Santa Barbara Names Bridget Kulesh as Next Head Men's Volleyball Coach

Bridget Kulesh was named Head Coach of Men's Volleyball in July of 2023 after helping lead the men's volleyball team to a Top 5 finish in CCCAA play during the 2023 season. She completed her second year as an assistant coach with the SBCC men's volleyball team in 2023. She is also the assistant coach for women's volleyball. | ORIGINAL RELEASE

In her first year on head coach Kat Niksto's staff, the Vaqueros had a magical turnaround, posting a 23-5 record to tie for the fourth-most wins in program history. SBCC was crowned Western State Conference champion, advanced to the second round of the state playoffs, and had seven All-WSC selections including Libero of the Year Jacelin McKie. In 2023, SBCC once again performed as one of the best teams in the state, advancing all the way to the SoCal Finals before falling just short in a five-set thriller at Orange Coast.

Moving a little further up the 101, Bridget has also had a successful run with the UCSB men's club volleyball team. Two years after joining the club in 2016, she moved from head coach of the B team to the A team. Under her guidance, she and the Gauchos won the 2018 NCVF Division 3 National Championship. In 2019, the UCSB-A team ranked first nationally the entire year, was SCCVL League Champions, MLK Classic Champions, and was named NCVF Men Division 1 Coach of the Year. In 2022, UCSB-A was once again ranked first nationally and became MLK Classic Champions, and the Gauchos were crowned NCVF Division 1 National Champions.

As a player, Bridget was a four-year starter at The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. While there, CUA made it to the conference tournament every year, and during her junior year made it to the finals. In her senior season, she was the team's captain and was named Second Team All-Conference and the Landmark Conference Scholar-Athlete for Volleyball.

Bridget earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 2014 and an M.S. in Molecular and Microbial Biology in 2015. She is currently on track to complete her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Development Biology at UCSB in September of 2022.

Her coaching career also includes three years at the girl's 15/16s level with Santa Barbara Volleyball Club, summer camps during her time at CUA, and the 2014-15 season as head coach for the 16s boys team (TVP).