When Tom Mendoza was introduced as South Carolina’s new volleyball coach this past January, he made it clear — he wasn’t taking over a program in need of a complete rebuild.
At the start of his first season in August, he doubled down, saying his goal was the NCAA tournament, despite the fact that USC hadn’t made the postseason since 2002 and finished last year at 12-18 after coach Scott Swanson was fired midseason.
Three months later, Mendoza has done exactly what he set out to do. South Carolina will play Colorado on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota.