"I have had the pleasure of being involved in coaching at Metro for the past 18 years and Club Director for the past 6 seasons.  I feel extremely fortunate to surround myself with some of the best club volleyball coaches and staff in the country. It has been rewarding to watch our sport grow and become Nationally competitive in our area. In the short 6 years, we have qualified 17 teams at the Open level and 36 teams earned bids to GJNC.  Our teams in the East, South, Central and North are expanding and have won numerous medals including Regionals and CHC. We look forward to pushing forward and making strides both at the National level as well as growing the sport of volleyball in our area"

Silvia Johnson is in the 7th season as the Club Director of Metro Volleyball Club, in that short time Metro has been able to achieve 17 Open Teams and put themselves on the National Stage.  In 2021 Metro's National Club ranking was 16th, Metro is the only club in the CHRVA region to be ranked in the top 100!  When Silvia Johnson took over in 2015 Metro was ranked 89th in the Nation, under Johnson's helm Metro has also been able to grow from 18 to 31 teams, including expanding to new regions.  

• Since 2003, all of the athletes Johnson has coached on the 18 Travel Team have gone on to play at the collegiate level.
   
• In 2021, all 13 athletes went on to play at the Division 1 level.  The 18 Travel Team ended the season with a record of  58-10 and ranked #11 in the Nation. The team was able to Triple Qualify for an Open Bid including Gold at Ohio Valley Qualifier, Silver at Mid-East Qualifier and Bronze at Northeast Qualifier.
   
• In 2020, even though the season was cut short the 18 Travel team was able to earn an Open Bid to GJNC. All Athletes went on to play at the next level.
   
• In 2019,  18 Travel ended the season with a record of 56-13 & had 32 matches against Open Qualified teams with a record of 22-10 (all but one of those losses were in 3). They triple qualified for 18 Open at Ohio Valley, NEQ and MEQ. Metro 18 Travel has all 15 players committed to Division 1 programs.
   
• In 2018  Metro Volleyball Club had two teams earn a medal at Nationals and 16 Travel had the highest finish in CHRVA history at the Open Level GJNC.
   
• In 2018 her 18 Travel team medaled at GJNC at the National level. They also won a silver medal at the Northeast Qualifier in the Open level.  
   
• In 2017 Metro Volleyball Club was 1 of only 7 teams in the Nation to qualify 5 of more teams in the Open Division of the Girl’s Junior National Championships. All 6 travel teams earned a bid to the Girl’s Junior National Championships.  
   
• In 2017 her team made history by being the only team in the CHRVA Region to double qualify for the Open Division for the Girl’s Junior National Championships. 
   
• In 2016 Silvia Johnson’s team was the only team in the CHRVA Region to qualify for the Open Division for the Girl’s Junior National Championships.  
   
• In 2015 her team made history and became the first National Champion in the CHRVA Region by Winning the Girls Junior 18 National Division! 

Every athlete that played for Silvia Johnson’s 18 Travel team ( Metro Volleyball Club as well as Metro American VBC ) went on to play collegiate volleyball.

Prior to taking over Metro, Silvia (Panak) Johnson has spent 9 seasons being the head coach of the Metro American VBC 18 Travel team and was in charge of the coaching staff and training. 

In her first year as head coach of the 18 Travel team (2007), her team racked up some amazing credentials: undefeated in the Region in all tournaments, Regional champions, 3rd Place at the Villanova Tournament, 2nd place at the Capitol Hill Classic, 5th Place at the Colorado Crossroads tournament, 11th place in the Open division in the Atlanta Big South tournament, 3rd place at the KIVA tournament, qualified for the Junior Olympics at the National level, and finished 54th in the nation out of thousands of teams in the 18U division. In 2008, her team once again went undefeated in the Region in all tournaments, Regional Champions, 2nd place at the Capitol Hill Classic, 3rd place at the North East Qualifier, 9th place at Colorado Crossroads, and qualified for the Junior Olympics at the National level. Silvia followed up 2009 with another successful year. The 2010 season ended with a National Bid where along the way in the tournament, they defeated both the tournament’s eventual champion and runner-up to make a strong case for being considered among the nation’s best. The crowning success, however, came in 2011 when Silvia took her team to Nationals as the first ever 18‘s Open Bid in the Chesapeake Region and then followed that up with three more consecutive years of National qualifying teams in 2013, 2014 ( Open Bid) and 2015.  

As a testimony to Silvia's drive and knowledge as a head coach, all of her players have gone on to play volleyball in college and beyond.  Silvia has coached players that has gone on to represent the USA National Teams as well as players who have gone on to play professionally overseas. 

Silvia served as the assistant coach for American University alongside head coach, Barry Goldberg. During her time with the Eagles, AU won 5 conference championships and qualified for the NCAA tournament 5 times.

Johnson played her junior and senior years for American University, winning the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship both years. She was named team MVP in 1999 and American University Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2000. A two-time All-CAA selection, Johnson was ranked among the NCAA leaders in aces in both of her seasons at American. Before transferring to American, Johnson played for Long Beach State and was a part of the undefeated 1998 NCAA Championship team. Johnson still holds the school record for most assists in a match at 75, which she accomplished twice in her career. She is the career leader at AU for assists per game and is eighth all-time in aces per game.

Silvia currently resides in Frederick, Md. with her husband, Winfred and their two daughters, Tatiana and Natalia. Daughter, Tatiana is a freshman setter at the University of South Florida. 

Jessica O'Connell

Jessica has been involved in club volleyball in the DC area since 2002, including for seven years as a coach of 17s and 18s travel teams for Metro American VBC, and is currently on Metro’s Board of Directors.  She played volleyball at the University of Virginia, where she was a two-time all-ACC and AVCA all-region selection, team captain, and team MVP. She graduated from UVA in 2000 with a degree in biology and physics, and then earned a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins and a law degree from Georgetown. She currently practices food and drug law at Covington & Burling. Jessica lives in DC with her husband, Chris, and three kids, Neve, Josie, and Sean.

Ashley Vicino

Ashley started her volleyball career at American University, then went on to play professionally in Denmark.  The last 15 years, she has been working as a personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach.  She is excited to be working with Metro Volleyball Club and looks forward to the continued success of the coaches and teams. 

Frank Byskov

Frank has been involved with swimming and triathlon over the past two decades, participating and coaching at the club, collegiate and national level. While swimming for American University, he obtained his Masters in Financial Economics. Currently, he is a financial planner, head coach for Rock Creek Tri Club, and an active triathlete. 

Erik Lanham

Erik served 5 years in the US Army. While serving, he represented the USA on the Armed Services Volleyball Team in international competition. 

After completion of his military services, he attended George Mason University and played under Coach Fed Chao for three years.  In his first year he led the team in blocks per game and ranked 15th in the nation in blocks per game. The next year the GMU volleyball team ranked in every single CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Top-15 Poll during the season, reaching a high of No. 11 in the final poll. That season they also won the Preview to the Final Four Tournament (Penn State, UC Irvine, IPFW). Erik recorded 11 total blocks against IPFW, tied for the third-highest single-match total in school history during the rally-scoring era. In his final year, his team led the nation in blocks per game. He also recorded the second-highest single match total in school history during the rally-scoring era with 12 blocks against Loyola-Chicago.

After leaving college, he served as an assistant coach for Howard University and George Washington University.

Erik currently works as a Network Engineer for a major IT corporation. He resides in Washington DC with his wife Johnnel and daughter Zara.

Deadline for Financial Aid Applications for the season is October 27, 2023.

For Financial Aid information email metrovbc@gmail.com

Download the application here.