OUR TEAM
Amanda grew up in the Bay Area and played at Amador Valley High School and helped lead her team to winning the Northern California State Championship in 2008 and was named an Academic All-American in 2008.
Amanda went on to play center and attack at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for 3 years, helping her team get to the National Championships each year. She was a three year All-League First Team attack player and was awarded the National Rookie of the Year award in 2009.
At Cal Poly Amanda majored in Kinesiology and minored in Sports Nutrition, with the goal of pursuing a career in personal training. Amanda now lives in Santa Cruz and has been working as a personal trainer for the past 8 years. She owns her own company, HappilyForeverFit, a women’s fitness and lifestyle program in the Bay Area.
Alyssa Dunlap
Co-Founder
Vanderbilt University
Following her playing career at Vanderbilt Division I Women's lacrosse, Dunlap spent two years (2014-2016) as an active coach for the Stanford University women's lacrosse program where she worked primarily on the defensive end. During that time, Dunlap was also the Director of Treelax Lacrosse Club, an elite national level travel team, founded by Amy Bokker, Head Coach of Stanford Division I Women's Lacrosse since 2009.
Alyssa Dunlap was a four year starter at Vanderbilt University. She was captain both her junior and senior years. She received IWLCA All-West Region selection in 2014 and was named to the All-American Lacrosse Conference 1st team.
Alyssa was a two-time 1st team All-American and Under Armour All-American her senior year in high school.
She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2014 with a degree in Corporate Leadership.
In her free time, Alyssa coaches lacrosse and trains for ultra marathons. She has raced both the 50 Mile distance and 100k distance. Alyssa is currently attending the City of Santa Clara Police Academy.
Amy
Yu
Co-Founder
UC Davis
Amy has been coaching girls' lacrosse since 2012. She coached in the NCJLA at the U9-U14 level. Her daughter and son both started playing lacrosse in the NCJLA and continued on to play Varsity at Los Gatos High School and Bellarmine College Preparatory. Her oldest daughter attends the University of Utah as a ballet dancer and Parks Recreation and Tourism major.
Amy grew up in Mountain View, California and played varsity volleyball, basketball, softball and track at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton. Amy’s lacrosse experience started at UC Davis where she played for the varsity team from 1990-1994. As the leading scorer as a midfield defensive wing, her team won the California State Championships, WWLL Western Regional Championships and went back east to win the USWLA National Division III Championship in 1994. She was president of the UC Davis Lacrosse club in 1993 and 1994 and worked to create the NCAA status with the University. She became the president of the NCWLA Club in the East Bay post graduation. Amy is also currently the president of Extreme Lacrosse and co-owner of Timberline Lacrosse.
Marlo
Lile
Girls Director
Uni. of Mount Union
Marlo is originally from Strongsville, Ohio and played collegiate lacrosse at the University of Mount Union. While at Mount Union, her team won four consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and made 4 straight NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the regional round (round of 16) during her sophomore season.
Following her playing career, Marlo moved to the Bay Area and began coaching for both Verve and Extreme Lacrosse here in the South Bay. Since then, Marlo has spent time coaching for several different teams at the youth, HS, and collegiate levels including Saratoga HS, Tamalpais HS, Dominican University (NCAA D2), and Southern Marin Wolfpack.
In her free time, Marlo enjoys snowboarding, going to concerts, and exploring new places in California
Ella
Carlino
Belmont Abbey
Ella Carlino played goalie at Archbishop Mitty High School and now plays for Belmont Abbey College at the Division II level. During her time at Mitty she started all four years. Ella has received Honorable Mention and Goalkeeper of the Year from the West Bay Athletic League. She’s been selected for Mercury News Player of the week multiple times. She was also selected to play in USA Lacrosse, NorCal Senior All-Star Game.
Liz
Hogan
Syracuse University & USA National Team
A previous member of the U.S. Women's National Team, and current STX athlete and UWLX Boston Storm member Hogan brings five years of Division I coaching experience to the Verve team. She served as an assistant coach at Stanford, Virginia Tech and Colgate University.
Originally from Upstate New York, Hogan began coaching after an outstanding career at Syracuse where she went 52-23 as a four-year starter at goalkeeper. She is the all-time leader in saves (660) and ground balls (181) in program history. She was a four-time All-Big East First Team member, 2010 Big East Defender of the Year, First Team IWLCA All-American (2010), three-time First Team All-Northeast Region selection and three-time Big East regular season champion (2008, 2009, 2011).
