Westmont College Athletics

2024 was McGolpin's sixth season as head coach of the Warriors, and Westmont's second season as part of NCAA Division II and the PacWest Conference. The Warriors posted a record of 14-13 that season, which included a 9-11 record in the PacWest play.

McGolpin completed her fifth season as head coach in 2023, where she guided the the Warriors through their first year at the NCAA Div. II level, and their first year competing in the PacWest Conference. On September 1, 2023, McGolpin's team became the first of any Westmont Athletics team to win an NCAA Division II game. That first win in four sets over MSU Mankato.

Overall, the Warriors completed their season at the Div. II level with a record of 12-15, finishing 9-11 in their first go around with the PacWest.

In 2022, McGolpin's fourth season, the Warriors capped off their time in the NAIA with a stellar season, going 24-7 overall and 15-3 in GSAC play. Westmont secured their seventh GSAC Regular Season Championship and defeated Montana Tech in the NAIA Opening Round. At the NAIA Final Site, the Warriors fell in a pool play tiebreaker to Midland (Neb.).

In her third season as head coach of the Warriors, McGolpin led the Warriors back to the NAIA National Tournament for the third time is as many years. With a 14-4 record in conference, the Warriors finished in second place, and earned a berth into the NAIA Opening Round, where they ultimately fell to Oregon Tech.

McGolpin's third season as head coach came with similar wrinkles as her second, with the COVID-19 pandemic looming over the club's set routine. The most noteworthy of these obstacles was the lack of offseason the club had, given their "2020" season occurred during the spring, and the "2021" season occurred just months later in the fall.

Still, the club ended the regular season by winning eight of their final 10 matches before running into trouble against the Owls in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

In her second season as head coach of the Warriors, Ruth McGolpin was tasked with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, which did its best to get in the way of the Warriors' season.

In 2020, the NAIA pushed back all fall championship seasons to the spring, causing fall sports such as volleyball to have a delay to their season's beginning. Rather than a typical August start, the club's first game of the "2020 " season didn't take place until January 22, 2021. The club took off, winning seven consecutive matches to begin the year, with the seventh taking place on February 24 against San Diego Christian. 

The season would then come to a bit of a halt, and due to COVID-19 protocols, Westmont's next nine matches were postponed/canceled. The club didn't play again until March 25.

When cleared to return, McGolpin's squad took every advantage of the season they had left, going undefeated in 10 conference matches and winning the GSAC for the second straight season.

For her ability to lead her club to triumph amidst adversity, McGolpin was named Co-GSAC Coach of the Year. It is the first time McGolpin has received the honor.

"The team has rallied to allow me to receive this award," said McGolpin. "They have believed in each other and believed in me and again, the total reward comes in the fact that we've won as may ball games as we have."

Westmont returned to Sioux City, Iowa for the final site with hopes of returning to the National Championship game, but lost to Grand View (Iowa) in pool play ended the season prematurely.

Amidst the bittersweet ending, McGolpin said, "I am proud of their efforts all year long. It could have been a non-season, but we made it to nationals."

Westmont's pursuit of their first National Championship in program history resumes this fall. The Warriors' first match is scheduled for Tuesday, August 17 in Fullerton, where they'll take on College of Idaho in the Hope International Summer Slam.

In her first season as Westmont women's volleyball head coach, Ruth McGolpin led the Warriors to their first ever NAIA national championship game appearance in program history. Her team finished #2 in the NAIA Postseason Coaches' Poll with a record of
31-8 on the season.

At the NAIA National Tournament, Westmont won Pool H after posting victories against #9 Columbia (Mo.) and Xavier (La.). In the Round of 16, the Warriors defeated #7 Eastern Oregon before taking down #1 Park (Mo.) in the quarterfinals, helping the program reach the national semifinals for the fourth time ever.

Westmont then advanced to its first ever national title game after sweeping #6 Viterbo (Wis.) in the semifinals, before losing to #11 Marian (Ind.) in the championship. The Warriors' second place finish is their best ever at the NAIA National Tournament.

The most successful season in program history also included a shared Golden State Athletic Conference regular season title and a GSAC Tournament championship.

McGolpin was a Westmont women’s volleyball assistant coach for four years before entering her first season as head coach in Fall of 2019..

"In her four seasons at Westmont, Ruth has already made a strong positive impact on our program," said Westmont Athletic Director Dave Odell. "She has a wonderful relationship with our team and has the strong support of the Santa Barbara volleyball community. I love her energy and work ethic to go along with her knowledge and love of the game."

After joining the coaching staff in August 2015, her assistant coaching duties included working with the Warrior setters, as well as assisting in daily on-court team coaching. McGolpin took the lead as the Recruiting Coordinator in the summer of 2018, while also operating the team's social media accounts.

In 2016 and 2018, she was honored as the GSAC Assistant Coach of the Year as well as the AVCA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year (NAIA).

McGolpin's coaching resume extends back to 1992, with experience at both the high school and college level, including assistant coaching positions at UC Santa Barbara, Colorado Mesa University, the University of South Carolina and Northern Arizona University, where she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees.

"I very much believe in the fundamentals and techniques of the game," McGolpin said. "I'm a teacher of the whole-part-whole method and a competitor through and through. I believe in focusing on the process and the ability to keep improving skills. I love to win, however, this program has taught me that winning is the icing on the cake. The real wins come in the relationships we build together.

"My goals for these young women include being great volleyball players and great people," McGolpin said. "I believe their faith in Christ is a big component for their success in life and helps steer them. I want them to excel in the classroom. I want them to be a part of the Santa Barbara community.

"I want them to learn how to give 100 percent of themselves, develop a strong work ethic and hold on to a positive outlook on life. I want them to be gutsy in their execution and to be aggressive on the court. I want them to take risks on the court and be constantly outside of their comfort zone. I want them to forgive themselves for their mistakes and to spend 90 percent of the time on solutions."
 
A Santa Barbara area native, McGolpin was a three-sport prep star at Dos Pueblos High School before becoming a four-year starting setter at Northern Arizona University from 1987-1989, 1991. She was inducted into the Northern Arizona University Hall of Fame in 2000 after establishing a school record her senior year with 1,519 assists. She was the first NAU Setter to record 4,000 career assists, ending her career as the school’s all-time leader in assists (4,011), digs (1,199), and double-doubles (56).

As a freshman in 1987, McGolpin was ranked 13th nationally (NCAA DI) in digs per game (3.77). Twice named as an all-conference pick, McGolpin was also honored as a member of the Big Sky All-Decade Team for the years 1982-1992.
 
McGolpin still continues to play in the USA Open Adult Nationals, where she has been named to the all-tournament team on four occasions. Her most current 2019 Shots AA team, consisting of Westmont career kills leader Patti Cook (’04) and Libby Dahlberg (’19), took second place in Ohio. In 2018, her Shots team competed in the Women’s A division with Cook, Taylor Beckman (’18), Dahlberg, and Amy Buffham (’19), and won the tournament with a perfect 10-0 record. In 2017, she competed in the A division with Westmont Volleyball alumna Tena Mensonides ('00) with Team Badger and took first place in the Silver Division, seventh overall, beating the USA Armed Forces Team. In 2015, McGolpin competed in the Women’s 45 division where her team of Panama Jack-San Diego took gold and she was awarded the division MVP.

McGolpin and her husband Scott have two children - Samuel and Sarah.