Our mission is to change the game. To bring passionate, graceful, and powerful players together as one to become number one. It’s to transform the ambitious potential of volleyball players, from cramped-backyard dreamers to pros, into a nationwide network of celebrated champion athletes and leaders.
We know volleyball. We have seen and experienced firsthand how sports can change lives and build leaders. We are committed to broadening access to volleyball (youth clubs, recreational play, marginalized groups), and building a lifelong community.
Our mission is to facilitate the success of female athletes from every diverse corner of the country, through training, tournaments, and broader personal and professional development. We’re here to celebrate teamwork, resilience, vulnerability, and courage.
A better league. A changed game. A new kind of player.
League One Volleyball (LOVB) is reimagining women’s sports. Launched in 2019, our company is a mission-led sports performance, training and media enterprise that will change the game of volleyball in the USA and empower new generations of female athletes.
Volleyball is the largest sporting community of women in the US and the #1 most played girls' youth sport. There are 38M current and former players today. Of major sports, it’s the only one that is women-first (~90% of players are female). But the volleyball market has been almost entirely missed by traditional sports investors, brands and media. Other sports markets have >$20-50B revenue, while volleyball has <$1B.
LOVB Clubs and League uniquely combine top ranked competitive programs with “whole athlete” development and college recruiting support, as well as inspiring events and experiences, to change the game for female athletes of all ages.
We are equal parts venture builders, growth evangelists, Olympians, coaching icons and pro athletes, who are passionate about volleyball and female advancement.
Ali Fakhari
Alum of USC, Harvard Business School, Bain & Company, World Series of Poker, and Mayweather Boxing + Fitness, Ali combines his business strategy expertise with his great network and entrepreneurial spirit.
Katlyn Gao
Pierre Gustavsson
Alum of Stockholm School of Economics and Bain & Company, Pierre combines his personal European sporting experience with his professional M&A expertise.
Emily Hartong
Alum of University of Hawaii, Emily starting playing club volleyball at 10 and is still playing professionally in the US and internationally. Emily is developing her marketing career by contributing her volleyball social media expertise.
Peter Hirschmann
Alum of Kellogg, Bain & Company, JP Morgan and Asurion, Peter has been a CEO for over 15 years and founded 10+ companies. Peter sparked the idea for LOVB and assembled an amazing team to bring it to life.
Karen Lorenzo
Alum of John Hopkins, NYU and Tribeca Enterprises, Karen contributes her legal expertise in the intersection of technology, sports and entertainment.
Larissa Pommeraud
Alum of Harvard, INSEAD, Bain & Company, StubHub, and Art.com, Larissa contributes her expertise in strategy, operations, marketing and technology.
Heather Searock
Alum of University of California, Gap Inc., Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, and Sugarfina, Heather contributes her financial expertise across consumer products, retail and e-commerce.
Rosie Spaulding
Alum of University of Portsmith, Rosie contributes vast experience in the sports, media and entertainment industries, having planned and delivered global sporting events like the Super Bowl, Americas Cup, and Rugby World Cup in 14 countries.
Erika Tsang
Alum of City University in London, Ivey Business School, and Bain & Company, Erika contributes her strategy and marketing experience with her passion for startups.
Kevin Wong
Alum of UCLA, Kevin contributes his extensive knowledge of volleyball as a long-time professional volleyball player and 2000 Olympian, an NBC Olympic Broadcaster, and founder of Hawaii’s top volleyball club, Spike and Serve.
Hannah Brown
Hannah contributes 12 years of business development experience in sports media distribution from Sky, FuboTV, and now Formula E (electric cars motorsport).
Denise Corlett
Denise contributes a wealth of coaching expertise, having coached Stanford volleyball for 31 years, leading the team to 9 NCAA national championships, and earning AVCA Hall of Fame.
Jon Hall
Jon brings a wealth of experience in sports, media and technology through his decades of experience at Blackstone and sports advisory for Formula 1 and W Series.
Malia Hirschmann
Malia contributes over 20 years of experience in health research and wellness as a PhD in Clinical Health Psychology.
Jonathan Mandel
Jonathan contributes a wealth of corporate finance expertise from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Mckinsey, and lately as Founder and CEO of Tiro Capital, a privately held investment and advisory firm.
Jenny Ming
Jenny contributes over 35 years of retail and consumer products leadership, including as former President of Gap Inc. She is currently a board member at Levi Strauss, Paper Source, and Poshmark.
Sridhar Nallani
Sridhar contributes over 20 years of experience leading technology vision at startups and Fortune 500 companies, including Macy’s, Old Navy, and now Backcountry.com.
Tom Pestolesi
Tom contributes 20+ years of volleyball coaching expertise at various levels, from leading Irvine Valley College in 5 state champions to earning 4x regional Coach of the Year and CCCAA Hall of Fame.
Danielle Scott
Danielle contributes her elite athlete experience, holding 7 Volleyball Hall of Fame inductions as a 5-time Olympian and 2-time medalist.
Dave Shoji
Dave contributes a wealth of coaching expertise from over 40 years as Head Coach of Women’s Volleyball at the University of Hawai’i. He was named NCAA’s Division 1 All-Time Winningest Coach.
Dennis Strand
Dennis contributes over 20 years of global finance expertise as former CFO at Motorola and Brightstar, and lately as Vice Chairman of Kingfisher Mobile.
Brendan Sullivan
Alum of Fordham, Viacom, and the National Basketball Association, Brendan contributes his deep sports finance experience.
John Tawa
Alum of UVA and a former lawyer and journalist, founder of PrepVolleyball.com (foremost source for girls volleyball), John contributes his broad network and punchy writing.
Sign up for occasional updates as we start building the LOVB community.
Sign up for occasional updates as we start building the LOVB community.
