Bio

Hughes came to Saddleback in 2015 having a wealth of familiarity with the South Orange County volleyball landscape. Having coached various levels of both high school and club since 1998, Hughes brings knowledge, experience, and passion for the game to the Saddleback program.  He played at Irvine High School, where he was a middle blocker and opposite for the Vaqueros from 1996-1998. After high school, Hughes went on to play at Irvine Valley College for local coaching legend and fellow OEC coach Tom Pestolesi. In 2001, the Laser men finished second in conference and made it to the state quarterfinals. 

As a high school coach, Hughes has been the varsity head coach for both boys and girls at Villa Park.  In 2004 and 2005, his boy’s teams captured back-to-back Century League championships in 2004-2005 and made an appearance in the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals in 2005. Most recently, from 2009-2013, he was the boys varsity head coach at Northwood High School in Irvine, and tasked with rebuilding the program.  In a short amount of time, he was able to take the Timberwolves from last place in league to a 22-6 record in 2013 and a trip to the CIF-SS D1 playoffs.

At the club level, Hughes has coached many successful teams of varying levels with Mission Viejo VBC, SCVC Los Cab, South Coast VBC, and Performance Volleyball Academy.  Over the years, many of the student-athletes trained by Hughes have earned scholarships and moved on to compete at the four year level as well as some who have even gone on to play professional volleyball in Europe.

Above all, Hughes understands and stresses the importance and value of education to his student-athletes. He holds a B.A. in Liberal Studies from Arizona State University and a Master's degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University in Irvine.