Pedro Mendes joined Northwestern Athletics in February 2023 as assistant volleyball coach. He will work with the Wildcats on blocking schemes and technique, middle blockers offense and weekly practice plans.
Mendes brings with him a wealth of experience from working in a Big Ten school and in the international volleyball arena. Prior to arriving in Evanston, Mendes played a key role in helping the Minnesota Gophers finish 22-9 (15-5 Big Ten) in 2022. He helped coach six All-Big Ten honorees in 2022, including Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair and First Team All-Big Ten selections Melani Shaffmaster and Carter Booth. Graduate libero CC McGraw earned second team honors while Booth and outside Mckenna Wucherer were Big Ten All-Freshman Team selections. In his first season in Minnesota, Mendes worked mainly with middle blockers, and helped the Gophers finish No. 4 nationally in 2022 with 2.92 blocks per set. Freshman middle Carter Booth ranked No. 10 nationally and fifth in the Big Ten with 1.48 blocks per set, which is a Minnesota rookie record and places her seventh all-time for a single season at the 'U.' Booth earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors and was named AVCA All-North Region Freshman of the Year.
Mendes served as the head coach at Hylte/Halmstad Volley (Sweden), where he led the team to its first national and cup championship ever in 2021 and repeated as champions in 2021-22. Over his two seasons as the head coach in Sweden, Mendes played a key role in recruiting young potential players from bottom teams and helped them to reach their goals on and off the court. These included being called to the Swedish National Team for the first time ever and finding better professional contracts abroad. He also helped two players win league MVP and seven others were picked to the all-league dream team. During the 2021-22 season, Mendes led his Swedish team to a national record for best set average with 93 sets won and just six sets lost over 31 straight match wins. In two seasons their official match record was 70-2, a winning stretch in national history.
Prior to his work in Sweden, Mendes worked as an assistant coach with Eczasibasi Vitra Istanbul (Turkey), one of the top women's volleyball clubs in the world. He assisted in practices under the direction of head coach Marco Motta. He ran one-on-one player practices, participated in game plan discussions and delved into team statistics and analytics. During the 2019-20 season with Eczasibasi, the team finished in second place at the world club championship in China and first place at the Turkish Cup.
Mendes started his volleyball career when he was 10 years old and played until his last season at the age of 30. He went to college at UniFunvic in Sao Paulo, majoring in physical education (2012).
Born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mendes has a younger brother and two stepsisters. Mendes and his wife, Lauren, have a one-year-old daughter named Skye.
Playing Career and Accompanying Awards:
1998-00: School Volleyball
2000-04: Club Volleyball (Several clubs within the State of Sao Paulo)
2004-07: Youth Brazilian National Team
2008-10: Funvic MediaPhone Brazil (Played State and national championships)
2010-11: Maritimo Portugal (Best blocker of the league)
2011-12: Paris/Asnieres Volley France (Third place at the national championship)
2012-13: Funvic MediaPhone Brazil (Second place at the national championship)
2013-14: Coburg Grub Germany/ Falkenberg VBK Sweden (Best blocker award; National/Cup Champion)
2014-15: Tel Aviv Israel (Best middle blocker award)
2015-16: VolleyFalk Switzerland (Best blocker award and dream team of the season)
2016-18: Falkenbergs (Swiss National Champion and Cup Champion; Nominated Team MVP of the 2016-17 season)
2018-19: Hapoel Manashe Israel (Best blocker award)
Mendes brings with him a wealth of experience from working in a Big Ten school and in the international volleyball arena. Prior to arriving in Evanston, Mendes played a key role in helping the Minnesota Gophers finish 22-9 (15-5 Big Ten) in 2022. He helped coach six All-Big Ten honorees in 2022, including Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair and First Team All-Big Ten selections Melani Shaffmaster and Carter Booth. Graduate libero CC McGraw earned second team honors while Booth and outside Mckenna Wucherer were Big Ten All-Freshman Team selections. In his first season in Minnesota, Mendes worked mainly with middle blockers, and helped the Gophers finish No. 4 nationally in 2022 with 2.92 blocks per set. Freshman middle Carter Booth ranked No. 10 nationally and fifth in the Big Ten with 1.48 blocks per set, which is a Minnesota rookie record and places her seventh all-time for a single season at the 'U.' Booth earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors and was named AVCA All-North Region Freshman of the Year.
Mendes served as the head coach at Hylte/Halmstad Volley (Sweden), where he led the team to its first national and cup championship ever in 2021 and repeated as champions in 2021-22. Over his two seasons as the head coach in Sweden, Mendes played a key role in recruiting young potential players from bottom teams and helped them to reach their goals on and off the court. These included being called to the Swedish National Team for the first time ever and finding better professional contracts abroad. He also helped two players win league MVP and seven others were picked to the all-league dream team. During the 2021-22 season, Mendes led his Swedish team to a national record for best set average with 93 sets won and just six sets lost over 31 straight match wins. In two seasons their official match record was 70-2, a winning stretch in national history.
Prior to his work in Sweden, Mendes worked as an assistant coach with Eczasibasi Vitra Istanbul (Turkey), one of the top women's volleyball clubs in the world. He assisted in practices under the direction of head coach Marco Motta. He ran one-on-one player practices, participated in game plan discussions and delved into team statistics and analytics. During the 2019-20 season with Eczasibasi, the team finished in second place at the world club championship in China and first place at the Turkish Cup.
Mendes started his volleyball career when he was 10 years old and played until his last season at the age of 30. He went to college at UniFunvic in Sao Paulo, majoring in physical education (2012).
Born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mendes has a younger brother and two stepsisters. Mendes and his wife, Lauren, have a one-year-old daughter named Skye.
Playing Career and Accompanying Awards:
1998-00: School Volleyball
2000-04: Club Volleyball (Several clubs within the State of Sao Paulo)
2004-07: Youth Brazilian National Team
2008-10: Funvic MediaPhone Brazil (Played State and national championships)
2010-11: Maritimo Portugal (Best blocker of the league)
2011-12: Paris/Asnieres Volley France (Third place at the national championship)
2012-13: Funvic MediaPhone Brazil (Second place at the national championship)
2013-14: Coburg Grub Germany/ Falkenberg VBK Sweden (Best blocker award; National/Cup Champion)
2014-15: Tel Aviv Israel (Best middle blocker award)
2015-16: VolleyFalk Switzerland (Best blocker award and dream team of the season)
2016-18: Falkenbergs (Swiss National Champion and Cup Champion; Nominated Team MVP of the 2016-17 season)
2018-19: Hapoel Manashe Israel (Best blocker award)