In his
30 seasons as head coach of the UC Santa Barbara men's
volleyball team, Ken Preston has created one of the most
successful athletic programs at UCSB. The Gauchos have
made 20 post- season appearances in Preston's 30 years
as head coach, with coach Preston earning
over 500 victories as a collegiate head coach.
During its 36 year history, the UCSB men's volleyball
program has posted 30 winning seasons, 24 coming during Preston's tenure, and has advanced to the NCAA Final
Four three times, most recently in 1988.
Winning has always been second nature at UCSB and
Preston produced eight 20-win seasons to prove it. He
became the first coach of the Gauchos program to win
over 200 matches back in 1987. He collected his 500th
win in 2007 with a victory over Indiana Purdue Fort
Wayne (IPFW).
Preston has also produced 23 All Americans and 35
All-MPSF selections during his tenure at UCSB.
Before taking over at UCSB, Preston served as head
coach for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Wright State in
Dayton, Ohio. He also served as the interim head coach
for the Westmont College women's volleyball team for two
years. He guided the Warriors to a fifth place finish at
the NAIA National Tournament in 1990. Westmont posted a
28-11 record and a 50-18 mark during Preston's reign.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience,
Preston has spent time coaching at the international
level. In the summer of 2000, Preston was an assistant
on the U.S. Olympic Team in Sydney, Austraila. He
skippered the US team at the 1985 World University Games
in Kobe, Japan and served as an assistant coach with the
US National Team when it toured Brazil in 1984. The
previous year, Preston was the assistant coach at the
Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela and, in 1982,
he was an assistant at the World Championships in
Argentina. He also held assistant posts for the US Team
in the 1979 World University Games in Mexico City and at
the 1978 World Championships in Italy.
Preston is a graduate of nearby San Marcos High
School, where he was a standout offensive guard for the
infamous 1965 Royals. He earned his BA from UCSB and his
MA at Cal Poly SLO. Preston and his wife, Beth, reside
in Santa Barbara with their three daughters.
