Girls volleyball: Avon Lake hires Felicia Sanchez as new coach

Avon Lake was looking for someone to lead its volleyball program after losing two coaches in as many years. Veteran coach Felicia Sanchez was looking for somewhere to share her passion for the sport after a year away from the court. Both sides hope they'll make a perfect match. The Shoregals announced the hiring of Sanchez on Wednesday, and she replaces Kristin Primozic, who led Avon Lake to a 14-10 record in her only season as head coach. "I took the year off for personal reasons and during that time I had a lot of time to reflect on my core values and I honestly at first I thought I was done because I had been coaching for over 20 years," Sanchez said. "During the whole time I was doing physical therapy I realized I still had the itch. I wanted to get back in the gym and compete and be around the girls and mentor them and I knew, 'Yeah, I'm not done.'" Sanchez played volleyball at Amherst, where she holds the school records for career aces (184) and assists in a match (74), before heading off to play at Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky. She started her high school coaching career at Bardstown High School in Kentucky, where she spent 10 years before coming back to Amherst in 2017. Sanchez coached the Comets to the Division I state semifinals in 2021 and coached three All-Ohio players and two Lorain County Miss Volleyball Award winners. "I realized being a coach makes me better at everything else," Sanchez said. "I figured out I am a better person when I am coaching. I'm a better teacher, a better mom and a better friend when I'm coaching. Coaching for me is my happy place, is my Zen. When I took away coaching for a year I realized other parts of my life just weren't as bright." Sanchez is hoping to get the Shoregals back to regionals for the first time since 2024, but having been around the Southwestern Conference as a player and a coach she knows how hard it is to win in the SWC. "The Southwestern Conference has always been one of the best in Ohio. It breeds fantastic volleyball. I look forward to being a part of this journey of going to another Southwestern Conference team and hopefully continue that success," Sanchez said. Sanchez, who teaches at Amherst, will continue to coach the Comets boys volleyball team in the spring. She has coached that team since its inception in 2022. After the initial jitters, Sanchez doesn't think it will be difficult coaching at one school while teaching at a conference rival. "I'm not going to lie, that very first Avon Lake-Amherst matchup is going to feel weird," she said. "I've talked to a lot of coaches in my community that coach and teach in different districts, I'm not the first to do this. All of them advised me it's just weird the first year. If you're blessed to be able to do it (for a while), that weird feeling goes away." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.