Scotland volleyball coach David Barnes instructs his players during a time-out. In his eighth season with the school, Barnes was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the year.
The Lady Scots swept the all-Southeastern Conference honors with seniors Whitney Campbell and Josephine Yang earning co-player of the year honors and Coach David Barnes garnering Coach of the year.
Along with Campbell and Yang, Decausha McLean, Candace Carter and Sarah Laviner were also named to the team.
"This is the best year that we've ever had for this," said Barnes, who improved his overall record at Scotland to 178-21 in eight years at the helm, including a 93-7 record over the past four years. "We had co-players of the year on top of five making all-conference. You had two players of the year, both from Scotland and the coach of the year. You couldn't be better represented."
Before Barnes arrived at Scotland in 2002, the program had averaged about 13 wins a season and never gone to the playoffs or won a conference championship.
"The girls have made a commitment to be great at this game," Barnes said. "The hard work and the commitment have paid off. I also have to give credit to my wife, Shelly, on her assistance with helping with the varsity. The JV and ninth grade coaches have helped with this program and when getting something like Coach of the Year, it's just an extension of what they've done."
Whitney Campbell
Campbell, a senior, broke the school record for kills in a season with 333. While overtaking the record from 2003 graduate Kim Jefferson, Campbell finished the season with 183 serving points (third on the team). She also finished second of the team in digs with 162.
As a three-year starter, Campbell finished with a team-leading .308 hitting percentage and for her career finished with a career record 780 kills.
Josephine Yang
Sharing the player of the year honors with her teammate, Yang, set personal records for serving points (218), digs (248) and passing percentages (75.63%) to go along with 33 kills and 21 assists, good for third on the team.
As a starter all four years on varsity, the senior libero led the team in aces this season with 49.
Candace Carter
In her first year of setting on varsity, Carter looked like someone who had been on the team for four years, and her assist statistic proved that.
The senior set a single-season record for assists, dishing out 654 and in the process passed her predecessor, Jessica Milligan, by ten en route to a spot on the all-conference team.
Serving-wise, she finished with 15 aces and finished second on the team with a 72.22-percent passing percentage.
Along with setting a school record, Carter compiled 160 serving points and was fourth on the team in digs, with 133. Despite, only having a year of varsity experience, Barnes believes that she has come a long way this year.
"Candace (Carter) finally got her opportunity to set after going through the ninth-grade and junior varsity programs, but has practiced with the varsity," said Barnes. "We didn't realize that she had set the record for assists, so she really made the most of her opportunity."
Decausha McLean
Finishing second on the team in digs with 154, McLean earned herself a spot on the all-conference team.
The senior led the team in passes with 399 and had 288 of them go to target, a 72.18-percentage.
McLean, a three-year varsity starter, finished the season with 136 serving points.
Sarah Laviner
As the only non-senior named to the all-SEC team, Laviner was able to put up stats that showed everyone a glimpse of what to expect next season.
The junior was third on the team in kills with 114 and finished with a .202 hitting percentage, good for third on the team as well.
"She is definitely the hardest working kid in our program," Barnes said of Laviner. "She's over here during the summer, riding bikes, lifting weights and she's been doing that since she was a freshman."
Laviner finished the season with 78 digs and led the team with 237 serving points.
"Her stats really put her over the top and got peoples' attention," said Barnes of what set her apart from other candidates.
"Percentage-wise she was a more effective hitter at the net and was the most effective server that we had."
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