Jayne McHugh Gibson, a legendary Stockton volleyball athlete and coach, died Saturday night, Nov. 15, after a brief fight against an aggressive form of cancer. She was 65.
“Pacific is saddened to announce the loss of three-time All-American Jayne Gibson-McHugh, who passed away over the weekend,” the university said in a statement on Instagram. “Gibson-McHugh was a four-year letterwinner, an assistant coach and head coach of the Tigers. She was inducted into the Pacific Hall of Fame in 1992.”
McHugh’s death came shortly after Valor Christian High School, the volleyball program she coached in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, secured its fourth straight 5A state title. They became the first girls’ volleyball team from the 5A classification to win four straight state championships.
The Colorado High School Activities Association shared a photo online of McHugh holding the game ball from Saturday night’s championship match, taken shortly before her death. According to the school, she watched the match from her hospital bed, and players later brought the game ball to her.
McHugh was unable to coach during the final seven weeks of the season, and the team was led by interim head coach Trisha Kroll, her former assistant. Kroll said the “impact Jayne is leaving on volleyball is profound.”
“She has empowered countless women to be strong and to recognize that if they get knocked down, to rise again,” Kroll said in a statement posted on the CHSAA website.
Born and raised in Arvada, Colorado, McHugh graduated from Arvada West High School, where she competed on four state championship teams in basketball, volleyball and track.
Once McHugh, however, arrived at Pacific on a scholarship in 1978, she stayed in Stockton for nearly 40 years.
Playing volleyball at Pacific from 1978 to 1981, McHugh was a three-time All-American who led the Tigers to three straight conference championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981. As a middle blocker, she finished with 856 kills and 155 blocks.
McHugh graduated in 1982 with a degree in physical education and earned her teaching credential at Pacific the following year.
She went on to join the USA National Volleyball Team in 1985, a journey that culminated in her selection to the 1988 Olympic team in Seoul. The Americans finished seventh after falling to China and defeating host South Korea.
“Sharing the Olympic experience with my wife has been incredible,” Tom, whom she married in 1984 and who died in April, told the CHSAA website. “I’m so happy for her. When I saw her on the field marching in for the closing ceremonies, I had tears in my eyes. After the ceremony, I held her and I had tears in my eyes from the emotion, the joy and the elation that she did it. She has accomplished her childhood goal of being an Olympian. I know no one else who has lived their dream.”
McHugh began her coaching career as an assistant at Pacific in 1989 while also serving on the Athletes’ Advisory Council of the U.S. Olympic Committee and on the U.S. Volleyball Association’s Board of Directors from 1989 to 1995.
Working alongside John Dunning, who holds Pacific’s record for victories with 437, McHugh was promoted to associate head coach from 1996 to 2001 and later assumed the head coaching role in 2001.
She led the Tigers to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, coached four All-Americans and stepped down in 2006 with a 100-59 record.
“What is there not to like?” McHugh said in 2019, speaking to the West Coast Conference as she entered its Hall of Honor. “Pacific offered an opportunity for me in 1978 to come to California. When you grow up in Colorado and want to be a volleyball player, California was the place you needed to be. I enjoyed a great four years, played in the first NCAA (women’s) tournament.
“As far as the university itself, it’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s called the Ivy League of the West for a reason. You really received a personalized education. The professors knew who you were and were concerned for your success.’’
From 2013 to 2018, she served as the head coach of the St. Mary’s girls volleyball team, compiling a 141-62 record over five-plus seasons, according to MaxPreps. She also taught middle school history, math, P.E. and language arts at Annunciation School before becoming a fifth-grade teacher at Venture Academy, a charter school.
McHugh moved back to her home state of Colorado in 2019.
As Kroll noted, McHugh’s influence on the sport runs deep. Her career is immortalized in several halls of fame: the Colorado High School Hall of Fame, the University of the Pacific Hall of Fame, the NFHS National Hall of Fame and the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor.
McHugh spent her life elevating the sport she loved, and in return, the volleyball world will forever carry her imprint.
Her achievements fill halls of fame, but her true legacy rests in the players she mentored, the standards she set and the communities she strengthened.
For decades, she gave everything to the game — and the game is better for it.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Jayne McHugh Gibson, Pacific volleyball legend and Olympian, dies at 65 after cancer fight
Reporting by Dylan Ackermann, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
