BERKELEY – Matt McShane, who helped guide the Cal volleyball program to an NCAA Final Four appearance and two other Elite Eight berths during a five-year stint as an assistant coach, is returning to the Bears as Associate Head Coach, head coach Rich Feller announced Wednesday.

McShane was a Cal assistant under Feller from 2005-2009, during which time the Bears amassed a 114-47 record and advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament each year. He helped Cal reach the Final Four in 2007 and the Elite Eight in 2008 and 2009.

“I'm extremely excited that Matt will be rejoining the staff here at Cal,” Feller said. “He's one of the great volleyball minds in the country and is one of the most innovative trainers I've ever worked with. His ability to motivate and train is really unparalleled.”

McShane spent the past six seasons as the head coach at Air Force, where the program improved on its win total in four consecutive years. The program's recruiting classes received two high honorable mention accolades by PrepVolleyball.com during his tenure, and his teams produced 22 Mountain West All-Academic selections.

“To come back here is an honor,” McShane said. “Where I was, was great. It was an honor to be there. But to come back to Cal with its history and to work alongside Rich – to say it's an honor doesn't really do it justice. The job is tough. You have to be working with people that you really respect, get along with and challenge. Rich and I have done that in the past, and I'm sure we'll be able to do that again.”

McShane has also served as an assistant coach at Utah, New Mexico and BYU. He and Feller were also assistant coaches together for the U.S. National Team in 1996.

McShane is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, where he helped the Gauchos to back-to-back runner-up finishes in the NCAA Championships in 1974 and 1975.

“Because Matt has been so many different places at high levels and in particular here at Cal and in the Pac-12, he knows more than anyone what it takes to build a championship-caliber program,” Feller said. “He really understands the balance of academics and competition, and training at the highest of levels.”