TALLADEGA, Ala. — Talladega College athletic director Andre Payne has announced the appointment of Janay Yancey as the new head coach of the Tornadoes' women's volleyball program. Yancey comes to Talladega from the University of Tennessee Southern where she spent two seasons as the head coach. Her teams produced two AVCA All-Region players and five players who were named to the Southern States Athletic Conference all-conference team. She also had stints as head coach at Tuskegee University and Mississippi Valley State University.
"I am thrilled to have Coach Janay Yancey as our new head women's volleyball coach," said Payne. "She brings years of experience from all levels. I know she will continue the success that we have established at Talladega with our program. We look forward to her leadership on and off the court for our student-athletes."
Before her coaching stint at Mississippi Valley State, Yancey spent the seasons as the head volleyball coach at Tuskegee University after spending time as an assistant at Alabama State. She was only the second full-time head coach in the program's history. While at Tuskegee in 2018, Yancey led the Golden Tigers in the SIAC West Cluster without suffering one loss throughout the weekend. She also coached Taliyana Bryant, who was named to the SIAC All-Conference Team and was also Player of the Week on two separate occasions. Santana Lewis was also a standout player for Yancey being named two-time Player of the Week to go along with being named Newcomer of the Week.
In 2016, Yancey assisted Alabama State in earning the 2016 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and its third NCAA appearance in school history. Much of her on-court coaching has focused on the middle blockers. While at Hampton, her team ranked fourth in the MEAC in blocks in 2014. She assisted Hampton's first-ever two-time AVCA All-America honoree and two-time MEAC Player of the Year. In winning the MEAC, the Lady Pirates made their first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance, taking on 7th seed Stanford in the first round. In 2015, Yancey helped lead the Lady Pirates to their second NCAA appearance, where they faced the Tar Heels of UNC.
Yancey began her coaching career as a student assistant at Middle Tennessee State in 2010, when MTSU won the Sun Belt Conference championship with a 29-6 record and made its fifth NCAA appearance. In 2011, Yancey joined South Alabama as a graduate assistant.
Her collegiate playing career began at North Carolina State in 2006. Yancey lettered two seasons as a middle blocker. As a sophomore, she averaged 2.07 kills and 0.62 blocks per set. She would later transfer to Middle Tennessee State in 2008 and be named to the All-Sun Belt Tournament Team while also earning Conference Defensive Player of the Week as a senior in 2009. In 2008, Yancey was named to the Sun Belt's Commissioner's List for academic excellence.
In her final season at MTSU, Yancey won the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Yancey currently ranks 5th in program history in career blocks per set, averaging 1.09 blocks per set in her two years with the program. She also hit .368 in 2008, recording the seventh-best single-season hitting percentage. Her .364 hitting percentage as a senior in 2009 is the ninth-highest mark in a single-season school history. Yancey ranks 5th all-time in attack percentage after completing the 2008 season.
A native of Columbia, Tennessee, Yancey holds a Bachelor of Science in exercise science from MTSU and a Master of Science in exercise science from South Alabama. In 2011, she was a recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Minority Coaches Scholarship. She is a 2014 Women Coaches Academy Graduate. In 2017-2018 she participated in the NCAA's development program and the Minority Coaches Series. During the 2018-2019 season, she represented the SIAC Conference for the NCAA Division II Head Coaches committee.
