McLachlin is familiar with the Pac-12 as a former assistant at California who also served as a men’s volleyball assistant coach at UCLA
The USC women’s volleyball team has hired Spencer McLachlin as an assistant coach, head coach Brad Keller announced on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
“I am excited for the addition of Spencer to our volleyball family,” said Keller. “I truly believe that he will have an immediate impact with our program on multiple levels and that he will help elevate us to the next level. He is a proven coach, an amazing mentor to young student- athletes, and one of the most innovative minds we have in the sport of volleyball. I’m excited to have him on our side of the net and to see how our players respond to his coaching.”
Previously, McLachlin served as the associate head coach at Indiana in 2022 where he was responsible for coordinating the defense and blocking. The Hoosiers were 16-16 and went 9-11 in the Big Ten to finish eighth in the conference standings. IU’s nine conference victories were its most since 2010 and the team had its highest finish since the Big Ten expanded to 14 teams.
While with IU, McLachlin helped coach the Hoosiers to wins over a fifth-ranked Ohio State and No. 25 Michigan on the road; the first time in program history that IU had multiple road victories over ranked opponents. Under his guidance, middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede produced 118 blocks and had 14 matches with five or more blocks. Five different Hoosiers had more than 40 blocks in 2022 and as a team, IU had 250 blocks with a season-high 18 in a victory over Northwestern.
Prior to Indiana, McLachlin was an assistant coach for the UCLA men’s volleyball program for four years (2018-21). He also has international experience with the U.S. men’s national team where he was on staffs for teams that competed in the Pan American Cup and NORCECA Champions cup.
Before he joined UCLA, he spent two seasons (2016-17) as an assistant coach at California. In 2017, he was named to the American Volleyball Coach Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 list, an honor presented to up-and-coming coaching talents across volleyball. McLachlin got his start in coaching as an assistant for the men’s volleyball program at Hawai’i. During his time with the Warriors, the team earned a bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 13 seasons.
As a student-athlete, McLachlin played at Stanford (2008-11) as an outside hitter. He won a national championship with the Cardinal in 2010 and finished his career among the program’s all-time leaders in kills with 1,288. McLachlin was a senior captain, an All-MPSF second team choice, and received MPSF all-academic team recognition three times.
He graduated from Stanford with a degree in political science in 2011 and completed a Master of Education in 2012 while serving as a club coach for the Bay-to-Bay Volleyball Club.
As a professional athlete, McLachlin was an outside hitter for Mas NIKI Aiginio in Greece for three years (2012-14).
McLachlin is married to former USC volleyball standout opposite hitter Diane Copenhagen (2004-07), a 2004 Pac-10 All-Freshman Team selection. The McLachlins have a daughter named Leila and are expecting a second child in May of 2023.
Under fourth-year head coach Brad Keller, USC (22-11) finished fourth in the Pac-12 standings (13-7) in 2022 and was awarded one of 32 at- large berths into the NCAA tournament. The Women of Troy defeated High Point in the first round of the tourney but were eliminated by 10th-ranked site host Ohio State. It was the first NCAA tournament victory for Keller, and the program’s first appearance in the tourney since 2019. Outside hitter Skylar Fields was named to the AVCA All-America first team.
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