The varsity volleyball team has welcomed a new coach for the 2025-2026 season, Nadezhda Shulga, after the retirement of the program’s first and 25-year coach, Mrs. Jill Raschiatore. Coach Shulga aims to help the team grow through her passion for volleyball and years of playing experience.
Coach Shulga’s passion for volleyball began when she was just 10 years old and continued playing through college before pursuing a journalism career in Russia. After moving to the United States, Coach Shulga decided to step away from journalism and return to volleyball through coaching. Shulga has coached club volleyball for Libero Virginia Volleyball Club for seven years as well as high school volleyball at Meridian High School in Falls Church City for two years. She hopes to bring her passion and extensive experience to athletes at Stone Bridge.
“First of all, I am excited because it’s a great opportunity to help develop the volleyball program,” Coach Shulga said. “I hope [the athletes] are going to like it. My main goal is to get them hooked into volleyball and make them be a bit crazy about it.”
Coach Shulga shows her dedication to the school volleyball program both on and off the court. She spends hours watching game film and creating practice plans for after-school and Saturday-morning practices. Coach Shulga’s dedication comes from a genuine love for the sport and the great friendships she has built through it.
“I love [volleyball],” Coach Shulga said. “You’re lucky in your life if you’re able to do things that you love to do.”
As the head coach, Shulga emphasizes the importance of overall athleticism in players. She made athletic testing a key component of the 2025 tryouts, where players were required to run one mile in ten minutes and complete tests that assessed speed, agility, vertical jump, and general fitness.
Coach Shulga also looks for discipline, teamwork, and effort among her athletes. She encourages players to go beyond the bare minimum by practicing at home, correcting mistakes quickly, and giving their best effort at every practice and game.
“Volleyball is not a contact sport,” Coach Shulga said. “We play as a team. We need to work together and collaborate. Every person in the world should be better every single day.”
Coach Shulga’s strategy to improve the team is to build up their skills with the help of the assistant coaches Rebecca Madgwick and Lilah Stevens. By breaking the players up into small groups with an instructor, Coach Shulga is able to focus on each player’s strengths and weaknesses.
“This season, it’s like a work-in process,” Coach Shulga said. “As long as players are working every single day and improving, it’s fine.”
Coach Shulga is aware that it will take time for the players to adjust to her new coaching strategies and make progress towards success.
“It will take some time, because nothing happens overnight,” Coach Shulga said. “Once you water the seed, it takes time to grow. Nobody should stop. Doesn’t matter how old you are or what you’re doing.”
