Spencer McLachlin - Men's Volleyball Coach

Spencer McLachlin

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
smclachlin@athletics.ucla.edu

Spencer McLachlin was hired as an assistant coach for the Bruin men’s volleyball program in January of 2019. A former All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) outside hitter while earning a national championship playing for Stanford in 2010, McLachlin returned to Westwood after serving the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for the University of California women’s volleyball team. In 2017, he won the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) “Thirty Under 30” Award, which is presented to up-and-coming coaching talents across all levels of volleyball.

This past off-season, McLachlin broadened his experience while working on the coaching staffs for U.S. Men’s Volleyball squads which competed in the Pan American Cup and the NORCECA Champions Cup.

During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, McLachlin was as a volunteer assistant coach for Coach Speraw at UCLA. In 2016, the Bruins reached the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Tournament for the first time in a decade. UCLA ranked among the nation’s top 10 that season in aces per set, blocks per set, kills per set and hitting percentage. At the time, the program’s 25 wins in 2016 were the most since the Bruins won the NCAA Championship in 2006.

Prior to his initial stint at UCLA, McLachlin was an assistant coach for the men’s program at the University of Hawai’i in 2015. During his tenure with the Rainbow Warriors, McLachlin helped UH qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 seasons after finishing second in the MPSF standings.

McLachlin finished his playing career at Stanford ranked among the program’s all-time leaders in kills in the rally scoring era (1,288). As a senior, he was team captain and earned second-team All-MPSF honors. McLachlin was a three-time MPSF All-Academic team selection and earned his degree in Political Science in 2011. During 2011-12, he was a club coach for the Bay-to-Bay Volleyball Club and went on to secure a Master’s degree from Stanford in Education in 2012.

McLachlin continued his playing career at the professional level as an outside hitter for Greek pro volleyball team, Mas NIKI Aiginio from 2012-14. He also worked as a teacher at his former high school, Punahou School, from 2014-15.

An accomplished player during his high school days, McLachlin was a member of the 2007 U.S. Junior National Team which participated in the World Championships. In 2005, he saw action on the U.S. Youth National Team which won the NORCECA championship. McLachlin was a three-time selection as state Volleyball Player of the Year while at Punahou.