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Head Coach Tom Black
TOM Black
HEAD VOLLEYBALL COACH 16TH SEASON OVERALL (299-151) FOURTH SEASON AT GEORGIA (57-36)
The 2020 Georgia volleyball season will be the fourth under the direction of head coach Tom Black.
Black guided the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019 since Georgia’s most previous trip in 2013. Georgia concluded the season with a 20-10 record overall and a 12-6 clip in Southeastern Conference play. It was the second time Georgia eclipsed the 20-win mark under Black. The last time the Bulldoga had a pair of 20-win seasons in three years was 1995 and 1997.
Led by 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year Kacie Evans, the Bulldogs finished third in the league in kills per set (13.83) and hit .232 as a team. All-SEC setter Meghan Donovan dished out 1,271 assists. Donovan, along with Kendall Glover, became the newest members of Georgia’s 1,000-Dig Club in 2019. The season was highlighted by a road victory over No. 12 Kentucky. A six-match SEC winning streak, including the win over the Wildcats, was the longest in league play by Georgia since 2008. Georgia earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and drew Cal Poly at No. 3 Stanford. The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead on the Mustangs but fell in five sets in the First Round.
Off the court, the Bulldogs were just as strong in the classroom during the 2019-20 year. The team earned its first AVCA Team Academic Award and was recognized by the NCAA in the annual NCAA APR report. Seven members of the team earned spots on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and all four members of the freshman class appeared on the SEC First Year Academic Honor.
The 2018 season saw the Bulldogs finish over .500 for the second-straight season. The 2017 and 2018 seasons were the first back-to-back winning seasons since 2008 and 2009. Georgia concluded the 2018 campaign with a 15-14 overall record. The season began on a seven-match winning streak capped by a four-set victory over No. 24 Colorado on the Buffs’ home court. It was the first win over a ranked opponent since 2013. The non-conference slate ended with a 9-2 record.
In February 2019, Black was named the head coach of the Canadian Women’s National Team. Volleyball Canada won the FIVB Women’s Challenger in Lima, Peru in June, qualifying for the Nations League Tournament in 2020.
In his first season at the helm, Black took a Georgia team that had one Southeastern Conference win in two seasons to a fifth-place finish in the league. The Bulldogs concluded the 2017 campaign with a 22-12 overall record and a 10-8 SEC clip. Finishing fifth, the Bulldogs clinched an automatic bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), advancing to the semifinal round. (13.75), fourth in hitting percentage (.243), and first in aces per set (1.57). In all, the Bulldogs finished in the top four of every offensive category in the conference. In RPI, Georgia made one of the greatest turnarounds from the prior season, jumping 132 spots to 57.
BEFORE GEORGIA Black, an accomplished collegiate and international coach, was named the seventh head coach of the Georgia volleyball program in December of 2016.
Black came to Athens with 12 years of NCAA collegiate head coaching experience with time at UC San Diego and Loyola Marymount, accumulating a career record of 242-115 after posting six seasons with 20-plus wins.
Working with some of the top athletes in the country, Black has been extremely active with the U.S. Women’s National Team over the last few years, working alongside U.S. head coach Karch Kiraly. Black most recently served on the staff at the 2016 Rio Olympic games as an assistant coach, as the United States garnered a bronze medal.
Black spent the last seven seasons at Loyola Marymount, leading the Lions to 127 wins and three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2015 after upsetting No. 13 Colorado State and No. 6 Stanford. His team notched back-to-back 20-wins seasons in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, the Lions entered the AVCA Top 25 Poll at No. 23 and held a national ranking for five weeks.
During his stint, 21 student-athletes earned All-West Coast Conference honors while he oversaw four AVCA All-America selections and six AVCA All-Region picks. Black saw one of his players earn the WCC Defensive Player of the Year in four of the last six years while also garnering AVCA Region Freshman of the Year in 2014.
Prior to LMU, Black served at the helm of Division II UC San Diego women’s team for five seasons. Black went 115-29 with the Tritons and had his team ranked in the AVCA national poll every week for his final four seasons. UCSD ranked as high as No. 2 in 2009 while finishing in the top 10 in two seasons. The 2006 Tachikara/AVCA D-II Pacific Region Coach of the Year, Black coached 20 All-Conference honorees as well as four All-America selections.
Black is heavily involved with the U.S. Women’s National Team, culminating in his selection as an assistant coach with the team in March of 2013. Black was with the team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, helping guide the United States to a bronze medal. Black also assisted with Team USA prior to the team winning its first world championship gold medal at the FIVB World Championship in October 2014 while the team went on to win the 2015 World Grand Prix Championship and a Bronze Medal at the World Cup.
Before being named as an assistant within the program, Black spent three consecutive summers as a consultant coach as the National Team prepared for the 2012 London Games.
Prior to his time at UCSD, Black spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the men’s volleyball program at USC. He also served as the men’s head coach at Pierce Junior College and Thousand Oaks High School as well as an assistant for Pierce Junior College’s women’s team and Royal High School’s boy’s team.
Black received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UCSD in 1996 where he was also a four-year letterwinner, setting numerous hitting records and earning All-MPSF honorable mention honors as a senior in 1996. The California native was Volleyball Magazine’s Small College Player of the Year in 1996, while also earning Small College All-America honors that same year.
Black and his wife, Crystal, have two daughters, Kylin and Emerson.
Tom Black was named the seventh head coach of Georgia Women’s Volleyball on Dec. 22, 2016. ^
YEAR
Total Division I Georgia
EDUCATION
UC San Diego, 1996; Bachelor of Arts, Political Science
FAMILY
Wife: Crystal Daughters: Kylin, Emerson
NATIONAL COACHING EXPERIENCE
Volleyball Canada Women’s Indoor Head Coach, 2019-Pres. United States Women’s National Team Assistant, 2013-16 United States Women’s National Team Consultant, 2009-12
ADDITIONAL COACHING EXPERIENCE
Southern California Men’s Volleyball Assistant, 2003-05 LA Pierce Junior College Men’s Head Coach, 2001-03 Santa Monica Beach Club Head Coach, 2002-05 Thousand Oaks High School Boy’s Head Coach, 1998-01 Royal High School Boy’s Head Coach, 1997-98
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
Association of Volleyball Professionals, 2001 UC San Diego, 1993-96
SCHOOL
UC San Diego UC San Diego UC San Diego UC San Diego UC San Diego Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount Georgia Georgia Georgia
15 Seasons 10 Seasons 3 Seasons OVERALL
299-151 184-122 57-36 CONFERENCE
28-26 NOTES
Division II National Quarterfinalist Division II Regional Semifinalist Division II Regional Quarterfinalist Division II Regional Semifinalist NCAA Tournament First Round NCAA Tournament First Round NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 NIVC Third Round NCAA Tournament First Round
Black with daughters Emerson (left) and Kylin (right) after Volleyball Canada won the Women’s Challenger Cup tournament June 2, 2019, in Quebec. ^ Black was an assistant coach for the United States Women’s National Team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, helping guide the U.S. to a bronze medal. ^
In his third season at Georgia, Black guided the Bulldogs to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013. Georgia played Cal Poly in the open^ ing round at No. 3 Stanford.
