Punahou alum Spencer McLachlin returns home for emotional weekend as new UCSD coach

MĀNOA — Spencer McLachlin estimates he's been inside the Stan Sheriff Center over 500 times since the facility opened in the fall of 1994.

The son of Chris and Beth McLachlin, both University of Hawai‘i Circle of Honor inductees, Spencer McLachlin would sit in the stands during UH volleyball matches as his father served as TV color commentator alongside Jim Leahey on K5 broadcasts. Wahine volleyball matches were extra special for the McLachlin family, as Beth is still remembered as one of the program's pioneers. A star setter on the 1974 and 1975 teams, Beth McLachlin added the Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame to her list of accolades in August.

With his parents guiding him, Spencer McLachlin went on to become a star athlete himself. While he was a two-time all-state basketball player at Punahou, volleyball was where he truly shined. A 6-foot-7 outside hitter, Spencer McLachlin was a starter in multiple tournaments for the U.S. junior national team. He was one of the sport's top recruits by the time he was set to graduate high school in 2007, and he chose Stanford among his many offers.

McLachlin started all 105 matches he appeared in for the Cardinal from 2008 to 2011, which included a national championship in 2010. With aspirations of becoming a coach one day, McLachlin helped out with Bay-to-Bay Volleyball Club as he finished up a master's degree with Stanford.

After a brief professional playing career in Greece, McLachlin returned to Hawai‘i and joined Charlie Wade's UH men's staff as a volunteer assistant in 2014 while he taught at Punahou. He was then elevated to full-time assistant for the Rainbow Warriors in 2015.

From there, McLachlin was an assistant coach for the Cal women's team from 2016 to 2017, an assistant coach on the UCLA men's staff from 2018 to 2021, the associate head coach for Indiana in 2022, then the associate head coach for USC from 2023 to 2025. His first opportunity to become a head coach was officially announced on Dec. 29, 2025, when UC San Diego named him the new women's head coach.

On Sunday, the final day of the 2026 OUTRIGGER Invitational, Spencer McLachlin's UC San Diego squad went up against host Hawai‘i to close the tournament. Father Chris was courtside doing color commentary for K5 with Kanoa Leahey, Jim's son, while Beth McLachlin watched intently. As Spencer competed against the University of Hawai‘i for the first time as a head coach, he proved the McLachlin family can still have firsts in its charmed volleyball journey.

Though the Tritons were just two points away from winning in four sets, the Rainbow Wahine rallied to take Sunday's match 22-25, 25-15, 21-25, 26-24, 15-8. UCSD led as late as 23-22 in the fourth set before UH forced deuce. The 'Bows, who sprinted to a 14-3 lead in the fifth set, went 3-0 over the weekend and improved to 4-2 for the 2026 campaign. The Tritons, meanwhile, fell to 2-4 in McLachlin's debut season and were 0-3 during the weekend.

"A lot of emotions," Spencer McLachlin told Aloha State Daily following the match, with some of his players seen wiping tears away in the distance. "I feel for my team that fought so hard, but it's life. Learning isn't linear. It's not gonna happen overnight. It's gonna take some really hard lessons, and we had three really hard lessons in the three matches this weekend. I wish it ended up a little bit differently, but that's volleyball. That's why everyone everyone loves it. I'm proud of our girls."

Over a dozen family members were in attendance to support Spencer McLachlin on Sunday. Additionally, a handful of friends from his O‘ahu childhood, including Stanford teammate Kawika Shoji, were there to offer encouragement.

"I love this place," Spencer McLachlin said of the Stan. "My mom's got her plaque up there in the Circle of Honor. This place means so much to me. It is a top five place to play in the world, and it's because of the fans. It's because of the tradition. ... Just so many great coaches. The volleyball community here is so great. And if I grew up anywhere else, I probably wouldn't have fallen in love with the sport like I did growing up here."

In the heat of the match, Spencer McLachlin admits he gave a quick look to his dad and couldn't help but smile. After the match, Spencer's three young children walked towards the announcer's table.

"There's Papa," Spencer pointed out to his keiki.

Chris McLachlin knew that calling Sunday's match came with added responsibility. The school he loves was facing a team coached by his son, and he knew he had to be impartial to both.

"I started out by telling Kanoa if I lapse into nepotism at all, please correct me," Chris McLachlin joked with ASD after the match. "I thought that for the weekend, (Spencer) was really proud of how they performed. They could have won the tournament, you know. They were very close to being 3-0. Instead, they're 0-3. But a lot of good lessons learned, and it's a different kind of proud that he is sharing so much of himself with those girls."

The four years Spencer McLachlin played for Stanford aligned directly with the four seasons current Rainbow Wahine head coach Joshua Walker took the floor for the Hawai‘i men's team following a redshirt year. Though McLachlin went 8-1 as a player against the 'Bows, Walker never made it easy, leading UH in kills the vast majority of those matchups.

"Ton of respect for him, just because I know how hard of a worker he is," Walker said following the match. "We knew we were going to get their best shot and they were going to be prepared. That's just who he is and how he operates. I think we both made each other better tonight."

Despite growing up an athletic prodigy of sorts, the coaches in Spencer McLachlin's life are the reason why he set his heart early on becoming one himself one day. Dave Shoji was his club coach when he was 10, and Spencer McLachlin remembers how the legendary former Wahine volleyball coach taught him how to pass, one of the underrated skills in the sport. McLachlin joked that with a career record of 2-4 thus far in his debut season, he has 1,200 to go to catch Shoji's career mark of 1202-204-1.

But if there's one coach who truly made his mark on Spencer, it's his father, who led Punahou to 11 state titles in boys volleyball and three in boys basketball.

"He's my biggest mentor," Spencer McLachlin says of Chris McLachlin. "Him caring for the athletes and the trust that you build by getting to know them, he has incredible relationships with all of his former athletes and if I could be a 10th of the coach that he is, then I'll have a great career. I think he's a wizard, and I'm so blessed to have him be my mentor."

Following a brief chat after the match, Chris and Spencer McLachlin went their separate ways, Spencer eager to build on the career he's wanted for as long as he can remember, knowing dad is always a phone call away.

"He was always asking questions about coaching strategies, so I thought maybe he's gonna be a coach someday," Chris McLachlin says. "He always seemed to glean the most from all the coaches he had when he played in the junior national team. He just always seemed to be gleaning little pearls of wisdom about coaching. And I think when he was very young, he followed me for my basketball and volleyball career, and it always seemed to be not just a kid at the gym, but more like a kid learning at the gym. He was always picking up something and asking questions. He wants to be a good coach in the worst way, and just the art of coaching means a lot to him."

Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.