The USC men's volleyball team announced on Monday that three-time U.S. Olympic assistant coach Gary Sato and UC Santa Cruz head coach Todd Hollenbeck will join Jeff Nygaard's staff for the upcoming 2015 season.
"I am thrilled to welcome Gary and Todd to the staff and I'm excited to work with them," said the new head coach. "We share a like-minded vision for the future of our program. They are great additions to the Trojan volleyball heritage."
Sato (left) is a volleyball legend, earning a gold medal as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 1988 Olympics, a bronze in 1992 and a fifth-place finish in 2012 along with numerous other top international showings on his coaching resume. Volleyball is a lifetime passion not just for the new assistant coach but his entire family as they are commonly known as the "First Family of Volleyball." Sato coached his brother Eric in 1988 and 1992 at the Olympics and his sister Liane joined them in both of those Olympics, earning a bronze medal with the women's national team in 1992. His other two brothers, Scott and Glen, both played in college with Glen going on to be an assistant coach here at USC from 1990-1996. Sato himself began his volleyball career at Santa Monica College before transferring to UC Santa Barbara where he earned an All-American selection his senior season.
Hollenbeck (right) spent the last five seasons as the head coach for UC Santa Cruz with top 10 finishes every single year. His most recent team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals producing three AVCA All-Americans in the process, which earned Hollenbeck Division III Coach of the Year honors. He's got game experience himself playing at Pacific before making his rounds on the AVP and CBVA beach circuit along with some time spent playing indoor volleyball in Germany.
