South Carolina fires volleyball coach midway through season

USC head indoor volleyball coach Scott Swanson has been fired, the school’s Director of Athletics Ray Tanner said in a statement Wednesday.

Swanson’s dismissal comes as the Gamecocks are in the midst of their 2017 regular season. South Carolina is currently 9-6 with a 2-1 record in the SEC. In seven seasons with USC, Swanson had a record of 101-99 and 35-80 in conference play.

“We appreciate the dedication and hard work that Coach Swanson has brought to this program over the past seven years,” Tanner said in a press release. “However, I have made a decision that in the best interest of the program, we needed to make a change and have new leadership. We wish Coach Swanson all the best in his future endeavors.”

In Swanson’s place, assistant coach Dottie Hampton has been promoted to interim head coach.

The Gamecocks went 18-12 in 2016, the team’s best winning percentage since Swanson took the helm in 2011. He had three winning seasons with South Carolina, but never posted a .500 season in SEC play.

Prior to his time at South Carolina, Swanson had spent five seasons as an assistant at Minnesota, four years as the head coach at UTEP and six years as an assistant at Arizona State.

Most recently, USC has won four of its last six games and is scheduled to play Georgia on Friday.

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 1:54 PM with the headline "South Carolina fires volleyball coach midway through season."