Benedict College Women's Softball

Coach Gary L. Taylor Taylor is a 1978 graduate of Benedict College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. He is a native of Hartsville, South Carolina where he began his tennis career and started on the varsity basketball team for the Butler High School Tigers in 1973 under South Carolina Hall of Fame Coach T.B Thomas. He joined the Benedict Tiger J.V basketball team and the Benedict Tiger tennis team in 1974. Coach Taylor has had many successes in USTA tournaments and teams at the 4.0 level and above for more than 25 years and has trained and taught with the seasoned experienced players at Valley Park, Greenview Park, the Harbison Recreation Center, Benedict College,  and with High Performance  Scheper Tennis. He has served on NCAA Division II, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and USTA tennis committees and is a member of NCAA, IT Tennis, the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) and the SIAC Men and Women’s Tennis coaching committees. Coach Taylor has been an assistant coach for the Benedict College men and women’s tennis teams since 1998 and became head coach in 2007. Along with the strong SIAC finishes and a NCAA South Regional appearance, his teams have excelled in the ITA All-Academics Teams and Scholars listings for Division II Tennis over the past several years. Over the last four years the Lady Tigers have posted a 57-28 record in regional competition. Coach Taylor is a retired Earth Scientist, formally with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the producer of Rock and Mineral Abstract Sculpture and an African American Drum Percussionist.

Gwendolyn Rouse, a 1982 graduate of Benedict College, has been coaching the Benedict volleyball team since 1987. During her long and successful career, Rouse has been named Coach of the Year four times and has coached many players who have gone on to earn Player of the Year, All-Conference and All-District honors. Rouse was also a long-time successful softball coach for Benedict, coaching the Lady Tigers for 26 years. She guided Benedict to the 2004 SIAC Championship and captured two regular-season championships. She was named Softball Coach of the Year four times. During her coaching career, she also spent one year as coach of the Benedict women’s basketball team. Since 2004, when Benedict joined NCAA as a Division II member, the Lady Tigers volleyball team has a 222-158-1 overall record for a 58.4 winning percentage. Prior to joining the NCAA, Benedict competed at the NAIA level in the EIAC and was one of the top volleyball programs in the conference under Rouse. In 12 years coaching the Lady Tigers softball team at the NCAA Division II level, she had a 241-235 record, a 50.6 winning percentage. The Lady Tigers went 18-15 in 2016 and finished third in the SIAC Tournament. V'Aira Harris was named SIAC Newcomer of the Year. Benedict also had a third-place finish in 2014. Benedict had the SIAC Player of the Year in 2012 in LaTayvia Mack. Mack was named the SIAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2011. Rouse coached the 2010 SIAC Offensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player in Melinda Bastian. In 2012, Benedict was the national volleyball statistical leader in aces per match. While in the EIAC the volleyball team won 11 consecutive regular season championships and 10 conference tournament championships. The softball team won six regular season championships and four conference tournament championships. Rouse prides herself on her high graduation rate among her former volleyball and softball players. Benedict was named the team academic champion by the SIAC in softball in 2012 and 2013, and in volleyball in 2013. A native of Miami, Fla., Rouse attended Miami Northwestern High School, where she was a standout athlete, competing in basketball, volleyball, softball and track. She also was a top student, graduating in the top 10 of her senior class. She accepted an athletic scholarship to Allen University. As a freshman softball player, she broke the Allen school record for home runs and was named Rookie of the Year in softball and basketball. She transferred after her freshman year to Benedict College and competed in basketball, volleyball, softball and track for the next three years. She received a B.S. in physical education from Benedict in 1982. She would later receive a Master’s Degree in counseling from Webster University in 2008. She is married to Stanley Rouse and they have two children, Britney and Bianca. Britney played for Rouse at Benedict, while Bianca earned a volleyball scholarship to UNC Charlotte and volunteers as an assistant coach for her mother helping the Lady Tigers. She has two granddaughters, Nola and Nala, who are her pride and joy.