RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech volleyball assistant coach Jane Hays has been named to the "All-Time Tigers" list at her alma mater, East Texas Baptist University, for her outstanding career with the Tigers in Marshall, Texas.
 
Before her time as an assistant coach on LA Tech's volleyball coaching staff, Hays wrote herself into ETBU's record books in multiple categories, including career kills (fourth), career service aces (fourth) and career digs (fifth). She also earned four All-American Southwest Conference honors while helping lead the Tigers to 84 victories during her college career.
 
Off the court, she was named a three-time All-ASC Academic selection and a nominee for the 2010 NCAA Woman of the year award. Hays, along with 14 other former ETBU student-athletes, were named to the All-Time Tigers list in October.
 
 "It was really a huge honor, especially looking at all of people that were on the list," Hays said. "A majority of them were my teammates, and that was really fun seeing them get honored, whether it was people that I played with for one or two years or all four years.
 
"That speaks to why we were really successful during that time. One of the reasons I chose to go there was because the program was really strong, especially at that time. I wanted to go somewhere where we had the opportunity to compete for a championship."
 
During her four-year career, Hays and the Tigers won 19 matches or more each season. After starting off 0-6 in her first season, Hays and ETBU rattled off 19 wins in their next 24 matches to clinch a share of their division's title.
 
Following a 20-win season as a sophomore, Hays posted 496 kills in a 24-win campaign for the Tigers during her junior year. Her 496 kills in 2007 rank as the seventh-most in program history for a single season.
 
"There were many high points, especially my junior year, which was tough because we lost in the conference championship game to qualify for the NCAA Tournament," Hays said. "But, we had an excellent year, had a share in the regular-season conference championship and ended up losing to the team we shared that title with.
 
"That was a fun year, and we played at a really high level. We went to some great tournaments and competed with some teams that ended up in the NCAA Tournament."
 
While Hays' career came to a close in 2009, she remained at ETBU through 2012 as an assistant coach. Lyndsay Mashe, Hays' head coach at ETBU, played with Lady Techsters' head coach Amber McCray in high school.
 
In 2013, McCray became the head coach at Panola College. Hays' success on the recruiting trail, along with Mashe's and McCray's connection, helped Hays become McCray's assistant coach. The duo coached their way to 169 total victories during their six seasons with the Fillies in Carthage, Texas.
 
When McCray became the head coach at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 12, 2018, it was only a matter of time before Hays joined the LA Tech Family, too.
 
"First off, from Amber, there's so much I've learned from her and her knowledge from playing at the University of Florida and then doing a ton of U.S. Youth National stuff when she was younger," Hays said. "She's probably one of the grittiest people I've ever met as wanting to win and wanting to work hard to win.
 
"Gaining that knowledge from her has been indispensable."
 
Hays enters her 10th season coaching college volleyball and her second with the Lady Techsters. Hays and LA Tech are set to open their spring schedule at the SFA Invitational against Tarleton State on Jan. 22.
 
Keep up with the Lady Techsters throughout the 2020-21 season by following @LATechVB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.