Tom Mendoza era begins Friday as Gamecocks host home invitational

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina volleyball team opens a highly anticipated 2018 season on Friday, with the start of the Gamecock Invitational. The two-day tournament features matches against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 12:30 p.m. and ETSU at 7:30on Friday, and a 3 p.m. match against rival Clemson on Saturday afternoon. The match against the Tigers will stream live on the SEC+ network online, and fans can follow Friday’s matches through LIVE STATS.

Tom Mendoza became the 13th head coach in Gamecock volleyball’s 46-year history on Jan. 3, 2017. Mendoza came to Columbia after two seasons as head coach at High Point University, where he led the Panthers to 47 wins and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. Mendoza’s High Point team won 24 matches in 2017, the second-most in the program’s Division I era. Thanks to an ambitious non-conference schedule that included wins over Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio, the Panthers were in rare company as a mid-major program earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. It was the team’s third NCAA berth overall, and was the first volleyball at-large bid in Big South Conference history. In the postseason, Mendoza was named Big South Coach of the Year and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Southeast Region Coach of the Year for his efforts.

Before taking over at High Point, Mendoza helped lay the foundation for one of the top indoor program in the country – Creighton University. During his six years in Omaha, Mendoza helped the program win 20 or more matches five times, with five conference titles, five NCAA Tournament bids and a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2015.

The Buffalo Grove, Ill. native was a three-year letter winner at Newman University and a one-year letter winner at Lewis University, and was a NAIA All-American as a setter. He received his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Lewis in 2007.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
The Islanders went 15-14 in 2017, with an 11-5 record in the Southland Conference. The team lost standouts Kristyn Nicholson (9.83 assist per set) and Brittany Gilpin (3.56 points per set) from the 2017 roster, but will be led by returners Madison Green (2.46 kills per set) and libero Madison Woods (4.46 digs per set).

SCOUTING ETSU
East Tennessee State are the defending SoCon champions, finishing 2017 with a 19-12 overall record. Though the team did lose Rylee Milhorn (339 kills, 259 digs in 2017), it does bring back its second- and third-ranked attackers in outside Leah Clayton and opposite AJ Lux, as well as top blocker Braedyn Tutton (116 blocks) and libero Marija Popovic (4.85 digs per set).

SCOUTING CLEMSON
The Tigers went 7-25 in their first season under head coach Michaela Franklin, but return leading offensive producer Kaylin Korte (349 kills in 2017). Adding to the mix will be six newcomers, highlighted by Ohio State transfer Brooke Bailey.