They may be in different roles.
But their names are familiar to the tradition-rich Notre Dame Academy Pandas volleyball program. Leslie Litmer is the new head coach and Jenna Leistner will be the associate head coach. They are splitting up the head coaching duties.
“I think our players are very excited about it. It is a coaching staff who has been with them their entire time at Notre Dame and who know them well,” said Myanna Webster, Notre Dame Director of Athletics. “I think it’s going to be a little bit different. Obviously, they have a little bit of a different vision for the program, which I’m excited about. But I am hopeful that just having that initial knowledge of kind of who your coach is, what they’re about and those initial relationships will give us that step up and not as big a transition.”
The 29-year-old Litmer takes over after the previous head coach in Molly McDermott held the position the last four years. The Pandas finished 100-20 in those four years winning four 35th District Tournament championships and two 9th Region championships. Notre Dame won the ninth state championship in school history in 2020 and lost to state power Assumption in the semifinals in 2019. That 2020 title marked the first Notre Dame state championship since 1994 and marked an end to Louisville powers Assumption, Sacred Heart or Mercy winning every crown since then.
“It’s a very, very exciting opportunity,” Litmer said. “It was something (Jenna and I) had kind of discussed when it came available. It’s a great program to be a part of in many ways as alums of the program as well as a place that’s really close to our hearts. It was a cool opportunity to give back to a program that gave so much to us. I think we’re just really excited to hopefully promote that same experience in our student-athletes that we have now. The closer that we get to the season and the more we talk about it, I think the excitement just continues to build.”
The last two state champions have come from Northern Kentucky. The St. Henry Crusaders bested Notre Dame, 3-1 (25-27, 25-18, 25-12, 25-18) in the region title game last year on their way to their second state crown in school history.
Litmer served as a varsity assistant the past two seasons and Leistner the previous four. Litmer started out as the freshman head coach before moving up to be the junior varsity head coach. The 30-year-old Leistner had also served as a varsity assistant under Cooper Head Coach Michelle Isaac.
They both played volleyball for the Pandas graduating in 2010 and 2009 respectively. The former Leslie Schellhaas played collegiately at Morehead State as a defensive specialist and the former Jenna Schreiver played at Northern Kentucky University. Litmer won the Ohio Valley Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2013. Based on their expertise, Litmer will focus more on the defensive side and Leistner the offensive side.
“I think we have a lot of experiences that we can can kind of draw from that in regards to if our student-athletes want to play in college,” Litmer said. “Some things that we can help them with in that journey are just using the skills that you get to strengthen over the course of that time such as time management and interpersonal skills. We are comfortable with all those things and are able to incorporate to show our athletes how they can use that at the next level or if they are not playing volleyball after this, in the next passion of life.”
Schreiver earned a spot in the NKU Hall of Fame in 2019 winning a number of honors during her storied career there as a setter. She is NKU’s all-time leader with 5,120 career assists at setter and the only player in school history to surpass 5,000 assists.
“Leslie’s role is more of the head communicator. She is the one that will communicate with administration,” Leistner said. “Otherwise, we are going to make our decisions jointly and go about duties and responsibilities together.”
Notre Dame finished 30-9 last season. The Pandas return all but two seniors from that team including two NCAA Division I commits in libero Kamden Schrand and middle blocker Sydney Nolan. Schrand is committed to the University of Louisville and Nolan is committed to the University of North Carolina.
“It was really exciting because I’ve been with Jenna for two years and with Leslie for my fourth year,” Schrand said. “I think everyone on the team and in the program was excited because we’re familiar with them and we’re really comfortable around them. I think it’s going to be an exciting season.”
The two seniors graduating this spring are setter Emily Bentley and outside hitter Abbie Piccirillo. There will be some transitions this year with the new setter.
“Those are big shoes to fill,” Leistner said. “Luckily, that is a strength of mine. I’m excited for anyone or whoever the student-athletes are to take that position.”
The 9th Region winner has either been Notre Dame or St. Henry since the realignment took place in 2005. But this coaching staff is aware that teams like Ryle and Cooper have constantly been in contention to knock down that 9th Region “Wall” as former Highlands Head Coach Katelyn Sallee described it.
Notre Dame lost to Ryle for the first time in school history last year during the regular season. But the Pandas came back to beat the Lady Raiders in the 9th Region semifinals held at Conner.
“I think that is one benefit even though it’s a challenge to being in this region,” Leistner said. “I think it also challenges you to truly get better every single day whether you’re playing (against) or on our teams. We always talk about the person no matter what side of the net that you’re on. You are helping our team and our program get better because if we have two challenging sides, that is consistent with the challenging teams we’re going to play in our region. You can’t really have an off day or take it easy. We’re always challenged with that. That’s kuddos to a lot of the club volleyball programs that our girls play in outside of the high school season. They just continue to get stronger and better.”
Schrand plays for Tri-State Elite and Nolan plays for the Northern Kentucky Volleyball Club. Schrand said other teammates play for Northern Kentucky Junior Volleyball. Schrand agreed every player’s situation is different and listed a way to avoid burnout.
“I just see every day that I play as an opportunity,” Schrand said. “You think of it like it could be your last time on the court. You never know what’s going to happen. You see people get injured. I think all of us kind of take it not lightly and we try to get better every single day as a program, as a team.”
Litmer teaches Math at Notre Dame Academy. Leistner teaches Seventh Grade Language Arts at Camp Ernst Middle School in Burlington.
They know game days make for long days. But Litmer and Leistner said their husbands are supportive. Litmer’s husband is Jake Litmer, a 2010 Covington Catholic alum and Leistner’s husband is Derek Leistner, a 2004 Scott alum. Leistner has an 11-month-old named Kash.
“I wouldn’t be able to go to practice every day and games multiple nights a week,” Jenna Leistner said. “My husband brings my little boy to almost every single match just so I can see him and spend that time with him. The Notre Dame community is like a family to me. You’ll see my son being passed around to all the moms, feeding him his bottle or food. The girls will take care of him when we’re away in tournaments in Louisville or Chicago. It’s not easy.”
Notre Dame is one of just six schools in the Commonwealth of Kentucky that has won the volleyball state championship. Their nine state championships ranks second in Kentucky history behind Assumption’s 22. Villa Madonna won the first state championship in 1980.
