Georgia hires Tom Black to coach volleyball team

Georgia announced Thursday that Tom Black will be the new head coach of its volleyball program.

Black will be the seventh coach in the team's history and the second Georgia athletics director Greg McGarity has hired for the sport. Black has spent the past seven years as the head coach at Loyola Marymount.

"This is a humbling and incredible opportunity," Black said in a statement. "The environment within the university and athletic department blew me away, and I instantly felt how special a place this is."

Black replaces Lizzy Stemke, who resigned from the position on Dec. 1 after six seasons at Georgia.

Prior to his seven-year stint at Loyola Marymount, Black was the head coach at UC San Diego for five seasons. He has a career record of 242-115.

Over the summer, Black was an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic volleyball team, which won a bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro.

Black led Loyola Marymount to the NCAA Tournament three times, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2015.

"I want to thank Loyola Marymount University," Black said. "The depth and meaning of my time there goes beyond words, and I will always be grateful for my experience at LMU. I'm excited to meet the Georgia team. I know in transitions emotions run strong for so many of us, and it will be great to get in the gym and begin the process of seeing how good we can be. I'm honored to be a part of it."

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Georgia hires Tom Black to coach volleyball team."