The Trojans’ head coach is ready for some tough training sessions as he makes a new addition! Emphasis on the fact that it’s a great add, you know, one which has the overall capability of strengthening the USC volleyball program—to ensure the team’s strength and competitiveness are up to the mark as they compete for the upcoming 2025 NCAA season. 

The 45th edition of the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament is expected to start from the first week of December 2025. We all are aware of how dominating the Women of Troy are! With a record of six national championships in the past, they joined the Big Ten Conference recently in 2024! That’s a huge achievement as the Trojans marked their strength by putting up a record of 13-7 out of the 20 matches they played! And no doubt, they had fierce competitors, the volleyball titans, namely Nebraska and Wisconsin. 

So, are the Women of Troy planning to keep up this momentum for the 2025 season? We think so because now Head Coach Brad Keller‘s comment makes all the more sense. Brad Keller meant it when he said, “We can’t wait to hit the ground running with her in the gym,” while talking about a new team member. On February 15, Keller welcomed Blossom Sato to the USC women’s volleyball team, saying, “We are so excited to welcome Blossom to our staff and to the Trojan Family.” Keller is confident that she is the perfect fit for the USC Trojans, for the team’s culture as well as the immediate goals. 

And we believe him. Sato has a longstanding history with the sport, by association with family as well. While talking about her family’s volleyball lineage, Keller stated, “She comes from a deep volleyball pedigree and knows the game at a high level.” Putting her atop a pedestal makes sense because of her exposure to the sport from a very young age! It is so obvious to say that, after all, her mother, Liane, was an active member of the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team in the 90s. And her uncles Eric and Gary played the sport alongside the legendary coach Marv Dunphy of Pepperdine’s Men’s Volleyball. They have made an exclusive remark in the history of volleyball, making it very clear for Sato to gain all the experience and abundance of knowledge that is required. Moreover, she comes with a preset mind of winning goals. Just look at her journey so far; it has been remarkable. 

She previously served as an assistant coach for the UC San Diego men’s volleyball where she helped players like Jim Garrison, the middle blocker for the team, and opposite hitter Anthony Cherfan. Her guidance helped them gain the Big West Defensive Player of the Week Honors title. Their accolades are a testament to her role in uplifting developing athletes. Before this, she started her career with Pepperdine’s Women’s Program in 2019. And, in 2023, she coached pin hitter Grace Chillingworth to an AVCA All-America honorable mention and helped her earn three Waves on the AVCA’s All-Pacific South Region team. An impressive record to enter UC with-we’ll give her that.

Keller did a great job with this addition to USC Trojans women’s Volleyball! Sato’s skills and expertise are all set to take on the lead for the USC Trojans. “Please welcome Assistant Coach Blossom Sato to USC Women’s Volleyball!” There’s no doubt that she is going to elevate the sport to a whole new level with the reins that she has been given. What piques our interest is Keller’s previous year’s hire of USC’s associate head coach Tyler Hilderbrand. Is there a pattern we’re seeing?

New USC volleyball hire: coincidence or strategy

USC welcomed their assistant coach Tyler Hilderbrand last year. He took up the lead after his role at the Long Beach State volleyball program. And now we have another great talent to the USC coaching. But is this a coincidence? Or a strategy to ensure the team’s long-term success with coaching additions? 

Tyler himself is a great talent and a perfect teacher for the sport, according to the head coach Keller. Keller went on to say, “Now that our coaching staff is complete, I can’t wait to get to work and build towards the fall with this amazing staff.” No one knew that Keller was still on the lookout for coaching talent until he dropped the recent official announcement like a bomb. 

Here we were, under the impression that Keller felt complete after Hilderbrand joining the coaching team. He said so himself but the uncertainty that Keller felt was never made known, that is until now. On the other hand, if we’re talking about the context of strategy, it definitely seems like USC is trying to strengthen up big time for the Big Ten Conference and the championship that’s set to happen in December 2025!

Even though it felt like the team was full until the addition of Sato, we would say that this new joiner is all set to elevate the overall performance of the team through mentoring alongside other high-profile coaches like Keller and Tyler. After all, this is the 2025 NCAA season coming up and USC Trojans are on overdrive.