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Please Welcome Anthony Medel
My Great Web page
as
Our New
18
Thunder Head Coach!
Hey Storm Family!
I am pleased to
announce a new addition to our coaching staff. I have enjoyed
getting to know Anthony Medel and I am so excited to what he will
bring to our club. We share very similar backgrounds: being from
Southern California, coaching styles and philosophies. Although we
don't share the same 6 pack, I know he will bring success as our new
18-Thunder head coach. Anthony Medal recently moved to Arizona
and wanted to continue coaching within a top club like the one he
left in California. Coach Medel was head coach of successful 18's
and 17's teams for Mizuno Long Beach including other various camps
and clinics.
Anthony grew up
playing volleyball in Santa Barbara under the tutelage of his High
School Coach Jon Lee. He has been competing on the beach since he
was 14 years old, and won his first semi-pro youth tournament at 16.
 Although
Medel grew up playing both indoor and beach volleyball, beach has
always been his passion. It has always been a dream of his to
someday play alongside some of the all-time greats he grew up
watching on the AVP Tour.
During his time
at San Marcos High as an outside hitter, he helped the Royals grab
two Channel League Championships and three CIF appearances with a
fourth place finish his senior year along with an undefeated league
record. He earned all-Channel League honors his junior and senior
year. After a brief stint as a starting outside hitter for Santa
Barbara City College, he transferred to Golden West and helped lead
them to a second place finish in the State in 1999-2000, ranking #1
in kills and aces, and notching a First Team All-Conference
selection. Anthony was also an Orange County Athlete of the Week in
2000 for the Rustlers, compiling 57 kills in two playoff matches.
During his time in college, Medel competed in numerous semi-pro
beach tournaments.
After two years
of Junior College volleyball, Medel decided to forgo his final two
years of eligibility at a University and give the AVP Tour a shot.
Medel took his first career top ten finish in Austin with partner
John Moran. In 2005 he began playing with partner Ty Loomis, and the
two notched a ninth place finish in Huntington Beach.
Midway through the 2006 season he teamed with Fred Souza, and their
six tournaments resulted in his six best career finishes to that
point, with two fifth place finishes in Manhattan Beach and
Birmingham, two seventh place finishes in Brooklyn and Cincinnati,
and two ninth place finishes in Chicago and Boulder.
Medel finished
the 2006 season ranked fourth on the AVP Tour in aces, with .65 per
game, and twelfth in digs with 479. After the 2006 season and his
new found success with Souza, he traveled to Brazil to begin
practicing with Souza for the upcoming 2007 season. Medel and
Souza’s success continued that year as they were currently fifth in
points for the Crocs Cup, finishing outside the top ten only once
that year. The two have also bested their finishes from the 2007
season appearing in three semi-finals, most notably Manhattan beach
where Medel and Souza took down the current World Champions and
reigning gold medalists Rogers and Dallhauser (#3 seed) and knocked
Lambert and Metzger (#1 seed) out of the tournament.
Anthony Medel and
partner Fred Souza finished the 2008 AVP Season ranked the #5 team
in the country. Anthony also finished top ten in three statistical
categories, #3 in aces, #7 in kills, and #9 in digs, proving that he
is one of the top players in the country, and one of the fastest
rising stars on the AVP.
Anthony has also been featured in Sports Illustrated, Volleyball
Magazine, Dig Magazine, NBC and Fox Sports Net. The 2009 season was
a new challenge for Medel, playing with a new partner in Hans
Stolfus, and the pair notched an international victory in Guatemala.
Medel has continued to stay in tune with the sport, coaching all
levels and age groups with various clubs in the south bay, most
notably Mizuno Long Beach. He will bring a energetic competitive
fire, a wealth of experience, and a passion for winning to The
Arizona Storm Volleyball Club. We are so excited to have him.
If you have any
questions about Coach Medel, please feel free to get in touch with
me, and I will do my best to answer all questions and pass
information on to him.
Sincerely,
Terri Spann
Arizona Storm
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