Pri Piantadosi-Lima
Camp Director
Pri Piantadosi-Lima is the Head Beach Volleyball Coach at the University of South Florida.
Coaching Background• South Florida Beach Volleyball Head Coach (2023-present)
• Owner & Founder Optimum Beach (2014-23)
• 2022 USAV Beach Club of the Year
• 2021 Florida Region Outstanding Club Director
• Develops high-level juniors and professional players
• Produced 92 collegiate players
• USAV Beach Head Coach, National Team Development Program (2019-present)
• 2022 USAV Female Junior Coach of the Year
• Co-founder Women’s Beach Volleyball Coaches Alliance (BVWCA)
• Eckerd College Assistant Coach (2012-18)
• Helped launch beach volleyball program in 2015
• Helped lead the team to its first AVCA National Championship and
two consecutive NCAA Championship podium finishes.
Playing Background
• 17-year professional career
• 28 semifinal and 19 finals appearances on US pro beach tours (AVP/NVL/Jose Cuervo)
• Captured 8 US professional tournament championships
• Five tour titles and eight finals on Banco do Brasil Tour
• Six-time champion representing Brazil on South American Tour
• Continental Cup Olympic Qualifier Champion
• 2009 AVP Most Improved Player
• Louisiana Lafayette Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee
• Two-time All-Sun Belt selection (indoor volleyball)
Pri Piantadosi-Lima (PREE pea-ANT-ah-DOE-zee LEE-mah) was named as the first head coach of Bulls Beach Volleyball by Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly on June 6, 2023.
A former standout professional beach volleyball player and founder of Optimum Beach, a St. Petersburg-based club program, Piantadosi-Lima was named the 2022 USAV Female Junior Coach of the Year during her work as the head coach of the USAV Beach National Team Development Program (2019-present) and also saw Optimum Beach earn 2022 USAV Beach Club of the Year honors.
A co-founder of the Women’s Beach Volleyball Coaches Alliance (BVWCA), an organization that provides networking and support for female beach volleyball coaches as well as unique camps and player development, Piantadosi-Lima was a standout player, earning 28 semifinal and 19 finals appearances while capturing eight US professional tournament championships. She was a six-time South American Champion (2009-11) and 2009 Continental Cup Olympic Qualifier champion while playing for Brazil and earned five Brazilian professional tournament titles among her many achievements as a player.
Her passion for the sport led her to become one of the most sought-after beach volleyball coaches in the country. She previously served as an assistant coach at Eckerd College (2012-18), helping to launch their beach volleyball program in 2015 before going on to help lead the team to its first AVCA National Championship and two consecutive NCAA Championship podium finishes.
Piantadosi-Lima became the owner and founder of Optimum Beach (2014-present) in 2014. The club focuses on elite players and specific divisions dedicated to the development of high-level junior players and professional athletes. In her role, she was responsible for the daily operations, finances, budgeting, scheduling, selection and supervision of coaches and fundraising for the multi-location beach volleyball club and training program that has four divisional directors, two administrative staffers and 10 coaches.
Optimum Beach grew to operate satellite locations in Tampa, Tennessee, Kentucky and New York and features “The Optimum Beach Training System” that simulates game situations while integrating drills, agility, strength and conditioning, and mindset training. Optimum Beach conducts camps and clinics for college coaches and players as well as tournaments and has produced 92 NCAA Division I, II, III and junior college athletes.
Piantadosi-Lima was named the 2021 Florida Region Outstanding Club Director and conducted international training in seven countries outside the United States. Optimum Beach has helped produce several outstanding players, including three-time All-American Lexy Denaburg (UCLA, 2021, ’22 & ‘23); 2023 Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year Madison Espy (University of North Florida); 2022 Canadian Provincial Championships winner Emma Braticevic; 2021 USAV U19 World Championship Trials champions Lexy Denaburg and Maddie May-Anderson; 2022-23 USA National Team Juniors Kennedy Coakley, Sam Crosby, Bailey Higgins and Ashley Pater; and 2022 U19 Word Championship runner-up Ashley Pater.
Optimum Beach pro teams finished fifth at the 2023 AVP Miami Tournament, seventh at the 2023 AVP New Orleans tournament and recorded three seventh-place finishes in the 2022 AVP Gold Series.
A 2003 graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Piantadosi-Lima was inducted into UL-Lafayette’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019. She was a two-time All-Sun Belt selection (2001-02) and won numerous all-tournament awards while putting her name in the volleyball record books, finishing among the all-time leaders in kills, attempts and digs in Ragin’ Cajun history. She also served as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) president.
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Piantadosi-Lima started playing volleyball at the age of 15 in Rio and speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish. From age 15 until 19 she played on either the runner-up or champion team in the state, claiming numerous medals in U15, U17 and U19 age groups. At the age of 16, she started playing beach volleyball as well as indoor and was undefeated with her partner in every tournament from 1997-1999.
After college, she returned to beach volleyball. In 2009, she made five AVP semifinals and one final appearance. With that breakout year, she earned the 2009 Most Improved Player Award from the AVP. From 2009-2013, Piantadosi-Lima played in the Banco do Brasil Tour, finishing every year among the top five teams and earning five tour titles and three additional finals appearances. She represented Brazil playing in the South American Tour (2009-11) and became a six-time champion.
Piantadosi-Lima was the 2009 Brazil Olympic Qualifier champion while also playing in the very first edition of the Continental Cup in 2010, getting the victory for Brazil. In 2011 she played on the FIVB Tour and was an Olympic contender for Brazil. She played on the US Beach Tours (AVP/NVL/Jose Cuervo) from 2004-20, earning eight tournament titles and posting top-five team rankings every season.
Piantadosi-Lima resides in Parrish, Fla. with her wife Michelle Piantadosi-Lima, the head coach of the Eckerd College indoor and beach volleyball programs.
QUOTABLE
“We are thrilled that Pri will lead our beach volleyball program and oversee the launch of what we expect to be a very competitive and successful new sport at USF. She brings vast experience and tremendous success as a player, coach, and founder and operator of one of the most respected club programs in the country, which she built right here in the Bay Area. She has tremendous relationships both nationally and internationally in beach volleyball and is held in very high regard in that community for her passion for the sport and her ability to develop high-level competitors.”
- USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly
- Pri Piantadosi-Lima, Head Coach USF Beach Volleyball
Pri is the Founder and Director of Optimum Beach, a nationally recognized beach volleyball training program with locations in St. Petersburg and Tampa and serving the Gulf Coast and Tampa Bay area. Pri is a former beach volleyball professional and veteran. She began her beach volleyball career in Brazil at the early age of 15. A Hall of Famer at the the University of Louisiana Lafayette, Pri was a force on the indoor volleyball team, reaching top 3 all-time rankings in digs, attempts, and kills. After graduation, Pri focused on beach volleyball, quickly rising in the rankings and in 2009 was named AVP Most Improved Player. Throughout her professional career she made 28 semi-final, 18 final appearances and held 8 US Professional Tournament championships. She is a 5-time Brazilian Professional Tournament Champion and a six-time South American champion. Her passion for the sport led her to become one of the most sought-after beach volleyball coaches in the country. In 2019, she was asked to join the USAV National Team Development Program coaching staff. In 2021 and 2022, Pri was awarded Outstanding Club Director and Female Beach Volleyball Coach by Florida Region, and 2022 USAV Beach Coach of the Year and USAV Beach Volleyball Club of the Year. To date, Optimum Beach has guided over 80 junior players to DI programs.