Jacksonville Skyline Volleyball

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Tryout season it already upon us! Jacksonville Skyline is coming of another historic season- earning SIX bids to the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships. This tops our program-record of FIVE in 2024- both of which is a record number of GJNC bids for ANY club in history for the Jacksonville area.

This level of achievement doesn’t just happen by accident. There are a number of factors that play into success at the club level and we believe that our 20+ years of collegiate experience and learning from the best allow us to do those things are the highest of levels.

– MASTER TRAINING: Our Master Training model is responsible for the development of an incredible amount of Skyline athletes over the years. This development not only serves our most talented players on our Royal teams, but has helped to develop players on ALL teams and has allowed so many athletes to earn spots on our top teams. Our athletes are all master trained under the same developmental and tactical systems of play by Steph Hernesman- whose role as an assistant coach at HSU, Northwestern State and Clemson University was to run the skill training.

– PERFORMANCE & STRENGTH PROGRAM: Jacksonville Skyline is the only club in Northeast Florida- and one of the few in the country- that has a full-time Performance & Strength Coach and program that is volleyball and positionally specific. This operates in our own facility in a 4,000 square foot space that is directly connected to our courts- which expanded this past season in an effort to make a great situation even better. It is truly the next level of youth/club sports and it isn’t a coincidence that since we’ve had a full-time coach and program, that we’ve increased our number of teams earning bids each year (3 in 2023, 5 in 2024 and 6 in 2025). Additionally, Coach Alan Edwards has 18 years of college volleyball coaching experience.

– FACILITY: Jacksonville Skyline is the only club in Northeast Florida that owns and operates 100% of their own facility. We currently have an 8-court setup that expanded from four courts in September of 2024. What this means for our athletes and families is that when our teams are practicing, there are NO DISTRACTIONS. No outside renters, no other travel sport teams practicing, etc. It is the perfect classroom/teaching environment. Additionally, this gives us all of the time and space we need for additional training with lessons, clinics and camps!

Lainey Kekic has been named the Director for the Boys Volleyball program which will begin its first season this fall. No stranger to building a youth boys volleyball program, Kekic started the Florida Prime Boys Volleyball program in 2022 and has been building that program over the last two years. She is also the Head Coach for the boys team at Bartram Trail High School. As the boys Head Coach at Bartram Trail, Kekic led the Bears to one district championship and two regional finals in 3 seasons. As a girls head coach, she won six district championships, six regional finals and one regional championship between her time at Bartram Trail and Union County. Kekic was a head coach on the girls side of the game for Jacksonville Skyline for four years.

“My vision on the boys side is to keep growing the game. I learned a lot in my time running Prime. The infrastructure of Skyline and the support on the administrative side is only going to make this a better experience for our athletes,” said Kekic. “I would like to start at the younger ages and develop high level, recruitable athletes and teams over time.”

“We’re extremely confident that this is the right time for us to start up on the boys side of the game, said Hugh Hernesman- Co-Director of Jacksonville Skyline. “Boys volleyball has been on the radar for years, but we weren’t at the point where we could provide equal support on the boys side as the girls side. With the addition of Lainey and the expansion of our facility from 4-courts to 8-courts, I’m convinced that all the right pieces are in place for us to build up a strong boys program just like we did in a short time with the girls.”

In addition to adding Kekic, Jax Skyline Boys Volleyball will be adding the majority of Kekic’s staff from Prime as well as experienced men’s players and coaches from the current Skyline staff.

18 Royal is your 2024 AAU NATIONAL CHAMPION!! What an accomplishment in only Year 7 of the club…and we’re just getting started! #SkylineFamily #NextLevel

This past week, we welcomed in some incredible coaches for our annual College Coaches Camp. This is such a fun week for us as we get to learn from some of the best, showcase our Skyline and other local athletes to great programs and catch up with old friends. Thank you to Megan Wargo-Kearny from NC State, Jason Allen from Northern Iowa, Brian Imperiale from University of Tampa, Jenny Maurer from Central Florida and Jordana Price from Tulane for an awesome week!!

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT Boys volleyball is coming to Jacksonville Skyline!! This will be happening for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

We are finally in a place where we can dedicate the training space and leadership to start a boys program and we couldn’t be more excited. This is the perfect time as more and more high schools are adding boys volleyball.

What do you get with Skyline? Strong, proven, professional and experienced leadership and structure. Full-time training home. Top notch Performance & Strength program. A full-time strength coach with 20+ years of experience training volleyball athletes. Adidas Select sponsored club. Match video technology and analysis tools. This is truly a next-level commitment.

Tryouts, open house, clinics and more information will come soon. But for now, dig in and get ready!!

2024 COLLEGE COACHES CAMP: The big reveal is here! We’ve got an awesome lineup once again this summer- including three DI schools with Top 75 RPI finishes (two of them Top 50), a perennial DII National Championship contender that was a Final 4 team this past year and won it all in ‘21, and an up-and-coming mid-major DI program and long-time friend of the Skyline Family!

June 3-7 is the date and once again we’ll have a session for middle school ages and high school ages. Be sure to register for the grade you’re going into…and do so quickly, as this camp is extremely popular and fills up fast.

#SkylineFamily#NextLevel

Congratulations to 17 Royal on winning Northern Lights and receiving a USA bid to the Girls Junior National Championship (GJNC) in Las Vegas in July. That is 3 gold balls at NLQ in 4 years and 4 straight years that this team has qualified for GJNC. They’ll be playing in Open and going for that bid for the rest of the season, but what a great feeling to have that ticket punched for Vegas!! #SkylineFamily #NextLevel

Club Prep Play brings everything that our families loved about the fundamental skill training that athletes received from Club Prep and adds an element of play and competition to the program! This is the next progression from Club Prep, so our athletes will have more of an opportunity to play in a team setting. 

The first half of each session will focus on developing all athletes on ALL skills.  For the 2nd half of their time, athletes will join their team and play another Club Prep Play team.

You can register for Club Prep play HERE on iTeamApp!

Ashlyn Anderson’s story is a unique one that is full of failure, hard work and growth. Not everyone’s path or timing to a college career is the same. Ashlyn’s wasn’t easy and it surely wasn’t a guarantee when she was younger. But now, she’s developed into one of the top attackers in the state of Florida for her graduating class and committed to a Top 50 RPI NCAA DI program in Kennesaw State University. Enjoy! #SkylineFamily #NextLevel

Now that the National Qualifier season is over and the Florida Region Championships are completed, the bids are out for the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships. We are extremely proud to say that- in just our 6th season- we have had THREE different teams earn bids to the GJNC!! 14 Royal earned an American bid at the Big South Qualifier (Atlanta), 16 Royal Earned a National bid at the FL Region Championships (Orlando) and 17 Royal earned a Freedom bid at the FL Region Championships (Orlando).

Prior to this season, we’ve had one team earn a bid in 2021 and that same team earn a bid in 2022. This is SIGNIFICANT growth for the club and a testament to vision set forth by our leadership- the training, the developmental process and the Performance and Strength program. As good as any vision is, it is nothing without coaches and players buying into the vision and putting in the work. Congrats to all. This is an honor that the entire club shares!