Honors

• Six-time Big West Coach of the Year

• Four-time AVCA West Region Coach of the Year

• 1993 AVCA National Coach of the Year

• USBVA Hall of Fame member

For Kathy Gregory, it's been a grand career. In her 32 seasons as the only head coach UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball has ever known, "The Queen" has amassed the sixth-most wins in Division I history with a career record of 784-328, guided the Gauchos to all 26 NCAA Championships dating back to the tournament's inception in 1981 and seen her teams finished ranked among the nation's top-25 on 28 occasions.
On Sept. 12, 2003, Gregory's career became grand - literally - as she coached her 1,000th match at UCSB, a 3-1 victory over American University during the Arizona Invitational. That was one of many milestones in the distinguished career of Gregory, who easily owns the lengthiest tenure of any coach in the history of UCSB Athletics.
While these impressive statistics are a testament to her longevity, so is the respect the one-of-a-kind Gregory has gained throughout her four-plus decades of involvement on the collegiate, professional and international levels in the sport she loves. In addition to earning one National and four Regional Coach of the Year awards, Gregory's dominance as a competitor led to her being named as one of the 10 most influential people in the sport of volleyball over the last 30 years and a member of two separate volleyball halls of fame.
Gregory's coaching career started at UCSB with the inception of the women's volleyball program in 1975. In that inaugural season she piloted the Gauchos to a 10-10 mark. Over the next 30 years they would record 20 or more victories 25 times, and have never finished with a sub-.500 record. Such consistency has allowed Santa Barbara to remain in one of only four schools in the country - along with Pacific, Penn State and Stanford - to earn a berth into each and every NCAA tourney field.
Over the past eight seasons, Gregory's teams have enjoyed some of the greatest postseason success in school history with three Elite Eight and two Sweet 16 appearances.

In 1997 "The Queen" guided UCSB to its first NCAA Regional Final and a season-ending ranking of fifth in the nation. The Gauchos began 1998 with a 13-0 record, reaching No. 3 in the national polls - highest in program history - and concluded their campaign by returning to the Sweet 16. Gregory's troops kept the ball of NCAA Tournament success going in 1999 and 2000 with back-to-back trips to the Elite Eight after pulling off upset victories in the regional semifinals both years.
Even during her 28th season at Santa Barbara, Gregory was able to establish a number of career "firsts." In 2002 the Gauchos won their first-ever outright Big West Conference regular season title with a perfect 18-0 league mark and hosted NCAA Regional play in the Thunderdome for the first time. Gregory was rewarded for her team's school record 23-match winning streak, best-ever 30-3 (.909) overall record and another Sweet 16 appearance with her fourth AVCA Regional Coach of the Year Award. In each of the past two seasons UCSB has defended its conference crown with Gregory repeating as Big West Coach of the Year, raising her career total to six such awards.
The 1993 season epitomized Gregory's coaching excellence. Ranked 17th nationally in the preseason, the Gauchos finished the year at No. 4 with a 28-4 overall record and a co-Big West Conference Championship. Santa Barbara's jump in the polls was the biggest by any team in the country that season. Gregory was rewarded for her team's overachievement with AVCA/Tachikara National Coach of the Year honors.
While building her foundation of success at UCSB, Gregory dominated the sport as a competitor for more than 15 years. After being awarded Women's Beach Tournament Player of the Year in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1983, Gregory was crowned "Queen of the Beach." Over that period she captured two world championships and became only the third woman enshrined into the Volleyball Hall of Fame on October 21, 1989. The first two were former Olympic team members Flo Hyman and Jane Ward.
"The Queen" is still active on the beach volleyball scene and can frequently be seen on Santa Barbara's East Beach. In 1996 she became the senior-most player in the nation to earn her AAA Beach rating, the highest mark a player can attain on the sand. With longtime partner Kathy Hanley she won the Santa Barbara Bud Light Tournament. Gregory was also named a USVBA All-American for the 16th time at the National Championships in Dallas in 1996.
Her competitive experience was not limited to the beach as she served as captain of the professional San Diego Breakers of the IVA - where she was a teammate of basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain - and played on the 1968 U.S. Pan American and World Games squads.
In 1997 the sum of these accomplishments were recognized as Gregory became the 12th woman inducted into the United States Volleyball Association Hall of Fame. Yet another accolade came in 2003 when she was named to the USVBA's All-Era Team from 1949-1979.
Gregory has also contributed to nationally-televised volleyball broadcasts. She served as a color commentator for ESPN's Women's Professional Beach Tour on which she gained recognition for her "In the Crowd" pieces. She also commentated for the Prime Sports network and most recently served as a studio analyst for College Sports Television's coverage of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Aside from what she has given to the sport of volleyball, Gregory has been recognized for her contributions to the advancement of women's athletics. In 1981 she was given the Salute to Women Award for her devotion to women's growth in sports. Gregory was also recently named as one of only five coaches nominated for the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame, an organization which honors outstanding contributions to women's athletics.

Gregory's Milestone Victories

• 100th win
  9/18/80 vs. Cal Poly

• 150th win
  10/24/81 vs. USC

• 200th win
  9/16/83 vs. Nevada

• 250th win
  9/14/85 vs. Rhode Island

• 300th win
  9/11/87 vs. Tennessee

• 350th win
  10/7/89 at San Diego State

• 400th win
  10/11/91 at Fresno State

• 450th win
  10/19/93 at Cal State Northridge

• 500th win
  9/26/95 at Cal State Fullerton

• 550th win
  9/20/97 vs. Oklahoma

• 600th win
  9/3/99 vs. Illinois

• 650th win
  11/11/00 vs. Cal State Fullerton

• 700th win
  12/6/02 vs. Fresno State

Last Updated December 4, 2006