South Carolina’s volleyball season is off to a hot start, marking the first time in a decade that the Gamecocks have begun SEC play with a record of 2-0.
After sweeping Mississippi State this past Friday and defeating LSU 3-0, South Carolina is on a six-win streak. Head coach Tom Mendoza gave credit to his team.
“Obviously it was a great weekend for us," Mendoza said. "[Two wins] is obviously what we were hoping for and I have to credit our group for preparing well for the match and then coming out and finding ways to be resilient even when things didn't go as we planned.”
The Gamecocks’ opening weekend of SEC play came to a close after they defeated the Tigers, taking three of the last four meetings. The game highlighted the effect of key players such as junior Claire Edwards, who tied for a career-high with three solo blocks.
“I really like the way we responded and fought, especially at the end of that second set when that set was kind of up for grabs and I thought the way we responded really changed the outcome of the match and put us up 2-0 and gave us some nice rhythm going into the third set,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza won 24 matches last season in 2017, which is the second-most in South Carolina’s Division I era.
"Tom is a teacher and strategist who has been successful in his coaching career recruiting and developing young volleyball players to become outstanding student-athletes," said athletic director Ray Tanner to GamecocksOnline. “I'm am [sic] looking forward to the impact that Coach Mendoza will have on our volleyball program.”
Despite the solid start, Mendoza in focused on the future.
“Our focus has just been on playing good volleyball and trying to get better and finding areas where we can keep improving, and then the results will take of themself [sic] ... we are excited to be 2-0, but we have a lot to work on and that’s going to be our message to our group," Mendoza said. "We can get a lot better and we’re going to need to get a lot better because we've got a tough schedule ahead of us.”