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Coaching Staff
Coach Zanni returns in 2022 for his 30th season in MCPS and 27th at Magruder. He is the longest tenured coach in MCPS volleyball and one of the longest serving in all of MCPS athletics. During Coach Zanni's tenure at Magruder, the girls team has posted 24 consecutive winning seasons, won 14 county titles, 14 Magruder Invitational Championships, 6 Regional Championships, 2 Sectional Championships, appeared in the state finals three times and won the 2019 3A state championship with a 25-0 record. During this time Magruder has consistently been ranked among the top teams in Montgomery County and three times has finished ranked #1 in the county (2005, 2009 and 2019). Additionally, Magruder has finished ranked in the Washington Post Top Ten 7 times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2012 and 2022) and been ranked during the season 6 other seasons (2006, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2018 and 2022). Under Coach Zanni's guidance, Magruder has produced 40 players that have earned All-County honors and 3 who have earned County Player of the Year (Maya Scott, 2019, Michelle Fowle, 2009 and Rachel Dougherty, 2004). Additionally, 23 players have earned All-Met honors and 38 players have gone on to compete at the intercollegiate level.
Coach Zanni has won numerous coaching awards, including county, regional, state and national honors. After Magruder's 2019 undefeated state championship season, he was named the 2019 Washington DC All-Met Coach of the Year by the Washington Post and named an AVCA Region 2 Coach of the Year. The Montgomery Gazette named Coach Zanni County Coach of the Year twice (2005 and 2009). The Washington Post named Coach Zanni Montgomery County Coach of the Year in 2009. The Montgomery Journal named him Montgomery County Coach of the Year in 2001 and in 2004 named Coach Zanni Washington DC area Coach of the Year. That same year (2004) the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) named Coach Zanni Maryland Coach of the Year. In 2007 the same organization (NFHS) named him Eastern Region Coach of the Year and one of eight finalists for National Coach of the Year.
Coach Zanni graduated from Penfield High School outside of Rochester New York(class of 1988). A three year letter winner in volleyball, the teams he played on went 67-1, winning three straight regional titles and a 1987 state championship. He was two time All Western NY volleyball player and Player of the Year in the Rochester area and Western NY. He also played two years of club volleyball with Rochester based Pace Bootlegger. He was captain of the 1987-1988 team that won a silver medal at the 18 and under AAU National Championships. In 1998 Coach Zanni was inducted in the Penfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Scott completed an undergraduate degree in Secondary Social Studies Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he played volleyball for 4 years for a Maryland team that at the time played a split varsity/club schedule. During those four years Maryland posted an overall record of 114-21. At Maryland Scott was a three year starter and team captain his senior season. These years would further his development as a player, but his also ignite an interest in coaching as well. Upon graduation in 1992 Scott immediately began his teaching and coaching career at Albert Einstein High School. After three seasons as the girls varsity coach (25-20 overall record) and two seasons as the boys varsity coach (10-18 record), Scott moved to Magruder where he has coached girls volleyball for the past 24 seasons and coached boys volleyball from 1996-2001 (overall record of 43-24). Scott also spent 8 years coaching boys club volleyball for the Maryland Volleyball Program, taking several teams to the USA National Championships.
Scott is married to Meredith Zanni, a chemistry teacher at Blake High School. They have a daughter, Emily, who was born in May of 2005 and a son Ryan who was born in August of 2007. Emily runs cross country at Sherwood High School. Ryan plays travel baseball. Their family lives in the Olney area.
Marina Bell-JV HEAD COACH-1st year
Marina Bell is a 2015 graduate of Magruder High School. Marina played two years of varsity volleyball at Magruder. During her time she played as both a setter/hitter. After graduation she attended St. Mary's of Maryland where she played four years of varsity volleyball as a setter and defensive specialist. Since her college graduation she has coached club volleyball for Volleyball MD and worked several local camps. Marina is the first Magruder volleyball alumni to come back and coach at Magruder. She currently lives and works in the Rockville area.
Geoff Demitz-Varsity Asst. Coach, 21st year
Geoff is a 1985 graduate of Walter Johnson High School. He starred in soccer and coed volleyball (in the 1980's MCPS only offered coed volleyball). His soccer team advanced to the state finals in his senior season and he also was an all-county coed volleyball player. After graduating from WJ Geoff attended Carnegie Mellon for one year before transferring to the University of Maryland to play volleyball. Geoff and Coach Zanni were teammates for three seasons at Maryland. Geoff was a versatile player at Maryland, playing three different positions during his playing career (middle, opposite and outside hitter) making him perhaps the only player in the history of the program to start at three different positions. Geoff also played six seasons with the Maryland Alumni Volleyball Men’s AA team and played in three USA Volleyball National Championships.
While Magruder is Geoff's first coaching experience, he is the longest tenured "volunteer coach" volleyball in Montgomery County and is in his 21st year with the program. In doing so Geoff has dedicated his time, energy and efforts into helping develop Magruder's players. During this time his responsibilities have included training the middle hitters and outside hitter, and developing and implementing game strategies. In the 2007 season, Geoff assumed the position of head coach for several weeks while Coach Zanni was on leave with the birth of his son Ryan. For 2022, Geoff will again return as the top varsity assistant and will be a valuable asset to the program.
Geoff currently works as a software writer. He lives in the Rockville area.
