Meet the Coaches

Head Coach Varsity - Shannon Nelson 

Coach Nelson has been the  Girls JV volleyball coach for the past 23 seasons. While here, her JV teams have compiled over 200 wins. She has coached club volleyball for over 21 years at pretty much every level. She currently coaches at Arizona Sky Volleyball Academy. Shannon is a 1993 Graduate of Cactus High School where she was a member of the 1992 4A State Championship Team. She played at Arizona State University her freshman year and then transferred to play her sophomore year at Phoenix College as an outside hitter. While there, she earned NJCAA All  American and finished 2nd in the Nation in digs! She continued play at Division II Colorado Mesa University and a few honors included Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 1st Team selection and Northwest All - Region selection. She graduated with a BA in Social Sciences. Shannon is a proud mom to three amazing daughters, Jordyn -25, Mykenna - 23 (both with amazing careers for Utah Tech University’s volleyball team) and Haidyn - 15 (our Team Manager).

Floating Co- Coach - Sarah Peterson 

Coach Peterson has been the Girls Varsity head coach for the past 22 seasons here at Greenway High School. While here, Greenway has qualified for the state playoffs 17 of those seasons. She and her team were State Champions in 2015, 2018, and 2019, joined by a State Runner-Up in 2016. She graduated from MidAmerica Nazarene University with a Bachelor's Degree in Math Education. She was an All-American in both volleyball and softball there. After completing college, she and her husband lived in France for two years where her husband was a professional basketball player. She has coached club volleyball at all different levels and is currently coaching at Arizona Sky Volleyball Academy. Her husband, Dan, coaches basketball and golf at Chaparral High School. Life is busy for them with their two daughters, Tatum - 18 (our Team Manager) and Kamryn - 13 (a stud swimmer). 

Head Coach JV - Jordyn Nelson 

Coach Nelson joins the program this year bringing so much experience and knowledge to share! As a Greenway Demon, she was as a four-year varsity starter for the Demons and was a multiple time all-district and all-section honoree … helped lead GWHS to the 2015 Arizona Division III state championship and a state runner-up finish in 2016 … earned first team all-state honors in 2015 and 2016, was named Section IV Player of the Year in 2015, and was a MaxPreps medium schools second team All-America selection in 2015 … also lettered in tennis and posted a 13-1 singles record as a senior … earned the 2016-17 GHS Female Athlete of the Year and Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete awards.  She then went on to play at Dixie State University as a 5 year starting setter. While there she earned All-Academic 1st and 2nd teams throughout career and was voted MVP of her team her junior year… she is ranked 2nd in career assists, 6th in career digs and 1st in sets played at Dixie.  She graduated with a BS in Medical Laboratory Science. She is currently working here at Greenway in our Special Education Department. She just got married last May to her husband Nic Pico, also a Greenway Grad. 

Head Coach 9-10 - Mykenna Nelson

Coach Nelson is back from college and ready to share her experience and knowledge with our program. Mykenna was also a four-year varsity starter. She was a big part of our 2015 Arizona Division III state championship, state runner-up finish in 2016, and our second Arizona 4A state championship as a senior on her way to conference and Skyline Region Player of the Year honors … was a multiple all-state, all-region and all-district team honoree … finished with more than 1,500 career digs … GHS played to a 140-20 overall record during her four-year playing career … was voted GHS Female Athlete of the Year, and won the Outstanding Senior Award … also earned three varsity letters in tennis. She also went on to play college at formerly Dixie State, now called Utah Tech University. While there she earned multiple All Academic teams …played in every set … ended her career third place all-time in the Utah Tech record book for digs with 1574 … senior year led the team with 457 digs, finishing 1st in the WAC with digs per set at 5.13. Mykenna graduated with a BA in Recreation and Sports Management. 

Volunteer Coach - Josh Barnes

Josh is from San Diego, CA. He played club volleyball and beach volleyball for 8 years. He was a 4 year varsity starter. He was an assistant Varsity and JV coach for a year there. He is currently attending GCU earning a degree in Worship Ministries.