March 14, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina assistant volleyball coach Julie Darty earned a spot on the American Volleyball Coaches Association “Thirty Under 30” list for 2013, the organization released today.

Darty, who just completed her first year on staff at South Carolina, heads up the Gamecocks’ recruiting efforts while working with the team’s outside hitters. Juliette Thévenin earned Second-Team All-SEC honors in 2012, improving her kills-per-set from 3.65 to 4.31 under Darty’s watch, while Thévenin’s hitting percentage jumped 67 points to .290, second on the team.

“Julie is an exceptionally talented young coach that has made an immediate impact on our program here at South Carolina,” said Gamecock head coach Scott Swanson. “She is a tireless worker, extremely organized and does an amazing job as our recruiting coordinator. Julie relates well with our student-athletes and does a great job training and coaching them each day in the gym. We are very lucky to have Julie on our staff and look forward to the next several years having her help us mold Gamecock Volleyball into a nationally respected program.”

Coming from Villanova, Darty helped the Wildcats to consecutive top-four finishes in the BIG EAST. Kim Maroon was Darty’s top pupil at Villanova, earning third-team AVCA All-America honors in 2011 after claiming the league’s libero of the year award twice. Maggie Mergen and Morgan Petkovich both earned All-BIG EAST accolades twice, with Mergen on the first team and Petkovich on the second team both years.

Darty is a former standout in her own right, holding Mercer’s career kills-per-set record.

South Carolina finished 2012 with an 18-14 record, the second winning record in a decade in the second year of Scott Swanson’s tenure as head coach.