Amelia
Poirier
Vassar College
From Menlo Park, California, Amelia is a freshman attacker at Vassar College in New York. She attended Menlo-Atherton High School where she was a varsity starter all 4 years and a captain her junior and senior year. Throughout high school, she played club lacrosse for VERVE and continued to spread her love of lacrosse by coaching youth teams for Menlo-Atherton Grizzlies. Amelia was 2x Second Team All-League, 2022-2023 Menlo-Atherton Female Student-Athlete of the Year, 2023 M-A Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Year, CCS Scholar-Athlete, and US Lacrosse Academic All-American.
At Vassar College, Amelia is a Media Studies major with a correlate in Sociology. Unfortunately, her freshman season was cut short after suffering an injury, however, she looks forward to contributing more to the program in her sophomore year.
Olivia
Carlino
Belmont Abbey
From Campbell, California. Olivia attended Archbishop Mitty High School (#3 Ranked Women’s Sports Program in the Nation). She played varsity field hockey and lacrosse earning seven varsity letters during tenure. Olivia was named Attacker of the Year 2018, NorCal National Team 2018, UnderAmour All American 2019, USA All American 2021.
Now attending Belmont Abbey College playing at the Division 2 level on a lacrosse scholarship. She has earned a starting spot both freshman and sophomore year. Freshman year receiving Player of the Week, 2x Freshman Player of the Month, Freshman Player of the Year for Conference Carolinas, third team All-Conference, totaling 64 points to end her freshman season. Sophomore year she received 2x Player of the Week, consistently ranked top in the nation for shots and points throughout her season and received 1st team All-Conference. She set school scoring and points records in a single playoff game. She had a total of 92 points to end her sophomore season.
Audrey
Koren
Oberlin College
Audrey is from Menlo Park, California, and is a senior lacrosse player at Oberlin College in Ohio. Audrey started playing lacrosse in the 4th grade. She played with the Menlo-Atherton Grizzlies, and later coached the Menlo-Atherton Grizzlies. In high school, Audrey was a four year varsity lacrosse team member at Menlo-Atherton High School. She was an All-League player and was awarded the U.S. Lacrosse Jackie Pitts Award her senior year. For club lacrosse Audrey played on the Verve Mint team.
At Oberlin, Audrey is double majoring Neuroscience and Hispanic Studies while also completing the pre-med course work. On the field, she is a starting attacker and top point contributor on the team. Audrey was appointed to be a part of her team’s leadership committee and has received league honor roll accolades her past two seasons.
Audrey has both played and coached in Israel and while studying abroad in Spain during the fall of her junior year, she coached the Madrid Lacrosse team.
Maddie
Holloway
George Mason University
Maddie Holloway is from Los Gatos, California. Maddie attended Los Gatos High School and went on to play lacrosse at George Mason University. She is currently heading into her Junior year as a Patriot and is majoring in Business Management with the intention of minoring in Real Estate Development. Maddie is an alumni of Verve Lacrosse where she first began to play for them in 7th grade, along with beginning her career as a goalie during that time.
Maddie was a recipient of the Chris Von Saltza Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year in 2022, she was elected to the Team Captain for her Varsity lacrosse team in 2022 as well as awarded 1st Team All SCVAL and Team MVP during this time. Finally, in 2020 she was selected to represent Northern California for the WPLL Future program in 2020.
Keira
Dodd
Saint Lawrence University
Keira Dodd is from Los Gatos, California. Keira attended Los Gatos High School and went on to play lacrosse at Division III Saint Lawrence University in Upstate, NY. Keira is heading into her sophomore year and is planning to major in sports management.
During her playing career at Los Gatos, Keira was a two year Varsity starter and named Los Gatos 2023 Player of the Year.
Keira is an alumni of Verve Lacrosse and is now a coach for our Middle School Team during the summer season.
Siena
Wong
Vassar College
Siena is from Scotts Valley, California, and is currently a Freshman lacrosse player at Vassar College. She started playing lacrosse in sixth grade for the Santa Cruz Warriors, and played for Verve for all four years of high school. She also played Box Lacrosse for Cali*lax, and was a 4-year captain on the Scotts Valley High School Girls lacrosse team. At Vassar, Siena is currently double majoring in Biochemistry and Japanese on a Pre-Medical track. On the field, Siena is an Attack/Midfielder for the Brewers.
