Nike Beach Volleyball Camp with University of South Florida Coaches

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

“My goal is to make BULLS BEACH nationally known, not only for our athletic success but for the type of culture and character our teams will have and our success in the classroom. Beach volleyball opened the doors to the world for me, so I hope I can share with our players what it takes to play at the highest level while also preparing them for life outside of college with the help of all the tremendous student-athlete development resources USF has. The trust that USF Athletics has given me to start the first Bulls Beach Volleyball program will not be taken lightly. With all the support and resources that we will be able to provide student-athletes, we will bring some of the top tier talent in the nation to the Bay! I am more than ready to go meet some future Bulls Beach players!”

• 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.

Coaching Background:

• South Florida Beach Volleyball - Assistant Head Coach (2023-present)

• Stetson Beach Volleyball - Assistant Coach (2022-23)

• Association of Volleyball Professionals - (various teams) (2022-present)

• USAV: Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb - Game Analyst (2023)

Playing Background:

• p1440 Development Program (2019-2020)

• Stetson University Beach Volleyball (2019)

• Team Canada Independent Athlete (2019)

• Jacksonville State Beach Volleyball (2016-2017)

• Concordia University of Edmonton Volleyball - (2014-2016)

Accolades:

• AVCA 30 under 30 recipient (2022)

Bio:

Jae-Lyn Visscher (JAY-LIN VISS-SHER) was named the first assistant coach for the Bulls Beach Volleyball Program by head coach Pri Piantadosi-Lima on Dec. 14, 2023.

A former standout volleyball player at Concordia University of Edmonton and touted beach volleyball player at Stetson University, Jacksonville State, and for her home country of Canada, Visscher is an AVCA 30 under 30 recipient (2022) and most recently spent the last two seasons as the Assistant Coach for Stetson University Beach Volleyball.

In her two seasons as Stetson's assistant beach volleyball coach, Visscher helped guide the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths, as a No. 14 seed in 2022 and a No. 15 seed in 2023, and back-to-back ASUN conference championships. Visscher's athletes were often recognized for their achievements under her coaching. She is credited with two ASUN Pair of the Tournament award-winners, four pairs of All-Tournament selections, four ASUN First-Team All-Conference selections, one ASUN Pair of the Year, three All-Freshman selections, one ASUN Freshman of the Year award, two All-Academic selections, two AVCA Top Flight awards, and four AVCA All-American selections.

Outside of her work at Stetson, Visscher was as an assistant coach and game analyst for USA Men's Volleyball Gold Medal winners Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb. She also assisted head coach Pompillio Mercandante at AVP Hermosa and has coached various teams on the AVP. Visscher also acted as the lead coach for the USA pair of Brunner/Crabb during the Beach Pro Tour Challenge Event in Edmonton.

Visscher has worked as the Chief Executive Officer of VOGO Beach Volleyball where she was responsible for advocating the sport to rural areas in Western Canada. She previously served as the California Region Director for Dakine Beach Volleyball Club (2019-21) and the Associate Director of Adult and Youth Programming and Events for VolleyOC (2019-21). Visscher was named the head women's varsity coach for Paul Kane High School (2018-20) and coached with the Pandas Volleyball Club (2018-19) where she led her team to Best of the West Champions (2019) and Provincial Champions (2019).

As a player, Visscher played beach volleyball at Stetson in 2019, the same year the Hatters finished sixth overall in the final AVCA poll and upset the No. 1 seed USC at the NCAA Championships. They finished 30-10 overall and held a conference record of 8-0 where they were also named ASUN Champions. Ahead of her transfer to Stetson, Visscher played beach volleyball for Jacksonville State in 2017. Before transitioning to sand, she spent two seasons at Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) where she played indoor volleyball as an outside hitter accumulating 194 kills, 35 service aces, and 333 digs. During her years in Canada, Visscher represented Team Canada internationally on the NORCEA professional beach volleyball tour.

Visscher received her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and Physical Education from Concordia University of Edmonton in 2018. She received a Masters of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2021.

Quotable:

"Jae-Lyn is a dynamic leader and coach, and I'm beyond excited to see how well we will work together and build our program and culture," Piantadosi said. "We have similar viewpoints on building the culture and what it takes to not only train but also mentor players so they can be highly successful on and off the court."