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 (UT 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.”
A native of Columbia, Tennessee, Yancey began her coaching career as a student assistant at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 2010, when MTSU won the Sun Belt Conference championship with a 29-6 record and made its fifth NCAA appearance. After a stint as a graduate assistant coach at the University of South Alabama, Yancey joined the volleyball program at Hampton University as an assistant coach. Under her leadership, the Lady Pirates ranked fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in blocks during the 2014 season. That season, Hampton also saw their first two-time AVCA All-America Honoree, a two-time MEAC Player of the Year, and their first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance. In 2015, Yancey helped lead the Lady Pirates to their second NCAA appearance.
In 2016, Yancey moved on to Alabama State University (ASU) where she assisted the Lady Hornets in winning the 2016 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and its third NCAA appearance in program history. At Tuskegee University, Yancey served as only the second full-time head coach in program history. There, Yancey produced a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) All-Conference Team member, Players of the Week, and a Newcomer of the Week. She also spent time at Alabama State University as an assistant coach and at Mississippi Valley State University as head coach.
Yancey began her collegiate playing career at North Carolina State University where she lettered there for two seasons as a middle blocker. She transferred to MTSU where she was named to the All-Sun Belt Tournament Team, the Sun Belt’s Commissioner’s List for academic excellence, and the Sun Belt Conference Championship in her final season. Yancey currently ranks fifth in program history in career blocks per set and fifth all-time in attack percentage.
Yancey holds a Master of Science in exercise science from South Alabama and a Bachelor of Science in exercise science from MTSU. In 2011, she was a recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Minority Coaches Scholarship. She is a 2014 Women Coaches Academy graduate.
