Helping Lead Program to Greater Heights, Volleyball's Justin Sanders Earns Promotion and Associate Head Coach / Recruiting Coordinator Titles

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Helping to deliver the program to greater heights throughout his tenure in the Hub City, USC Upstate volleyball's Justin Sanders earned a much-deserved promotion, being awarded the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator banners from head coach Ali Skayhan.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to grow this program alongside Ali since arriving in 2023," remarked Sanders. "The vision, trajectory, and overall Upstate Volleyball experience are truly one of one. I'm thankful for the unwavering support of Matthew Martin, Sarah Gildersleeve-Jones, and the entire Upstate community. I can't wait to keep reaching new heights. Go Spartans!

"We're very fortunate to continue to have Justin on our staff. His commitment to this program says everything about who he is. His integrity and daily approach have been central to our success, and the respect he's earned from our team speaks volumes about the standard he sets in and out of the gym," said head coach Ali Skayhan. It's truly a privilege to continue working alongside Justin as we move Upstate Volleyball forward!"

In 2025, he helped the Spartans to 14 victories, tied for the second-most wins in a season in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) and the most wins in a season since 2021. The campaign marked the third in the D1 era to see Upstate finish with a .500 or better record at season's end. The season saw Upstate post D1 era best marks in kills per set (12.84), hitting percentage (.208; program's first hitting percentage greater than .200 since 2006), and assists per set (11.95) while pacing the Big South in service aces per set (1.64) and total service aces (177).

A program-record five Spartans claimed All-Conference honors from the Big South Conference, headlined by a Big South Setter of the Year honor for Kamyla Vega David, also a First Team All-Conference selection. Ady O'Grady, Upstate's first-ever four-time All-Conference recipient, joined Vega David as a First Team All-Big South pick while also earning Big South All-Academic Team honors and later CSC Academic All-District honors. Three freshmen, Kensley Haneline (Honorable Mention All-Big South), Summer Kohler (Second Team All-Big South), and Sophia Overholt (Honorable Mention All-Big South), each earned their first career honors, slotting on the league's All-Freshman Team, the most individual All-Freshman Team honorees in a single season in program history.

The 2025 season also featured numerous program milestones and records, seeing O'Grady eclipse the 1,000 kill (13th player all-time; first player since 2016) and the 300 block (13th player all-time) marks for her career. Kohler and Overholt also established freshman single-season program records during the campaign, accruing the most kills (383) and digs (465) by a freshman, respectively, in a single season.

In 2024, Sanders helped Upstate to its highest-ever Big South regular season placement, leading the squad to a third-place finish in the year-end standings. The Spartans posted a D1 era-best mark in digs per set (18.64; fourth in NCAA) and assists per set (11.59; bested in 2025) while leading the Big South in total digs with 2,125, ranking 11th in the NCAA in the category.

For the second straight season, Upstate tied the program's D1-era record for total All-Conference honorees, with four Spartans honored, a mark broken in 2025. Bringing home the program's first major conference award for the first time since 2003, Kamyla Vega David captured Big South Freshman of the Year accolades, pairing with her Second Team All-Big South and Big South All-Freshman Team honors. Joining Vega David, Ady O'Grady and Savannah Page brought home Second Team All-Big South selections while Julia Gladhill slotted on the Big South All-Academic Team.

The Spartans earned four CSC Academic All-District selections for the second consecutive season as Caroline Cleveland joined Gladhill, Page, and O'Grady in the recognition. Gladhill and Ali Jansen earned the Big South's George A. Christenberry Award, recognizing academic excellence. Upstate also earned its 12th AVCA Team Academic Honor Roll distinction at year's end.

During the 2024 campaign, Gladhill surpassed 1,000 digs in her career, becoming the 16th player in program history to eclipse the mark. She also became the sixth player in program history to surpass 500 digs in a season, finishing with 544.

In 2023, he helped the program to its second-largest (+6) win total improvement in the Division I era (2007-pres.) as Upstate's 12 wins marked the most wins by a first-year coaching staff since 1996. The Spartans saw improvement in all six major statistical team categories, putting forth the best team marks in kills per set since 2015, in hitting percentage since 2008, in assists per set since 2015, in service aces per set since 2021, in digs per set since 2017, and in blocks per set since 2022.

Also, four different Spartans garnered All-Big South selection with middle blocker Ady O'Grady (Second Team), outside hitter Ashleigh Nicoll (Honorable Mention), setter Kayla Spangler (Honorable Mention), and libero Julia Gladhill (All-Academic) garnering honors--tied for the most in a single season (2018) in the program's D1 era. All four All-Conference Spartans added nods as College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selections while the program earned its 11th American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Honor Roll distinction.

Sanders joined 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 25th 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 29th 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, daughter, Aurora, and son, Miles, reside in Spartanburg.

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

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Players Mentioned

Kensley Haneline

Summer Kohler

Ady O'Grady

Sophia Overholt

Savannah Page

Kamyla Vega David

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