Mark Johnston enters his second season as head men's and women's volleyball coach at Illinois Tech in 2019-20 (12-42 Women, 6-19 Men). He spent the prior three seasons as assistant coach on both volleyball staffs at IIT, where he helped lead the women to two USCAA Tournament bids and large improvements on the men's side each year.

He served as Moraine Valley Community College Head Women’s Volleyball Coach in 2014, where he posted a 20-15 overall record and took second place in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference and NJCAA Region IV. Johnston coached four all-conference, two conference all-tournament team, three all-region and one All-American selection throughout his tenure at Moraine Valley Community College.

He also served as head boys volleyball coach at Saint Ignatius College Prep, and held multiple positions with their girl’s volleyball team since 2005.

While at Saint Ignatius, his team amassed a 157-135 overall record en route to five regional championships and three sweet 16 appearances. This includes wins over heavy-hitters in Brother Rice, Loyola, Providence, St. Rita, and Mt. Carmel high schools in the Chicago Catholic League.

Prior to his coaching days, Johnston played four years of volleyball as a setter/libero at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Muskies went 160-60 during his time on the roster. This included a fifth (2002) and third-place (2005) finish, as well as a national championship (2003) at the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Tournament. He won Most Valuable Bench (2002), Most Improved (2005), Conference MVP (2003), and all-conference (2003 and 2005) as a setter.

Johnston graduated from Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, where he played volleyball and ran cross country. He was an all-conference setter as a junior (1999) and senior (2000). In 2000 he was named team MVP and won the school’s sportsmanship award. After graduating in the top 10 percent of his class at Eisenhower, Johnston attended Moraine Valley, where he planned to play volleyball, but the college dropped the men’s team before he could compete.

Johnston has a sports management degree with an emphasis on multi-use facility management from Lakeland College. During college, he interned with Badger Region Volleyball and assisted with Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Club as well as with USA Volleyball High Performance camps. After college, he coached a year for Celtic Force Volleyball Club.

He grew up in Blue Island, where he still resides.