Tom Gardner

Tom Gardner is the Women's Head Volleyball Coach at Caltech.

Tom Gardner began his tenure as the women's volleyball head coach in February of 2014. He is the 12th head coach in the program’s 38-year history, and has since transformed the Beavers into a SCIAC factor, and a team capable of being competitive in any and all matches. The team went on to have a breakthrough 2019, which featured Caltech's first 10-win season in 20 years, four conference victories, a sweep of Occidental College, and senior Lauren Li becoming the first player in program history to achieve First Team All-SCIAC status. For their efforts, Gardner and his staff received the nod for 2019 SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year.

Prior to his arrival at Caltech, Gardner spent three seasons as the head coach of Southern Maine. During the 2013 season he guided the Huskies to the best record in school history (22-11) en route to being named the Little East Conference’s coach of the year. He took a program that had six wins the season prior to his arrival to the school’s first conference tournament appearance in a decade.

Gardner previously served as the varsity coach at Cactus Shadows High School (2007-2011) in Cave Creek, Ariz. where he tallied an outstanding record of 45-1 in the Desert Sky Region, leading the squad to the conference’s championship four times. Moreover, his teams placed second in the state twice and earned a third and fifth place finish during his tenure. During his stint at Cactus Shadows, Gardner also held the position as recruiter and scout for Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tenn. (2008-2001) and was the Club Director for Club Summit Volleyball in Scottsdale, Ariz. (2005-2011).

The native of Manhattan Beach, Calif. earned his Master's of Education in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University in 2007 and his bachelor's degree in Advertising in 1993. Gardner also earned a Teaching Certification from Northern Arizona in 1997. He resides in San Pedro with his wife, Christine.