: two county championships and 2 coach of the year titles in five seasons at Tri (Straughn, Ind.) Junior-Senior High School, and one season at Alexandria (Ind.) Monroe High School. She also went 34-4 in two seasons as New Castle (Ind.) High School’s Junior Varsity Head Coach.

Shanna coached six seasons at Selma Club Volleyball and three at WAVE Volleyball.

Shanna played four years at Wapahani (Ind.) High School, at one point being on a team ranked second in the state and 12th in the nation.

Shanna graduated from Ball State University with a bachelor’s in chemistry/physics and then received her master’s in education from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Her daughter, Rena’, is a defensive specialist at The Academy.

Grace Balensiefer

Rental and Lesson Coordinator

Penny Walker

Food and Beverage Manager, Special Events