ABOUT 864 ELITE VOLLEYBALL CLUB
864 Elite Volleyball’s goal is to offer competitive volleyball locally for all players, hence how the name was created. Their belief is that players can find superior coaching and competition here in their own community without having to drive an hour or more for volleyball. 864 Elite was created to bring together the athletes in the area, train them from a young age, and help develop them into a well-rounded, student athlete with a strong work ethic. We want our athletes to learn to be great leaders, accept responsibility, and learn discipline and commitment.
Mellie Crumpton
Club Director, 16U Head Coach
Coach Crumpton is in her second year as the Pickens High School varsity volleyball head coach. Last season, her Blue Flame team went 31-4 and won the Nation Ford Tournament and Region title. In her 10 seasons as the head volleyball coach at Pickens Middle School, she had a record of 161-6 with 9 Regular Season Championships and 9 Tournament Championships and also a winning streak of 130-0 that continues into 2023. Coach Crumpton was also named the 2020-21 Middle School Coach of the Year by the SCACA. In the last three club seasons, her teams have won an incredible 18 gold titles including the Beast of the Southeast and the Southeast qualifier invitational. In 2021 her 13U club team finished the regular season with a 40-0 record with 7 gold championships including the club’s first ever Palmetto Region title. That team also went on to finish tied for 5th at AAU Nationals. She played at Pickens high helping lead her team to three State Championships – two as a player and one as an assistant coach. Coach Crumpton earned an athletic scholarship to play D1 volleyball at UNCA where she was a four year starter a six-rotation outside hitter. She has been coaching for over 25 years, including club, middle school, JV, and college. Coach Crumpton has a true passion for the sport that she strives to pass along to each of the players she is blessed to coach. Her motto for the past 11 seasons has been “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” “I give my everything as a coach and I expect the same from my players. To me it all begins with developing solid fundamental skills. We practice hard, we play hard, and we grow together on and off the court. We become one big, solid volleyball family. That is what 864 Elite is all about.”
Ken Vanderhoof
Club Director, 14U Head
Coach
Ken has played volleyball for over 30 years and has been coaching for 20. He is the current JV head volleyball coach at Pickens High School. Last season he was the Head Coach of Seneca Middle School and assistant coach on 864 Elite’s 14U team. In addition to coaching for Seneca, he coached at Pickens Middle School as an assistant and other volleyball clubs throughout North & South Carolina. Ken fell in love with the game as he started playing sand volleyball in the Low Country of SC growing up. He believes coaching is about relationships- both on and off the court. Our devotion and commitment to each other will bring out the best in us. I love to win and hate to lose but, in the end, it’s about becoming the best you. When you, as an individual, and you as a team, become your best, amazing results happen. When off the courts, he spends as much time as possible with his family. He and his wife Cheryl have been married for 23 years and they have two daughters named Kaili and Kaci.
Tommy Crumpton
Club Director, 16U Asst Coach
Tommy is currently an assistant varsity volleyball coach at Pickens High School. Previously, he was an assistant volleyball coach at Pickens Middle School for 10 years where he helped lead the team to 8 consecutive undefeated seasons with an amazing 130-0 record. During that time the Lady Sparks won 9 division titles and 9 tournament titles. He has also coached the last 7 years in club volleyball including 2 National teams. His 13u team in 2021 climbed as high as #2 in the nation. His 14u team in 2022 reached a ranking of #3 in the nation with a record of 41-1. He has been married to Coach Crumpton for 14 years, and they have one Goldendoodle named Josie.
George May
12U Head Coach
George brings 25 years of coaching experience to 864 Elite. Before moving to South Carolina in 2011 he coached various juniors teams in Florida from 14-18 under age divisions. He spent 6 seasons as a varsity high school coach and served one year as an assistant at Indian River State College. This will be his eighth season as a Palmetto Region juniors coach. In recent years he has transitioned to coaching younger 12 and 13 under teams. Between 2017-2019 his 12U teams finished the season in the top 10 final Palmetto Region rankings that include a 3rd place finish in 2019. In 2020 he coached his 13U team to a # 2 final ranking. This season George will be coaching our 12U team. He is a retired firefighter from West Palm Beach Florida and has been married to his wife Susan for 44 years.
Amanda Seder
12U Assistant Coach
Amanda grew up as a volleyball loving gym rat following her older sister & dad around to every practice, game, or tournament & patiently waiting to be old enough to play club ball. She played volleyball for Big Lake Juniors from age 10-17 and played on the Indian River Juniors 18U team during her final season of volleyball. She played Volleyball at Yearling middle school in 6th, 7th & 8th grade and played 1 year of JV & 3 years of Varsity as a starting setter at Okeechobee High School. She co-coached 1 season of 12U club ball for Big Lake Juniors at age 20 before starting a family. “I’m so excited to have this opportunity to get back onto to the volleyball court!” In her free time Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband Jarod and their 4 children Karsen, Maycee, Masen & Jessa.
