University of California - Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball

Michael Henchy was hired as the new Women's Volleyball Head Coach in February of 2026.  Henchy joined the Gauchos from the 2024 National Championship winner Penn State University, where he has served as an assistant coach since the spring of 2024. During his time at Penn State, Henchy helped carry the Nittany Lions to the 2024 National title and a 35-2 season. He worked alongside the 2024 Big Ten Coach of the Year, Katie Schumacher-Cawley, and coached four All-Big Ten first team members, including Freshman of the Year Izzy Starck and unanimous selection Jess Mruzik. Three more Nittany Lions were also recognized with conference awards.  The Nittany Lions maintained a 54-15 record during Henchy's tenure and also reached the NCAA tournament in 2025. Penn State's 2025 award roster featured an All-American, an All-American Honorable Mention, Big Ten Libero of the Year Gillian Grimes, and three additional conference awards. Three players also earned All-East Coast Region honors.  Prior to his time in Pennsylvania, Henchy served as the Associate Head Coach at James Madison University. In 2022, the Dukes became the Sun Belt Conference champions and advanced to the national tournament in both 2022 and 2023. In his three seasons, Henchy helped players earn All-American, All-District, and All-Academic honors.  Henchy first coached women's volleyball at American University, where he acted as an assistant coach. Directly after his arrival, the Eagles became the 2019 Patriot League conference champions and reached the NCAA tournament.  As a graduate assistant coach for men's volleyball at Springfield College, Henchy was named the 2019 AVCA Men's Div. III National Assistant Coach of the Year. During his two seasons there, the Pride was incredibly successful, winning the national championship in 2018 and returning to the tournament in 2019. He graduated from Springfield with a Master's in Physical Education: Advanced Coaching.  Henchy played professionally in Lamia, Greece, for a campaign, after which he returned to his alma mater, Ohio State University, to act as a volunteer coach for the men's team. During his season on staff, the Buckeyes won the 2017 National Championship.  Henchy got his start in collegiate volleyball playing as an outside hitter at Ohio State, where he was a two-year captain and four-year letterwinner. He reached 1,001 career kills to rank 18th overall in the record book. He also resides in the record book for aces (11th), points (17th), and solo blocks (18th).   He was an AVCA All-American honorable mention in his senior season, earned two All-MIVA honors, and received multiple academic accolades, including All-Big Ten recognition. Henchy graduated with a BA in Strategic Communication and a minor in Consumer Science.  With his move to Santa Barbara, Henchy returned to the California Central Coast. Hailing from Ventura, California, he graduated from Ventura High School in 2011 and began playing volleyball as a freshman. He was a two-time Ventura High Men's Volleyball MVP, All-League MVP, All-American, and the 2011 California Interscholastic Federation Division I Player of the Year.

Condron was named as an assistant coach to the Gauchos in March of 2026. Previously, he was the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at James Madison University for five seasons (2020-2025), where he led the Dukes to two Sun Belt Conference Championships (2022, 2025) and two NCAA Division I Tournament appearances (2022, 2023). Condron first joined the JMU staff in the spring of 2020 as the program’s assistant coach under Lauren Steinbrecher. He served as assistant coach for four seasons (2020-2024) before being promoted to the Dukes’ associate head coach in April 2024. In his first season at the helm, he played a pivotal role in the development of Brenya Reid and Annie Smith. Both players took home All-Conference Honors, with Reid tying the program’s second-highest kills per set average in a single season.  Under his guidance as assistant coach, the Dukes maintained a combined 66-15 conference record over four seasons. Condron helped recruit and develop numerous all-conference performers while coaching the Dukes to two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship (2022, 2023). In the 2023 season, JMU’s win over a ranked opponent earned the Dukes their first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in program history. Prior to JMU, Condron spent two seasons (2018, 2019) as an assistant coach for the women’s volleyball program at Minot State University where his responsibilities included recruitment and player development. During the 2018 season he helped the Beavers win the most matches in the program’s DII history. In May of 2020, Condron graduated with his master’s in sports management from Minot State.  Condron was the head coach for the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams at his alma mater, Huntington Beach High School, before his first collegiate coaching appointment. Recording 121 wins, Condron led the teams to two state championship titles. He concurrently served as assistant coach for the Club H Volleyball Club. Condron was a collegiate student-athlete at CSUN (2010-2013) and was a starting libero for the nationally-ranked Matador team. As a two-year captain and four-year letterwinner, the Huntington Beach native led the team in digs his junior season and started all 26 matches. Condron graduated in 2014 from CSUN with a bachelor’s of science in business management.

