Jessica Herff

Outside of coaching, I am a mom of three and personal trainer. I have worked at XSport (09-13) and LAFitness (‘14). I currently train on my own. I have most recently worked with JV/Varsity athletes creating lifts during season, keeping in mind the sport load and functional needs of the athletes.

I believe in developing the whole athlete. Developing skills on the court and intangibles that will carry over off the court such as teamwork, leadership and overcoming obstacles. I believe practices should be challenging and that accomplishing and overcoming the challenge is a privilege. Volleyball is a game of mistakes. A mantra I use often is ‘Fail Forward’ because without mistakes and losses we wouldn’t be challenged to be better and do better.

I was a setter throughout my high school career (freshmen season as a middle) and captain my junior and senior year (Addison Trail HS, Addison, IL). I was named All Conference my senior year in the West Suburban Gold Conference. 

I began playing club sophomore year for Circus VBC and continued there my junior year. My senior year of club was spent playing for DuPage Express.

I was awarded ‘MVB’ my freshmen year (2005). Most Valuable Bench was awarded by the coaching staff for demonstrating leadership and focus on the game to be able to step up and come off the bench and be effective. I was named 1st team all conference three years running while maintaining a captain/co captain leadership role sophomore, junior and senior years (06-08). I was awarded Female Athlete of the Year by the entire athletic department my senior year (08). Throughout my time at Lakeland I earned third all time career assists with a total of 3,781 assists. This record still holds today. 

I am entering my third year coaching at Mission. I currently am the JV/Varsity assistant. I coach at Central High School in Burlington. I previously coached for GoFish VBC in WI for three years while I was playing at Lakeland University (05-09) and Fusion for four years (09-13). 

I thrive in coaching setters. Developing a setters skill set to include consistency and confidence in running an offense as well as increasing their volleyball IQ to recognize matchups on the court. Setters are often leaders-some lead loudly with their voice and others lead quietly by exemplifying tough mental attitude and resilience.