Nike Volleyball Camp in Bend

Coach James Finley is a former DI volleyball head coach with 21 years of college success. His knowledge and passion for the game has helped thousands of athletes in their pursuit of their volleyball goals. He is meticulous in teaching the critical details of the sport while making the game fun and engaging.

In December of 2019, Seattle University volleyball head coach James Finley announced his retirement after seven seasons leading the Redhawks program and more than 20 years of collegiate coaching.

Finley was named the program’s second head coach in its Division I era in February 2013, following an eight-year term at Virginia Commonwealth. While at the Redhawk helm, he led the program to seven consecutive Western Athletic Conference Tournament appearances, and amassed 93 wins, second-most in program history.

The Texas-born coach was also responsible for some of the program’s best players as he worked with three-time All-WAC selection Martina Samadan, two-time WAC Setter of the Year Shae Harris, 2015 WAC Newcomer of the Year Jelena Vujcin as well as WAC Freshmen of the Year Iris Ivanis and Katarina Marinkovic.

In his first three seasons, Finley led Seattle U to consecutive winning records in conference play and helped the Redhawks advance to the WAC Tournament semifinal in 2013. The next year, Finley steered the program to a fourth-place finish in the regular-season standings before orchestrating a thrilling run to the title match with victories over Utah Valley and regular-season champion Kansas City. Then, in 2015, the Redhawks notched their best season as a Division I program finishing 18-11 overall and third in league play at 9-5.

During his seven seasons, Finley saw his teams post several top five single-season marks in the Redhawks’ record book including, most aces in 2015 (202), second-most blocks (289.0) in 2014, most digs in 2018 (1,670) and finished the 2019 campaign with the second-most kills (1,429) and digs (1,619).

Finley’s collegiate coaching career spanned 21 seasons, including 19 as a head coach with prior stops at Arizona Western College and VCU. He spent 15 seasons in the NCAA Division I ranks, posting 244 career victories in 477 games.

Kristin started her volleyball career in Wilmington NC at John T. Hoggard high school during her sophomore year. She broke the high school hitting record with a .624 hitting percentage her senior year. While in high school she played two years of club volleyball for the East Coast Volleyball Club, formerly known as Cape Fear Volleyball Club. She received a full scholarship to play Division I volleyball at Virginia Commonwealth University. Kristin currently holds the number two total number of kills overall record (1,266 kills) at VCU. She remains in the top ten for the number of kills per set and kills in a season as well.

She initially learned how to coach while being a player at VCU when James ran camps at the university and satellite camps at the local schools. Kristin started head coaching right after college at East Coast Volleyball Club. She then moved out to California and coached at Tesoro High school and played in several grass and reverse coed tournaments. Before returning to North Carolina, she took a short break from coaching to play overseas in Cyprus. When she came back she was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of North Carolina Wilmington for two seasons one of which the Seahawks won the CAA Championship tournament.

She continued to coach at East Coast for several seasons. During her time at East Coast, she had coached several national-level teams ages ranging from 14-18’s. She also lead their Dev Pro (developmental), All Skills programs and conducted most of their summer camps. Recently, she began coaching for her former college coach, James Finley and Nike Volleyball Camps as a camp coach and site director.

Ariel Newman is a native of Greensboro, NC. Coming from a basketball and football family, Newman wasn't introduced to the sport of volleyball until middle school when she began playing for her school team. This is where her love for the sport manifested. She began her high school career at Southern Guilford, where she was the only freshman starter on the varsity team, earning MVP honors and other accolades throughout her 4 years.

Newman was introduced to AAU/Club volleyball in 2004 by Kim Mansfield, the founder of Piedmont Volleyball Club. This was a life-changing experience for a 14-year-old, who was still new to the game. Training and competing over the next four years, she learned that volleyball brought so many good things into her life, including more structure, new friends, other great volleyball families, and the motivation to be better every day.

Newman earned a scholarship and was offered the opportunity to play volleyball in college. She was a 4-year starter at two Division 1 programs, Virginia Commonwealth University & the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her Bachelor’s in Sociology in 2012 from UNCG, and her Master’s in Psychology: Sports and Performance at the University of the Rockies in 2014.

Newman’s passion for the sport led to her desire to coach. She has been involved in leading and coaching AAU/Club teams since 2010. In 2012, Newman took the role of head coach for the Greensboro Panthers Homeschool program. Here, she really learned the importance of being a role model to young females. She helped lead the program to two championships in 2013 and 2014. Newman states, “It was a privilege to watch them fall in love with the game.”

In the fall of 2015, Newman became the assistant coach at Guilford College. This was the stepping stone that led her to achieve higher collegiate coaching goals. Since 2016 she has been in the role of Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at North Carolina A&T State University.

As Newman has continued to learn from various collegiate and club volleyball coaches throughout her career, she has gained the understanding that the fundamental skill development of young athletes is the cornerstone of elevating the sport. The more attention that is given to developing our youth, the more well-rounded athletes we will have throughout all levels of the sport. Athletic development is a process and with time, commitment, drive, and passion, anything is possible. Newman is excited to be starting this new chapter at Volleyballer Training Academy.

Coach Ariel's Volleyball Resume:
High School (2003-2007)

• Broke the school record for the most kills in a season as a freshman
• A four-year letterwinner at Southern Guilford HS in Greensboro, N.C.
• Four-time North State all-conference player
• Two-time Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference player of the Year.
• Conference player of the year honors as a sophomore and senior
• MVP of the conference tournament as a freshman and senior
• Named to the all-area team by the Greensboro News & Record
• Selected as team captain her senior season.

College (VCU (07’-08’) then transferred to UNCG(09’- 12’)

• 4 year starter as an Outside Hitter at both Universities
• Played 6 rotations at both Universities
• Earned multiple all-tournament team awards
• Led VCU to 2007 CAA semifinals
• Led UNCG to 2010 SoCon Quarterfinals

School and AAU Coaching Career ( Middle - High School)

• Coached for Piedmont VBC (09’-20’)
• Head Coach for Greensboro Panthers (12’-14’)
• Trained all positions and levels
• Led Panthers Varsity program to win Championships back to back
• Led 15 Elite to Capitol Hill Championship win

College Coaching Career (2015-2021)

• Assistant Coach at Guilford College (15’-16’)
• Assistant Head Coach at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (16’-21’)
• Recognized as VolleyBallMag Under 40 Coaching HotShots (2020)
• Helped N.C A&T win the MEAC 2020 Championship Game
• Participated in the 2020 NCAA Tournament
• Participated in the 2019 and 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championships Tournament (NIVC)
• Helped players win conference all tournament team and player awards (2016-2021)
• Recruiting and Travel Coordinator