Janay Yancey enters her second season at South Alabama in 2012, but moves to a volunteer coaching role on the Jaguar staff. In her first season with the program, Yancey served as a graduate assistant coach and worked with the middle blockers.
Yancey came to South Alabama after spending the 2010 season as a student assistant coach at Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders finished the year with a 29-6 record, the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament titles and made their fifth-straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Prior to moving to the coaching side of the game, Yancey had an outstanding two-year career at Middle Tennessee. As a senior, she was named to the SBC all-tournament team after recording 12 blocks in the championship match versus Florida International. That same year, she was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 9. She recorded 191 kills and led the conference in blocks with 1.19 per set and ended the year ranked second in the league in hitting with a percentage of .364. Her 125 block assists in 2009 were also seventh-best for a single season in the program’s history. As a sophomore, Yancey recorded 130 kills and 96 blocks, while also posting a .382 attack percentage - fifth-best in a single-season in the Blue Raider annals. Over her two years as a player with the program, Middle Tennessee compiled a 52-18 overall mark and a 29-5 league record, while also making NCAA tournament appearances in both of those seasons. She ended her career ranked fifth at MTSU in blocks per set average (1.09).
Yancey arrived at MTSU after spending the previous two seasons (2006-07) at North Carolina State where she played in 50 matches and recorded194 kills and 106 blocks.
The Columbia, Tenn., native lettered at Spring Hill High School where she was an all-region and an all-conference selection as a senior.
Yancey graduated from Middle Tennessee in 2010 with a bachelor of science degree in exercise science.
