Gary Hodge

Biography

Gary Hodge finished his 16th season of coaching youth and collegiate volleyball in the Bay area and just finished his fourth at Saint Mary's before being hired at San José State. In a return to normalcy, the Gaels played a full schedule with Hodge at the helm in 2021, and went 12-11 and snagged some huge wins along the way. Most notably, the Gaels took down 11th-ranked Pepperdine at the Stanford Invitational on April 17, the program's first win over the Waves. A total of five Gaels were chosen for the All-WCC team, including Elena Baka, who went back home to Greece to repesent her country in the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup. Saint Mary's won four straight matches under Hodge's leadership before the 2020 season was halted due to COVID-19. Following the abbreviated season, Jasmin Suarez was named to the 2020 Beach National Collegiate team and Elena Baka was chosen to train with Greece for the 2020 Olympics. The team came back from COVID-19 with a 12-11 record in 2021, with Jennifer Laird being named First Team All-WCC. Hodge enjoyed immediate success with the Gaels in 2019, where Saint Mary's secured a third place finish in the West Coast Conference. Six Gaels landed on the All-WCC team, including Sarah Chase and Lindsey Knudsen, who earned first-team honors. Emily Bible and Lindsey Calvin were named to the second-team, and Selbie Christensen and Chandler Cowell were named to the all-freshman team. The Gaels ultimately fell in the Round of 16 at the USA Beach Volleyball