Coaching Staff
J.J. Gonzales
Director / Assistant Head Coach
J.J. graduated from Holy Cross High School in 1993 and attended college at the Alamo Community Colleges. His plans are to return to the college life and graduate with a degree in Human Resources.
J.J. started his 18+ year volleyball coaching career within the CYO community holding assistant and head coaching duties for St. Paul’s Catholic School. He would later decide to embark on coaching at the club level and started with Viper Volleyball as a 12’s Assistant Coach. He has coached at the high school level with Holy Cross High School upon its inception of turning coed being the Head Coach of the Freshman team and Assistant Head Coach of the Varsity team. Although he loved getting his start with Viper, he and a long-time volleyball friend decided to start their own club, Top Gun Volleyball. While with Top Gun, he would be Head Coach of a 12’s, 13’s, and a very successful 14’s team for a total of three seasons.
In 2012, he took his 14’s team, and the San Antonio Chief’s Volleyball Club was born! Presently, he is the Director and the Assistant Head Coach of the 18’s team.
J.J. has been married for almost 11 years to his wife, Cyndi, and have two beautiful daughters, Sommer and Izabella. They are his number one supporters!
Marissa Sandoval
Head Coach, 13's
Original Chiefs Volleyball Alumni...
Born and raised in San Antonio, Marissa attended MacArthur High School where she played all four years for the Brahmas. While being a Brahma she played many positions such as defensive specialist, setter, and pin hitter. Marissa was also a part of the early Chief years and played with the Chiefs for their 15's and 16’s national teams.
She later continued her career at Centenary College where she was the Libero for all four years with the program. Winning many awards while being a Lady for Centenary, Sandoval had a superb senior season for the Ladies in 2019 as she collected 754 total digs, finished third-highest for total digs in the nation in division III her senior year. She was also named the Libero of the Year on the 2019 All-Louisiana Volleyball Team, and holds three school records at Centenary (digs in a single match, career digs, and total digs in a season). She is eager to teach what she knows about the game to future generations of volleyball and is excited to be back with the Chiefs family.
Sommer Gonzales
Head Coach, 17's
Original Chiefs Volleyball Alumni...
Sommer Gonzales has been playing volleyball since she was able to hold a ball, but I guess having parents that played all the time helped with that. She attended and played at St. Paul's Catholic School, played all four years at Winston Churchill High School, while playing club volleyball since she was 10 years old. She would then ultimately play at the next level earning herself a scholarship by being successfully recruited to play at Prairie View A&M University.
She is our current 18's Head Volleyball Coach with goals for current and future Chiefs players to focus on their love and passion for the game, not only as a player, but to take the learned life skills to use the rest of their lives - on and off any court and any future endeavors. As Sommer says, "What athletes don't realize is the things you learn and do in club volleyball affect what you do after you're done playing...the same discipline, dedication, team work, and effort will be used every single day".
She is currently attending Texas A&M San Antonio finishing her degree in History minoring in Kinesiology and has just added the title of Head Volleyball Coach at St. Anthony Catholic Middle School all while being a new mom!
Mary Andrews
Head Coach, 15's
Coach Mary's love of all sports, with volleyball being my favorite, started at my local recreation center league when I was 7. Through excellent coaching of fundamental skills training in
those early days I developed into a setter and hitter and played first team and varsity level from 6th through college. My love of coaching started in 1999 with my interest in teaching and developing those important fundamental, base skills of the sport along with teamwork and life skills. I believe accountability, dedication, communication, and hard work play significant roles in reaching goals. Goals must be set and measured to determine if we are progressing and to focus in those areas which need improvement. I have coached at the CYO, club, elementary, middle, and high school levels. I have had great leaders and mentors throughout my sports career which helped me develop into a very successful businesswoman and coach and my goal is to pay that forward to the next generation. Every day I look for a way I can make a positive impact on others. I consider myself very blessed to be a role model for our young ladies as I know it takes a village to raise our children and I am honored to be a part of it.
Certifications:
- USA Volleyball IMPACT (Increased Mastery and Professional Application of Coaching Theory) Certified
- US Center for SafeSport – SafeSport Certified
- Certified Professional Facility (CPF) – Sports and Corporate Teams
- Office of Victim Assistance and Safe Environment (OVASE) Certified
- Red Cross CPR/AED Certified
Alyanna Cordova
Head Coach, 15's
Original Chiefs Volleyball Alumni...
Born and raised in San Antonio, Alyanna attended and also played at St. Paul's Catholic School. She played all four years at Brandeis High School as an Outside Hitter and Defensive Specialist while playing club volleyball since she was young. Throughout her club playing years, she was part of a team that qualified and played at the coveted Girls Junior National's Tournament.
After graduating high school, she went on to Northwest Vista College and then transferring and graduating from Texas State University. She is currently at the University of Texas Health Science Center here in San Antonio pursuing her Doctorate Degree in Physical Therapy.
Never losing the love of the game, she has come back where it started and is committed to sharing her knowledge with the current and future generations of Chiefs athletes. She hopes to one day have her own team and lead them to qualify for the Girls Junior National Championships while helping to inspire them to hopefully achieve success at the collegiate level.