High school volleyball: Hallie Schroeder named new Elyria coach

Volleyball has always been Hallie Schroeder's passion. Now she gets to put that passion to work as Elyria High's coach. A 2017 Avon graduate, Schroeder has been a varsity assistant for the Pioneers the past two years. She was promoted after Paige Pileski stepped down at the end of last season. Schroeder was Elyria's junior varsity coach in 2022 after coming over from Avon Lake, where she served one season as freshman coach in 2021. "I applied for a couple other head coaching positions in the past and didn't get them," Schroeder said. "I'm sure because of my age (25) a lot of people see me as a super-young coach with not a lot of coaching experience. My varsity coach at Avon, Julie Bendzuck, was very young when she got the varsity position at Avon (in 2013) fresh out of college. She's inspired me to show people that even though I'm young, I can make a big difference in a program. I'm very excited to do that." Schroeder was All-Southwestern Conference as a senior and All-West Shore Conference as a junior at Avon as an outside hitter and middle back. She was an honorable mention Miss Volleyball pick and All-Lorain County her senior year. She went on to play at Walsh University, where she was All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference first team as a sophomore and junior. An injury cut her playing time in half her senior year at Walsh, but she still earned All-GMAC second-team honors. "Elyria High used to be known as a volleyball powerhouse," said Schroeder, a teacher at Northwood Elementary. "I've witnessed that so I'm really hoping and wanting to get them back to that level. That comes with helping these girls to grow as individuals with that drive and desire." The Pioneers have struggled the last three seasons — posting records of 5-18 last season, 3-20 in 2023 and 4-19 in 2022 — and have just two wins in Southwestern Conference play during that time. Their last .500 season was 2021 when they finished 12-12 and 7-7 in the SWC. Schroeder began her volleyball career as a member of the Spirit Volleyball Club from ages 10-15, then played Junior Olympics for the Cleveland Volleyball Company. "I'm always very open to learning more coaching techniques," Schroeder said. "When you stop learning, then you stop growing. If I stop growing, then these girls won't either, so I'm always looking to learn different things from different coaches. I also know my capabilities. I worked with Morgan Palos since she was a sophomore when I first came to Elyria and she was an All-Ohio setter by the end of her senior year. I looked at her sophomore year and I said, 'I bet you'll be all-state one day,' because of her drive and her effort." Maddie Smith and John Wallace will remain as Elyria's junior varsity and freshman coaches, respectively. Katie Carres, who was an assistant at Vermilion last year, will be Schroeder's varsity assistant. "My family was always big on sports so it just drew me," Schroeder said. "My sister Julie was a big inspiration. I played basketball and tried track and field in middle school, but I think just the pace of a volleyball match and the intensity and that great feeling when you get a kill really attracted me. It just made me super passionate and devoted to the sport. I knew I wanted to pursue it and I knew I wanted to play that sport in college." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.