14 Teal

Emma Celentano was named the head coach at the University of Mount Olive in December 2019. With COVID-19 producing some unexpected challenges to a head coaching career, Emma finally got to complete her first season in spring 2021.

The team was projected to finish 9 out of 11 and far surpassed expectations with a 3rd place finish. It was the first time UMO had finished with a winning record and won a conference playoff game since 2013. That initial success was upheld in the fall 2021 where Emma had her first “normal” season – one with a full schedule. The team sustained what they were starting to build and had their first 15-win season since 2013. In addition, one of her players Amara Eziakonwa was recognized as a First-Team All-Conference selection by leading the league in attack percentage.

The success only continued into the 2022 season, where the team will get to see the year hang in the rafters as they claimed a share of the 2022 Regular Season Championship. Some of the highlights included:

• The first 20-win season since 2005

• Two First Team All-Conference performers – Middle Blocker Amara Eziakonwa and Libero Morgan Prots

• Finishing third in all of NCAA Division II in aces per set, averaging 2.54 and leading the entire country in total aces at 302

• The team’s 9 losses only coming to regionally ranked teams

Her career started at North Carolina Central University where she worked as the associate head volleyball coach. Her on-court responsibilities with NC Central primarily included training the defense and serve receive. Emma’s off-court responsibilities ranged from recruiting to developing the team’s conditioning program.

Emma started her coaching career in the club world back in 2013 and spent the last 5 years growing Carolina Edge. The club started off with 4 teams in its first season and steadily grew to having 11 teams this past year in 21/22. The focus on youth development and exposing all of the club’s athletes to high-level college coaching is exactly what she hopes to continue bringing to Advantage.

Emma graduated with a degree in Exercise and Sport Science in addition to Coaching Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her education is put to good use each and every day, and she couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to her career than at NC Central, starting Carolina Edge, and taking over Mount Olive. Emma completed her Master’s in Physical Education with a concentration in Athletic Administration from NCCU in December 2019.

Lastly, Emma’s favorite athlete is Roger Federer, and she has an unhealthy love for chocolate milk and Lululemon. If she was home more, she would definitely want a dog; and she could eat breakfast food for every meal of the day, every day.

Maureen Celentano, better known as Mo, works for Merz Asethetics as an analyst, but is daydreaming about volleyball for the better part of the day. She started with Edge in 2020 working with the top 14s team for 2 years and is now excited to be at Advantage and looking to increase the amount of time she’s in the gym working on her craft.

Mo completed her bachelor’s degree at NC State University in Animal Science, and prior to transferring to State, played for Wake Tech as an outside hitter before transferring to NC State (yes, she’s bigger than her sister :).

Mo spends most of her free time exploring her new love for golf and taking care of her puppy Nova. If she is not doing either of those activities, she is getting some much-needed rest to bring the energy in the gym to her teams.

During the season Mo’s ultimate goal is to see each girl become a hungry competitor while also having as much fun as possible. She hopes to encourage young girls to be the best student-athletes they can be and hopes her experience through recruiting and playing at a JUCO can help guide Advantage’s athletes.

In her first season with Shaw after transferring from Wake Tech, Bree garnered the conference Setter of the Year accolade with nearly 3 more assists per set than 2nd place. Bree is excited for her final season and is determined to earn the Bears another conference championship.

While at Wake Tech, she earned first team all-region as a freshman and sophomore. As a sophomore, Breelyn was also one of only three players from the region to be nominated as an All-American. She led the team as captain for both years and received was honored as the Scholar Athlete, MVP, and Golden Eagle through her career at Wake Tech.

Breelyn is majoring in Accounting and is just as passionate about learning in the classroom as she is in the gym. Outside of her internships, she has been starting a business, playing sand, and playing with her dogs Reese & Twix.

During her third season coaching club, Breelyn’s goal is to help each girl develop both their physical and mental abilities on the court. She’s ecstatic to be JP’s assistant coach again and cannot wait for practices to begin!