Filling Out Her Initial Coaching Staff, Head Coach Ali Skayhan Announces the Addition of Justin Sanders - University of South Carolina

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Filling out her initial coaching staff, USC Upstate volleyball head coach Ali Skayhan turns to a familiar face to join her staff, bringing along a coach with experience building championship programs as Justin Sanders joins the Spartan program as an assistant coach.

"Justin is a wonderful addition to our staff! He brings a unique readiness to our program that will have an immediate positive impact," said head coach Ali Skayhan. "His ambition and commitment to our development are inspiring and he will bring fresh energy to our gym. He is a leader of high character, and I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to work side by side with him."

"I'm extremely grateful and appreciative to be in this position," said Sanders. "Ali is a wonderful human being, and she is incredibly passionate about her program! I love her vision for Upstate volleyball and cannot wait to start working with her!"

Sanders joins the program after a three-year stint working alongside Skayhan at Wofford College with the pair helping to engineer one of the most historic stretches of Terrier volleyball. In his three seasons with the program, Wofford achieved its best Southern Conference regular season finish, its second SoCon Championship Game appearance, and had nine players earn All-Conference honors.

A standout middle blocker during his club career, a middle blocker has garnered All-Conference honors in each of his five seasons as an assistant coach with multiple setters earning All-SoCon honors in each of his three seasons at Wofford. He also oversaw the development of the lone Terrier—middle blocker Sarah Barham—to garner three All-SoCon honors in her career.

During his final season at Wofford, Sanders helped guide the most efficient offense in program history as the Terriers hit .226 as a team with middle blocker Millie Loehr finishing the season ranked 25^th in the NCAA in hitting efficiency (.391; the best single-season hitting percentage in program history). Loehr and fellow middle blocker Barham garnered Second Team All-SoCon honors while setter Victoria Hensley earned All-Freshman Team honors.

In 2021, the Terriers claimed their best-ever SoCon finish, tying for third in the regular season standings and earning the No. 4 overall seed in the SoCon Tournament, culminating the season with a run to the tournament's Championship Game—the second-ever appearance for the program.

Wofford's offense set a then-program record for team hitting efficiency, hitting .213 as a team while the team's defense posted the second-most total blocks (259.0) in program history. Leading to her Second Team All-SoCon honors, Barham established the program record for single-season total blocks, tallying 138 on the campaign—the 29^th most in the NCAA that season. Setter Emily Hodsdon and middle blocker Sarah MacLean also garnered All-Conference honors, earning Second Team and All-Freshman honors, respectively.

Sanders' first season with the Wofford program, the pandemic shortened 2020-21 season, saw middle blocker Riley Coonan become one of the most decorated players in Terrier history, earning SoCon All-Tournament Team honors, First Team All-SoCon honors, AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region honors—the first such honors for a Terrier in program history—and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. Coonan wasn't the only Sanders tutored middle blocker to earn All-Conference honors as Barham earned Second Team and All-Freshman honors.

Before coming to the Sparkle City, Sanders spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Jacksonville State, helping the program earn its first regular season conference championship in 10 seasons and earning its first conference tournament victory in nine seasons. In 2019, the Gamecocks captured the Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship as three players, including middle blocker Kaylee Frear, were selected First Team All-OVC. In his first season in 2018, three players earned All-Conference honors led by middle blocker Mackenzie Rombach (First Team) with Frear also earning Second Team honors.

Before embarking on his coaching career, Sanders spent three seasons (2015-17) as a student manager at Kentucky. During his time with the Wildcats, he was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams, including the 2017 team that captured the program's first Southeastern Conference title since 1988 and advanced to the program's first-ever Elite Eight.

During his time at Kentucky, he also competed as a middle blocker for the Wildcats' men's volleyball club team, serving as the team's captain in 2017 and 2018. During his final season, he helped the team to the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Final Four.

A native of Nicholasville, Ky., Sanders graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Kentucky in 2018. He and his wife, Emily, and daughter, Aurora, reside in Spartanburg.

All hires by the University of South Carolina Upstate athletic department are subject to an approved background check.

Testimonials for Coach Justin Sanders
Craig Skinner, Head Volleyball Coach, Kentucky
"Justin has been passionate about volleyball as long as I can remember and was a huge asset to Kentucky volleyball during his time with us. He is one of the bright up-and-coming coaches in our profession and I have no doubt he will help take USC Upstate to the next level."

Todd Garvey, Head Volleyball Coach, Jacksonville State
"Great hire by Ali adding Justin to the staff. Justin will bring a lot of great qualities to the program. He has a wide variety of experience, is very passionate, and will bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the gym. I'm excited for Justin and am sure he will be an asset to the USC Upstate volleyball program."

Lynze Roos, Head Volleyball Coach, Wofford
"Justin Sanders will be an outstanding addition to Upstate Volleyball. His passion for the game is clear, and he will bring energy and excitement to the sideline. Ali and Justin are a tandem who can train elite skills in the gym, and I am anxious to watch them lead the Spartan Squad!"

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