JON STEVENSON
Head Coach
Sixth Season
UC Santa Barbara, 1980

The architect of the Cal Poly volleyball team’s transformation into one of the top programs in the Big West Conference is Jon Stevenson, who enters his sixth season as Mustang head coach in 2010 having compiled an 90-53 (.629) aggregate record at the school and a 54-22 (.711) Big West mark. Stevenson’s impact was felt immediately following his February 2005 appointment. Cal Poly’s 19-6 overall record during Stevenson’s initial campaign was a 14-win reversal from the previous year and the Mustangs’ second place showing in the Big West was the program’s highest in 20 seasons. Having quickly established a winning precedent, Cal Poly captured the program’s first Big West championship in 22 seasons in 2006 before successfully defending the crown in 2007.

Cal Poly has produced distinctly significant seasons during Stevenson’s tenure, including the 2008 campaign, when the Mustangs posted a fourth-straight showing in the top third of the conference table for the first time in program history. Cal Poly began the 2008 campaign ranked No. 10 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, the program’s highest such rating in nearly 22 seasons. A schedule that featured six nationally-ranked opponents yielded a 16-13 overall mark and an 11-5 record. Opposite Kylie Atherstone and middle blocker Jaclyn Houston completed their illustrious careers by not only earning All-Big West first team praise, but also a second-consecutive selection to the AVCA All-West Region team and inclusion as AVCA All-America honorable mention picks. Additionally, Atherstone – the Big West’s career leader with 11 Player of the Week honors – retired as the only Mustang in program history to earn four-straight selections to the all-conference first team and two selections as Player of the Year. Middle blocker Dominique Olowolafe’s selection to the All-Big West first team brought the total number of Mustang all-conference honorees under Stevenson to 18 – the same total that Cal Poly had culled during the eight seasons prior to his arrival.

Cal Poly’s most-memorable season under Stevenson came in 2007. Behind a 23-8 overall record and a 15-1 Big West championship mark that established program bests for both conference victories and winning percentage (.938), Cal Poly swept Xavier and Purdue during, respectively, the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the regional phase for the first time since 1985. Though a 14-match winning streak that was the program’s lengthiest in 26 years was snapped during the regional semifinals by eventual NCAA Tournament runner-up Stanford, Cal Poly still finished the year ranked No. 11 in the final AVCA poll – the program’s top showing since Nov. 18, 1986. Atherstone became Cal Poly’s initial AVCA All-America selection in 18 years after garnering third team recognition (Houston also earned her first honorable mention recognition). Atherstone’s second-straight Big West Player of the Year honor headlined a list of six all-conference selections. Libero Kristin Jackson departed the program ranked 11th in NCAA Division history with 2,132 career digs and as one of only 25 players to compete in 400-consecutive sets. Setter Chelsea Hayes graduated as a three-time All-Big West first team selection. For his 2007 efforts, Stevenson earned a second-successive Big West Coach of the Year honor.

Cal Poly cemented its place in the upper echelons of Division I volleyball in 2006. During just Stevenson’s second campaign, Cal Poly won its first Big West title since 1984 with a 13-1 mark, advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the initial time in four years, reached as high as No. 14 in the AVCA poll, posted the second-best winning percentage in program history (.793) and defeated three nationally-ranked programs in Texas, Hawai’i and Louisville. Despite being seeded 15th for the NCAA Tournament and falling to California in the second round at Mott Gym, Cal Poly’s 23-6 overall record still ensured the program’s first 20-win season since 1999. Atherstone’s first Big West Player of the Year selection highlighted a five-Mustang contingent on the all-conference first team.

Stevenson’s initial 2005 Cal Poly squad featured five all-conference honorees that helped the program record its highest victory total in six years (19-6) and the fewest overall losses among all Big West institutions. Additionally, Cal Poly’s second place showing in the Big West stands with a 10-4 mark was the program’s highest since 1985.