Logan Coates
13U Assistant Coach
Logan Coates has been playing volleyball since 3rd grade. She has played at various clubs as well as high school varsity for 4 years. During those 4 years, she was all region 4 times and All State once as a setter. Logan attended Clemson where she played intramural volleyball for fun while majoring in education. She started coaching club in the upstate in 2019, and has coached both 12s and 13s. Logan is the head coach for both the 7th and 8th grade teams at Wren Middle School. In her free time, she enjoys playing pickup games around Greenville, and grass tournaments on the weekends as well as reading, cooking/baking, and planning her next travel adventure.
Matt Garland
14U Assistant Coach
Matthew comes to 864 Elite after coaching at 2 other clubs for the last 4 years. He has been playing volleyball for the last 5 years and is an active player on the AVP Grass Tour. He is also a personal trainer. He believes mental and physical fortitude is the key to any winning team.
Michelle Gareri
15U Head Coach
Michelle Gareri joins the 864 Elite volleyball family bringing more experience to the coaching staff. She is in her first year as the Pickens Middle School Head Volleyball Coach. Michelle is a Pickens Alumni where she played for 4 years and led her team to a State Championship title her senior year. She then earned an athletic scholarship to play volleyball at Southern Wesleyan University. She was a starter all 4 years as a Middle Blocker. She went on to receive her Masters in Education at Central Methodist University. She coached collegiate volleyball at Central Methodist University in Missouri and Seward County Community College in Kansas before she decided to start a family. Since then she has stepped back into the coaching world and has been coaching club volleyball and has continued to play competitively in several different leagues. She works at Clemson University as the Associate Director of Administration for Clemson Home. She has been married for 11 years to her husband Corey and has two children, Shelby, age 9, and Griffin, age 8. Michelle’s coaching philosophy is for each player to learn how to push themselves to be the best version of themselves. She believes in mental toughness and getting proficient in the basic fundamentals.
Emily Eubanks
15U Assistant Coach
Emily has grown up playing volleyball since she was 9 and had a love and passion for it almost instantly. She played high school volleyball for 5 years- 1 year in JV and then 4 years on varsity, even earning region player of the year her senior year. She also played club volleyball for 8 years and was named twice as an AVCA All-American. While playing varsity she was a four-time region champ as well as in club, winning regionals her 15s year. While playing varsity she would also be the first to aid and assist coaches for help in training the younger girls. She has always wanted to know the game as deeply as she can and was always the first to get her hands on a volleyball to get some extra court time in. Now she wants to pass on that knowledge while continuing to grow it, as she assists in helping these young girls. She has played volleyball for almost ten years and now wants to take on the exciting prospect of coaching. She now is attending Clemson University and working towards her bachelor’s degree in English.
Anna Bridges
17U Head Coach
Anna has been playing volleyball for over 12 years and has been coaching for 7. She attended Easley High School and played varsity for the Green Wave for 3 years under Melissa Baker. She also played club for Carolina One and Crossfire Volleyball Club under Haley Brunson. She attended Southern Wesleyan where she played volleyball for the Warriors her freshman year. While at SWU, Anna fell in love with coaching. She was the assistant coach at Liberty Middle School and then transitioned into club ball immediately after. She coached 13’s for 2 years and then graduated from SWU in 2019. Anna became the head JV coach and assistant Varsity coach for Liberty High School from 2019 – 2022. During her time at LHS, she led their JV program to multiple 1st and 2nd place finishes in the region, while helping varsity garner back to back to back region championships, 2 upperstate appearances, an upper state championship, and runner-up at state in 2022. Anna is in her 5th year as a 4th grade teacher at Forest Acres Elementary School. She loves to spend time with her family, especially her boyfriend and son, Ashton. Anna is extremely excited to be joining the 864Elite family!
Melissa Baker
17U Assistant Coach
Melissa has been coaching club volleyball for over 10 years and comes to 864 Elite with experience coaching 12-18s. She was the varsity coach at Easley High School for 3 years and has been doing private volleyball lessons for 8 years. She has been playing volleyball since she can remember. She played middle at Easley High School (1 year JV, 3 years Varsity) and Dixie Volleyball Club for 2 years ( junior and senior year). In 2005, she was offered a full scholarship to play at Limestone College, but medically red-shirted. She was the starting outside hitter from 2006-2009. She is currently the all time kill leader at Limestone (1924 kills) and was recently inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame. “I love helping players of all ages learn to love the sport of volleyball. I also enjoy bonding with my players, and teaching them lessons off the court. I want them to not only be great volleyball players but fantastic people.” Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband, Justin, and their two adorable babies, Charlotte and Sidney.
Maggie Sizemore
Assistant Coach
Maggie has played volleyball since she was 7 years old. At age 11, she played her first club season and continued playing club for seven more years. Maggie played varsity volleyball at Pickens High School, from her freshman- senior year, where she won four upper state championships and one state championship during her senior season. Maggie was an assistant volleyball coach at Pickens Middle School during the 2022 season, where her team went undefeated in region and tournament play, winning the first SCHSL Middle School Invitational. Maggie was also an assistant coach for the 864 Elite 14’s team during the 22-23 season, where her team finished as one of the top teams in the Palmetto Region. She is currently a sophomore at Clemson University, studying Animal & Veterinary Sciences with plans to become a veterinarian.