HARRISONBURG, Va. – EMU Head Women's Volleyball Coach Casey Steinbrecher and EMU Head Women's Soccer Coach Leonardo Alcoreza both recently announced the hirings of new graduate assistant coaches for their respective programs. Julliana Abbade will serve as the graduate assistant coach for women's volleyball, while Leonie Witt will work under Alcoreza as the graduate assistant for women's soccer.

Abbade, hailing from São Paulo, Brazil, arrives in Harrisonburg from Warner University, having played there for two years following a year each at Tyler Junior College and Laramie County Community College. At Warner, whose teams are also called the Royals, Abbade ranked second in the SUN Conference in blocks during the fall 2025 season, along with receiving the SUN All-Academic Team Award (2024 & 2025) as well as the NCCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Scholar Athlete Award for the 2025-26 year.

At Laramie, the Golden Eagles went undefeated in their home games and Abbade earned a spot on the All-Academic Team for NJCAA D1. As a freshman at Tyler, Abbade was part of a team that made an appearance in the NJCAA D1 National Tournament.  Academically, Abbade earned a bachelor's in psychology from Warner and also an Associate of Arts in Human and Public Services from Laramie.  At EMU, Abbade will be pursuing a Master's in Mental Health Counseling.

"I chose EMU because I get to pursue my desired education and also do what I love the most, which is serving people through volleyball," Abbade said. "It is a welcoming space with an amazing staff, which makes me feel like home."

"We are very excited to welcome Julliana Abbade to our coaching staff," Steinbrecher said. "She brings a diverse volleyball background, having been in the Brazilian Club Volleyball system since she was 14. I'm eager for her to get in the gym and expand our players' volleyball IQ and especially my own. We've been blessed to have great GA's during my tenure here, and Julliana is no different. We're looking forward to finding more ways to use all of her strengths to bring EMU Volleyball to the next level!"

Witt, a native of Dortmund, Germany, joins the Royals following four years playing college soccer NCAA Division II Lake Erie College. In her four seasons with the Storm, Witt was named to the All-Ohio First Team (2023), All G-MAC Second Team (2024 & 2025), and the All-Ohio Academic First Team (2024 & 2025). She was also G-MAC Academic All-Conference all four seasons, an Academic All-District honoree in 2025, and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient. During her senior season in 2025, Witt finished second in the G-MAC in assists with eight. After graduating from Lake Erie earlier this year with a degree in psychology, Witt will be a grad student in the Master's in Graduate Counseling program at EMU.

"EMU offered a great way for me to combine my love for soccer and counseling," Witt said. "I really loved the close-knit community and the family-like feeling I got from the players, coaches, faculty, and staff. I first learned about EMU through the interview process with Coach Leo and [Assistant] Coach Austin [Martin], and those conversations helped me see that EMU was a place where I could feel supported, grow, contribute, and be part of a strong community."

"Having just gone through the process of helping turn around a program as a player at Lake Erie, Leonie understands what it takes to build a strong culture and move a program forward," Alcoreza said. "Her experience in Germany and her European coaching background will also bring a different perspective to our staff, and I'm excited for all of us to learn from her!"

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