The rapid progress made by Stevenson, whose contract pushes his arrangement with the athletics department through the 2012 season, has helped reaffirm the central coast of California as one of America’s volleyball hotbeds. Paced by a sellout and program-record crowd of 3,032 supporters for the NCAA Tournament second round match against California on Dec. 2, 2006, Cal Poly has produced the five-largest volleyball crowds in Mott Gym history during Stevenson’s tenure (see inside front cover). Since Stevenson’s 2005 arrival, Cal Poly is 35-7 in Mott Gym, 27-3 in Big West matches and has recorded 24 sweeps.

The last three Cal Poly recruiting classes overseen by Stevenson have each been ranked among the top 25 by prepvolleyball.com. That distinction includes Cal Poly’s incoming 2009 class, which was slotted No. 9 by the Web site.

In addition to success on the hardwood, Cal Poly has also flourished in the sand under Stevenson. In April 2007, Stevenson coached the Cal Poly tandem of Atherstone and Hayes that, despite being the lowest-seeded team in the field, reached the semifinals of the inaugural eight-team POWERade Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships in San Diego.

Stevenson came to Cal Poly following a three-year tenure at Saint Mary’s (2002-04), where he elevated a program with an RPI ranking of 235 in his initial season to a 25-4 mark and an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal appearance two years later. During the 2004 season, Saint Mary’s twice posted victories against eventual national champion Stanford and finished the year ranked No. 13 in the AVCA poll. For his efforts, Stevenson was named Volleyball magazine’s NCAA Division I Coach of the Year.

Prior to his stint at Saint Mary’s, Stevenson directed Division II Sonoma State (Calif.) from 2000-01. In what has become Stevenson’s fortune-changing hallmark, the Seawolves went 7-21 in 2000 before transitioning to a 22-11 finish and a top-10 NCAA Division II Pacific Region ranking the following year.

A native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., Stevenson has also served as an assistant at Wyoming (1999) and as the head coach of the UC San Diego men’s program (1998-99).

Affiliated with USA Volleyball in various capacities since 1982, Stevenson was selected to lead the Women’s Junior A2 National Teams during the 2008 High Performance Championships in Tucson, Ariz., and the 2009 session in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The A2 program serves as the elite training squad for the USA Junior National Team.

Prior to his A2 appointment, Stevenson penned evaluations for U.S. Women's National Team head coach Jenny Lang Ping during a February 2008 camp at the Olympic Training Center. In December 2006 and again in February 2007, Stevenson served as one of three evaluators present at two tryout sessions used to determine the 2007 Senior A2 Team. Stevenson also served as a scout with the U.S. Men’s National Team in 2004 during NORCECA zone qualifying for the Olympics. Additionally, Stevenson has worked on the staff of GM2, a volleyball coaching clinic headed by former U.S. Men’s National Team coach Dr. Doug Beal. The staff also includes Dr. Carl McGowan and Dr. Marv Dunphy, both of whom Stevenson considers major influences.

Under Stevenson’s guidance, Cal Poly has been represented at the senior A2 level by Atherstone (2007), Olowolafe (2008) and, prior to their collegiate arrivals, middle blocker Anicia Santos and setter Anuhea Keanini (2008).

Stevenson graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1980 with a degree in psychology. After being named to the Dean’s List during his last three quarters at UCSB, Stevenson, along with longtime friend and Olympic silver medalist Mike Dodd, posted a runner-up finish at the 1980 World Championships of Beach Volleyball.

A 1984 founding member of the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour, Stevenson also served on the initial board of directors, as the player liaison in 1988 and as the player president between 1989-95. On the sand, Stevenson captured Tour Grand Prix Championships in 1984 and 1988, when he recorded a career-best six tournament victories. He was also named the tour’s Sportsman of the Year in 1985 and as the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988 and 1989.

Stevenson competed professionally until 1996, when he was inducted into both the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame and the Professional Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame. A year later, Nike named Stevenson as a “Legend of Beach Volleyball.” He has also played professionally in Italy, Brazil, Columbia, Japan, Germany, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Canada and the former Yugoslavia.