Sam Calisto was named as an assistant coach for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's volleyball program in March, 2026. She brings experience in collegiate, club and high school volleyball from throughout California and the Mountain West. Calisto arrives in Santa Barbara after serving on the coaching staff at Ventura College Pirates women's volleyball, where she helped guide the program to a standout 23-2 record during the 2023 season. The Pirates captured their third conference championship in four seasons and earned the top seed in the Southern California Regional Playoffs. She also assisted the Pirates’ beach volleyball program, helping the team claim a Western State Conference title and finish as state runner-up that spring. Calisto brings six seasons of collegiate coaching experience to the Gauchos, much of it spent in the Santa Barbara area. She previously served as an assistant coach at Westmont Warriors women's volleyball during the 2014-15 season before joining the staff at Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros women's volleyball from 2015-17 under head coaches Ed Gover and Lisa Gera. During her time with the Vaqueros, Calisto helped lead the indoor program to an undefeated Western State Conference record and a conference title in 2016. She later became head coach of the SBCC beach volleyball program, helping guide the transition from a club team to an official intercollegiate sport in 2018. In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Calisto has spent more than a decade coaching elite-level club volleyball with organizations including Montana Volleyball Academy and Rise Volleyball Club. She led multiple teams to Junior National Championship appearances and guided teams to five consecutive Gold Division finishes in the Southern California Volleyball Association. Calisto also served as head coach at Villanova Preparatory School, where she led the Wildcats to the CIF-SS semifinals in 2018; the program’s deepest postseason run in 18 years. Off the court, Calisto works as the Director of Clubs and Programs for Starlings Volleyball USA, a nonprofit dedicated to providing opportunities for at-risk youth through volleyball. A former collegiate player, Calisto competed at the Division I level at Cal Poly as a setter and defensive specialist before finishing her career as libero at the University of Montana. During the 2012 season, she recorded 347 digs for the Grizzlies. She graduated from Montana with a degree in Organizational Communication and a certificate in Entertainment Management. She also earned a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science with emphasis in Sports Psychology. Prior to her collegiate career, Calisto starred at Dunn School, where she earned three team MVP honors and first-team All-Santa Barbara County and All-CIF Southern Section Division IV recognition as a setter and outside hitter. Calisto’s volleyball roots run deep in Santa Barbara. She grew up playing beach volleyball on East Beach and earned a AAA rating from the California Beach Volleyball Association at age 16. She continues to compete at the Open and AAA levels across California.  Calisto’s ties to UC Santa Barbara also run in the family. Her father, Mike Maas, was an All-American men’s volleyball player for the Gauchos, winning two national championships and later being inducted into the UC Santa Barbara Hall of Fame in 2016. She lives in Ventura with her husband, Antonio, 7-year-old son, Orion, and their dog, Cosmo. In her spare time, she enjoys playing beach volleyball with her friends at East Beach, golfing, and going to the beach with her family. "Some of my earliest childhood memories include being rolled around in ball carts at practice in The Thunderdome, attending all of the UCSB home matches, and watching them take down top schools like Stanford, Hawaii, and Long Beach State (at the time) amongst some of the best fans in the country," Calisto said. "UCSB truly feels like home to me, I cannot wait to be a part of the coaching staff here. The passion I witnessed in the program while growing up is what inspired me to coach, and I want to continue to bring that passion to the program in my new role as assistant coach. I think Mike brings incredible experience and championship-caliber leadership to this program, and I believe we are going to do big things with this team!"