Kaitlynn
Lazaro
Regis University
Kaitlynn is from Gilroy, CA, and a graduate of Christopher High School. She began playing lacrosse in 7th grade, which eventually led her to become a member of Verve Lacrosse. She played on the HS Mint team and later transitioned into a coaching role with Verve. During high school, she also excelled in Gymnastics and Field Hockey. Her recruiting process ultimately earned her a roster spot at Regis University in Denver, CO.
Now entering her senior year, Kaitlynn is majoring in Health and Exercise Science with a Minor in Health Care Administration. On the field, she is a starting Defender for the nationally ranked NCAA Division II Rangers program. Over the past three seasons, Kaitlynn and her team have won three RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) Championships and earned berths to the D2 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. In 2024, her team made it to the NCAA Division II Final Four, and Kaitlynn also earned a spot on the Women's Philippine National Lacrosse Team, marking a major milestone in her athletic career.
Russell
Sherman
Woodside Priory AC
Rus Sherman has been coaching girls’ lacrosse in the Bay Area for 21 years and has been instrumental in the growth of the game and providing girls the opportunity to play during that time.
Rus founded the Coyotes Lacrosse Club girls’ side in 2003 with 22 3rd and 4th graders. At that time there was no league for girls of that age to play and so he petitioned the NCJLA to form a Developmental (D) league. He stayed with that first group of players through the NCJLA B and A leagues (8th grade) winning Championships at each of those levels. In 2007, many of the original Coyotes players went on to form the first Burlingame HS team, and Rus stayed with the Coyotes and helped form the NCJLA HS league so that girls without HS teams could continue playing. Since 2012, Rus has been an Assistant Coach with his friend Jen Lee, first at Menlo School and then at Woodside Priory where continues to this day.
In addition to coaching, Rus has served on the NCJLA Board, as WDNT tryout facilitator and evaluator and Chair of the All-American selection committee.
Gabby
Torres
UC Davis &
Mexican National Team
Gabby Torres is from Pacific Grove, California and attended Robert Louis Stevenson School. She went on to attend and play DIII lacrosse at Colorado College before transferring to UC Davis. She will play attack for the Aggies. Gabby is also a member of the Mexican National Team and recently competed in the U20 World Championships in Hong Kong. She is currently entering her sophomore year and is majoring in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. Gabby is an alumni of Verve Lacrosse where she started playing in 8th grade.
During her time at Stevenson she received PCAL first team all league honors all 4 years. In 2022 she was awarded PCAL Offensive Player of the Year. Following her freshman season at Colorado College she was selected to the IWLCA All-Region Second Team for the western conference.
Alyssa
Sherman
Haverford College
Alyssa Sherman was first introduced to lacrosse by her East Coast based extended family. She started her career with the Burlingame Coyotes, which her dad (Rus) founded so she would have a place to play.
She went on to play collegiately at in Pennsylvania at Haverford College where she was a 3-year starter and senior captain. Through her career she garnered All-Centennial Conference honors, All-Academic honors, and was named to the IWLCA Senior All-Star team. She began her coaching career during undergrad, volunteering with the Philly Chapter of Harlem Lacrosse.
After earning degrees in Chemistry (BS) and Material Science/Engineering (MS), Alyssa moved back to CA. She currently works as an engineer in the renewable energy space.
Delaney OBrien
Mitty HS JV Head Coach
Delaney OBrien has been a part of the Bay Area lacrosse community since her start with Extreme Lacrosse in 2008. She played on competitive lacrosse travel teams during HS, and played at the varsity level at Archbishop Mitty during her high-school years (2014-2018). Since then she has been the women's program coordinator and head coach for Tomahawks lacrosse (2017-2019), and the Head Coach of Archbishop Mitty's JV program (2021-ongoing). The start of her coaching career was at NorCal Lacrosse (2016) as a head coach and coordinator, and she since has been coaching with Extreme and Verve Lacrosse since 2019. Her current position is the Athletic Coordinator for a TK-8 diocesan school. In her spare time she loves to read, hike, go to concerts and spend time with family and friends.
