Former All-American Devany returns to Gauchos as assistant coach

A former All-American who helped lead UC Santa Barbara to the brink of its first national championship in program history will return to the school as a coach.

UC Santa Barbara announced Monday that it hired former Gauchos setter Vince Devany to be an assistant coach for the 2013 season.


Devany was a three-year starter for the Gauchos and finished his college career with the third most assists in program history. As a senior, he also was named a Volleyball Magazine Third-Team All-American following UC Santa Barbara making the 2011 NCAA championship match.

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The Gauchos reached the Final Four that year after upsetting three top-five nationally ranked teams to win the MPSF Tournament as the No. 7 seed. In addition, Devany and UC Santa Barbara beat the No. 1 seed USC in the NCAA Tournament semifinals before losing to Ohio State in five games in the NCAA championship match.

Devany will join coach Rick McLaughlin’s staff as a result of Tyson Norton being promoted to first assistant coach position. Norton will replace Aaron Mansfield, who left UC Santa Barbara to become the head assistant coach for the Santa Clara women’s volleyball team.

“We’re very happy to keep Tyson and move him up. He has been a big part of the program for the past few years,” McLaughlin said in a statement released Monday. “We’re excited to bring Vince back as well, with all the experience he has had as a player and a leader on that Final Four squad.”

UC Santa Barbara finished last season tied for 10th place in the MPSF and did not qualify for the eight-team conference tournament.