Founder of the San Luis Obispo Players under-17 boys club team (eventually renamed Midcoast Volleyball), the Santa Barbara Youth Volleyball Club and the Moraga-based Players NorCal, Stevenson spearheads the Jon Stevenson/Cal Poly Volleyball Camp, held annually in San Luis Obispo.

CAROLINE WALTERS
Assistant Coach
Second Season
Santa Clara, 2008

The West Coast Conference’s all-time leader with 1,932 career digs and a three-time All-WCC honorable mention selection, Caroline Walters begins her second season as a member of Jon Stevenson’s coaching staff in 2010. Also the Santa Clara program’s career leader with a 4.59 assists-per-game average, Walters’ primary on-court responsibilities with the Mustang program include working with Cal Poly’s serve receivers and down defenders while her off-court focus is geared toward the coordination of recruiting efforts and a role in both internal and external operations.

A three-time All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection, Walters is owner of four of the top five single season per-game dig marks in Santa Clara history. Walters enjoyed her top collegiate campaign as a sophomore in 2005 when as her conference-leading 516 digs – the third highest single-season total in Santa Clara history – helped propel the Broncos to a program-record 27 victories, a West Coast championship, a berth into the NCAA Tournament national semifinals and a final No. 4 ranking in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll.

Statistically, Walters’ 4.93 digs-per-game mark recorded as a freshman in 2004 stands as the top single-season mark in Santa Clara history.

With Walters in the lineup, Santa Clara posted an 84-34 aggregate record, a 41-15 combined West Coast mark and failed to finish lower than third in the conference standings during any of her four seasons. Walters, a four-time program Defensive MVP selection and three-year captain, appeared in 421 of a possible 428 sets during her career. A native of Los Gatos, Calif., Walters earned a B.S. in accounting from Santa Clara last year.

Walters arrived on the central coast following a year stint as an assistant coach with the 18-Blue squad of the Los Gatos-based Vision Volleyball Club, where she helped with practice planning and on-court techniques and strategies.

JUSTIN HUTCHINS
Assistant Coach
First Season
Utah Valley University, 2010

Former Utah Valley University assistant coach Justin Hutchins will begin his first season on Jon Stevenson’s bench during the 2010 campaign.

A native of Simi Valley, Calif., Hutchins arrived on the central coast following a three-season stint with the Orem, Utah-based Wolverine program (2005-06, 2008), where he served as technical advisor, defensive systems coordinator and as a recruiter. In conjunction with the physical education department, Hutchins also taught volleyball classes at Utah Valley University.

Hutchins, 32, spent the 2007-08 academic year as a volunteer assistant with the BYU men’s program, aiding the Cougar coaching staff with skill analysis and instruction, as well as video feedback and statistical tracking.

Hutchins has served as co-owner and director of Club Utah Volleyball since 2004. As program coordinator, Hutchins implemented and refined club philosophies and training methods, in addition to overseeing the organization’s coaching staff. In a coaching capacity with the club, he directed the 18s, 15s and 14s squads to various regional championships and Junior Olympics qualifying tournaments.

Hutchins’ 11-year coaching career also includes a decade-long association with the renown Gold Medal Squared Volleyball Camps and Clinics where, in dispersing the organization’s training philosophies and methodologies, he served in various coaching and administrative capacities such as camp clinician, lead camp coach and employee recruiter.

Hutchins capped his collegiate playing career by helping the Utah Valley University men’s club team to a Division I national championship in 2001 and a third-place finish in 2002. Hutchins transferred to UVU after serving as captain and starting for Golden West College (1999-00) in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Hutchins earned a B.S. in behavioral science from Utah Valley University. He and his wife, Shannon, have a two-year old daughter, Davis.

NATE NGO
Volunteer Assistant
Fifth Season
Cal Poly (undergraduate)

Volunteer assistant Nate Ngo enters his fifth season as a member of the Cal Poly staff after serving as a student manager during his first year.

A 2006 graduate of Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in San Francisco, Ngo lettered four seasons in volleyball for the Fightin’ Irish. A senior at Cal Poly, Ngo majors in mathematics.