Head Coach Todd Garvey enters his fifth season with the Gamecocks in 2022 after advancing to the ASUN Conference Championship final in 2021 as the No. 1 seed from the West Division. In four seasons, Garvey is 79-33 and ranks third in all-time wins at JSU. He boats a .705 win-percentage at the helm and is just one of 30 active NCAA head coaches with a .700 win-percentage or higher through at least 100 games coached.
Todd Garvey was named the seventh head coach of the Jacksonville State volleyball program on May 25, 2018, bringing a resume of tremendous success at the prep level as well as Division I experience as an assistant.
“We are excited to open this new chapter in our volleyball program and have Coach Garvey join us as our new head coach,” said JSU athletic director Greg Seitz at the time of his hiring. “When looking for a new coach, it quickly became clear that Todd was the perfect fit to lead our program. He has had great success on multiple levels and is highly respected across the country."
Arriving just two months after an EF-3 tornado struck campus, Garvey's first season saw plenty of obstacles to overcome including finding new meeting space, practice facilities, locker room, and game day venue. His first career win came on August 24, with a 3-0 sweep of rival North Alabama in the season-opener inside Kennamer Gym. Using a temporary facility from the University's physical recreation program, JSU finished his debut season 17-13 and 9-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play to earn the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. The Gamecocks went on to beat SIU-Edwardsville for JSU's first postseason win in nine years. Garvey's first season concluded with three Gamecocks earning All-OVC status as well as seeing senior Mackenzie Rombach become the 20th Gamecock in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills.
Back in Pete Mathews Coliseum for year two in 2019, the Gamecocks exceeded all expectation from outsiders. Picked fourth in the preseason poll, Garvey's group rolled off a 13-3 league record to claim the 2019 OVC regular season championship. JSU's first title in 10 years. Garvey was tabbed the league's Coach of the Year, while junior Lexie Libs was awarded the OVC Setter of the Year honor. Libs joined Kaylee Frear and Lena Kindermann as three first-team All-OVC selections. Frear, who reached the exclusive 1,000-Kill Club during her senior season, led a core group of seniors that fueled JSU's run to the title and a 20-10 overall mark. The season came to a close in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament with a loss to Morehead State.
Following the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic in early 2020, Garvey’s third season at the helm could arguably be his biggest challenge. Picked second in the OVC fall preseason poll, and expected to face 2019 national-runner up Wisconsin in September, the Ohio Valley Conference initially canceled all non-conference matchups, before moving the entire season overall to the spring semester. Heading into the February 2021 start date for the 2020 season, JSU was poised for one final run in the OVC as the university announced it was move to the ASUN Conference after the academic year was complete.
In a 16-match, conference-only schedule, JSU knocked off preseason favorite Southeast Missouri in back-to-back matches to begin a 15-0 start to the historic season. JSU held the second-longest winning-streak in Div. I volleyball at one point and held a top-20 RPI throughout the season. The Gamecocks finished the regular-season 15-1 and claimed its second consecutive OVC crown. Losing a tiebreaker with co-champion Morehead State, JSU drew the No. 2 seed for the abbreviate four-team tournament. After ousting SEMO for the third time that year in the semifinal round, the Gamecocks reached the OVC title match for the first time since 2009. JSU would fall to the host Eagles in the championship, ending the spring season with a 16-2 record. Having dominated the regular season, JSU earned a plethora of All-Conference honors. Lexie Libs was named Setter of the Year for the second-straight season, while Lena Kindermann was tabbed the league’s Player of the Year, and freshman Courtney Glotzbach was selected as Freshman of the Year. The trio, along with junior newcomer Katie Montgomery, were all First Team All-OVC honorees.
In his fourth season, Garvey led the Gamecocks to a 25-7 overall record, the most wins in a single-season since 2009, and a 13-3 overall record in the ASUN. In addition, Garvey's Gamecocks finished 15-1 at home, marking the most home wins in the programs history. Overall, the Gamecocks are 44-9 at home under Garvey. in the fall 2021 season, Garvey led the Gamecocks to the a conference championship final appearance for the second consecutive season. Under Garvey, senior setter Lexie Libs became just the fourth player in program histpry to reach 4,000 career assists.
Garvey joined the Gamecocks from Lipscomb University in Nashville, where he spent the 2017 season as the Associate Head Coach. In his lone season with the Bisons, he coached the 2017 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, Carlyle Nusbaum, who led the conference and ranked fourth in the nation with 5.22 kills per set. She went on to earn all-region honors and was one of 12 players named to the U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team for its China Tour. Lipscomb posted a 16-13 record overall, featuring a 3-1 win over No. 24 Arizona.
Garvey made the leap to the collegiate ranks in 2015 joining the Purdue Boilermakers as volunteer assistant. He needed just one season to secure a full-time assistant position at Ohio University, where the 2016 Bobcats went 16-14 overall and 11-5 in Mid-American Conference play.
Prior to Purdue, he put together a remarkable run at the high school level, quickly ascending up the prep ranks as he led the Mercy Academy program in Louisville, Ky., from 2007-14. There, he racked up a 320-41 record, winning three state championships and a national title.
His Jaguars won the 2008 state title with a 40-1 record, garnering National Coach of the Year awards for Garvey from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and USA Volleyball Magazine. Mercy would go on to repeat as state champions in 2009 and again in 2014, while finishing as runners-up in 2010 and 2012. His final squad finished 40-1 and crowned 2014 Prep Volleyball National Champions. Overall, Garvey saw six of his eight teams earn a Top 20 national ranking.
One of the AVCA's 30 Under Thirty Award recipients in 2009, Garvey received the Kentucky Region 6 High School Coach of the Year award seven times and coached in the AVCA Under Armour High School All-America game in 2008.
Garvey also coached several years at the club level, starting with MAVA and later Union Volleyball Club in Louisville. In addition to coaching multiple USAV national qualifiers, his 2006 13's team won the USAV Junior Olympics title. A year later, his 14's team finished second in the AAAU National Championship open division.
A native of Louisville, Ky., Garvey graduated from the University of Louisville in 2003 with a degree in exercise physiology and sport administration.
Todd Garvey Career Record
Year Record Conf. School
2021 25-7 13-3 Jacksonville State
2020 16-2 15-1 Jacksonville State
2019 20-10 13-3 Jacksonville State
2018 18-14 9-7 Jacksonville State
Career: 79-33 (.705)
