Liz Mendiola will begin her 11th season as The C of I head volleyball coach.  During her first ten seasons at the helm, the Coyotes have advanced to nine consecutive Cascade Conference tournaments, four NAIA regional tournaments, and trips to the NAIA National Championships in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010.  Last season, the squad won their fifth-straight CCC regular-season title and advanced to the NAIA Tournament Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa (where they finished in a tie for ninth) – with Mendiola earning her fifth-straight CCC Coach of the Year honors, while being ranked as high as No. 13 in the national poll. 

During her career, she has amassed a record of 236-85, the most wins and highest winning percentage in school history.  In 2006, she led the Lady Yotes to their best season in program history, compiling a 35-4 record - earning CCC and NAIA Region I Coach of the Year honors.  The Yotes won their first CCC championship in 24 years, becoming just the second school to complete the league schedule without a loss.  The Coyotes also captured their second-straight CCC Tournament title, along with their second-straight NAIA Region I Tournament title, before placing ninth at the NAIA Championships – with that team setting a school-record with 22 straight wins.  Her 2011 club will take a 53-match CCC home win streak into the season and have won 72 of their last 73 home matches.. 

Mendiola was an assistant for the Coyotes on two separate occasions – from 1995-96 and from 1999-2000, before elevating to head coach.  She has also coached club volleyball at Emmett High, for the Treasure Valley Volleyball Club, the Boise River Volleyball Club, and various camps in the Northwest.  A native of Jerome, Mendiola graduated from The C of I in 1996 with a degree in elementary education, and taught kindergarten in Nampa before becoming head coach in 2001. A two-year member of the Coyotes, Mendiola set school records for kills per game (4.86) in 1994, and holds the school mark for kills per game in a career (4.46).  She earned All-CCC honors following her senior season with the Yotes. 

Mendiola is married to former Coyote baseball standout and current C of I softball coach Al Mendiola.  The Mendiola’s have two children, Aleah and Micah.

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