After 40 years in the game, Laura is no stranger in the world of volleyball. She has either played or coached in three major VB markets (Illinois, California, and Texas).  On the club scene, Laura has extensive experience coaching girls at Sports Performance Volleyball (SPVB), Southern California Volleyball Club (SCVC), Mizuno Long Beach and 1United Volleyball Club.  On the boys side, she has 14 years of coaching experience at Balboa Bay Volleyball Club, Riptides Volleyball Club and Southern California Volleyball Club.  Between both girls and boys, Laura has coached and prepared hundreds of players for college-level competition.  

At the age of 22, Laura became the youngest NCAA head volleyball coach in the country when she took the reins at Aurora University (D3) in Aurora, IL.  She quickly moved to Aurora’s long-standing rival and became the Head Coach and Senior Women’s Administrator at Benedictine University (D3) in Lisle, IL.  While at Benedictine in 1997, she produced the Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference (NIIC) “Player of the Year” and won the conference championship.

In 1998, Laura moved to Los Angeles to become a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Southern California (USC).  After her first season with the women, she found herself on the USC men’s team and became the first-ever woman to coach men’s volleyball at the NCAA D1 level from 1998-2001. Laura was simultaneously  employed at USC from 1998-2022 as an undergraduate academic advisor in the departments of Exercise Science, Kinesiology, and Human Biology.  She assisted both athletes and non-athletes in academic planning and the pursuit of careers in health-related fields (e.g., medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, dentistry, physician assistant, and nursing).  She has 24 years of professional counseling experience and has placed students in some of the most prestigious health programs in the country.

Laura played at Lewis University (D2) in Romeoville, IL from 1988-1991.  In 1988, she was named Rookie of the Year and lost a 5-set match to the University of Tampa in the second round of the NCAA tournament. She was also Academic All-Conference and Team Captain while at Lewis.  Laura earned her Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Lewis and Master of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from USC.  Her youngest daughter (Ayden) played for the University of Texas (2024 & 2025) and most recently transferred to Creighton University in Omaha, NE.