April 4, 2006

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Matt Sonnichsen and Greg Gibbons - a pair of former head coaches in the collegiate ranks - have joined the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball program as assistants, Gaucho head coach Kathy Gregory announced Tuesday.

Sonnichsen, who spent the past eight seasons as head women's volleyball coach at the University of Tulsa, began his tenure at UCSB on April 3. Meanwhile, Gibbons arrived in Santa Barbara in early March after serving three years as head coach at nearby Cal Lutheran University. They replace former assistants Rick McLaughlin - recently named head women's volleyball coach at Golden West Junior College - and Brooke Niles, who left the Gauchos to concentrate on her beach volleyball career as an AVP tour player.

During his time with the Golden Hurricane, Sonnichsen compiled a 121-110 record, reaching the 20-win plateau three times and posting the highest winning percentage (.524) of any coach in program history. The 2005 campaign was his most successful at Tulsa, resulting in a 23-10 overall mark and third-place finish in Conference USA, while 2000 saw TU amass a winning record (20-13) for the first time in 20 years.

Sonnichsen previously spent two seasons at Iowa - 1996 as an assistant and 1997 as co-head coach - and served one year each on the staffs at Clemson and Baylor. As a player, the Spring, Texas native was a four-year letterwinner at UCLA, where he was a three-time All-American setter and led the Bruins to NCAA Championships in both 1987 and 1989. After competing with the U.S. Senior National Team at the 1990 Goodwill Games, he went on to play professionally for four years (1992-95) on the AVP tour as well as in the Swiss indoor league.

Sonnichsen, who earned his bachelor's degree in economics from UCLA in 1989, is married to the former Stacy Smith. The couple has one daughter, Jane.

"I feel extremely fortunate to hire an assistant with so much experience as both a head coach and player," Gregory stated. "Matt is a phenomenal trainer and our returning players are really excited about the opportunity to learn from him. In addition, he possesses a wealth of international contacts that will aid our program in recruiting."

Gibbons went 41-29 as the head coach at Cal Lutheran from 2003-05, leading the Regals to an 18-3 mark and final NCAA Division III national ranking of No. 21 this past season. He guided CLU to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Association title in 2005 while mentoring a First Team AVCA All-American, Mo Coverdale.

New Gaucho assistant coach Greg Gibbons guided Cal Lutheran to a final NCAA Division III national ranking of No. 21 last season. (Photo by Erik Hagen/CLU)

In 2005 Gibbons was also named head coach of the Southern California Volleyball Association Youth National Team, a collection of the region's top girl's players which placed third at the Global World Championships in Salt Lake City. Simultaneously, he has spent the last two years as a head coach with Sports Shack Volleyball Club, mentoring the under-15 girl's team while also serving as an assistant with the under-18 squad that captured the 2005 Volleyball Festival National Championship. In addition, Gibbons has held the title of Coordinator of Volleyball Affairs with Pepperdine University's men's program since 2003, analyzing game film and handling administrative responsibilities for the perennially-powerful Waves.

Previously, Gibbons served as head boy's volleyball coach at both Westlake High School (2000-03) and Moorpark High School (1997-99) while also gaining experience with several Ventura County-based club programs. He is a 1997 graduate of Iowa State University where he earned a B.S. in psychology and played on the Cyclones' club volleyball team.

"Greg comes to us as one of the top club coaches in all of Southern California," Gregory said. "He will be our primary recruiter and is a tireless worker in that capacity. With his success at Cal Lutheran and Pepperdine, Greg has demonstrated exemplary skills in all areas of running a collegiate program."

Sonnichsen and Gibbons will join a Gaucho program that has captured four consecutive Big West Conference titles - three of them outright - and finished its 2005 campaign with a 21-9 overall record. UCSB is one of only three schools in the nation to qualify for all 25 NCAA Championships dating back to the tournament's inception in 1981, all under Gregory who recently completed her 31st season in Santa Barbara.