WALESKA, Ga. -- Jenny Hayes has been added to the Reinhardt College athletic department as the head women's volleyball coach. She will direct Reinhardt's intercollegiate women's volleyball program, which competes as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).  

"I've been in the NAIA before and I like the challenge of being with the girls for four years and the different recruiting aspects that are here, as compared to the junior college level," Hayes said. "I think this is a great area for our family and the Reinhardt campus is very inviting.

"I believe there is definite potential for a conference championship in the near future. The girls are pretty talented, but we definitely have some work to do."

Hayes came to Reinhardt from Southern Union State Community College in Wadley, Ala, where she served as the head coach the last three years. While at Southern Union, she vastly improved the program as her teams posted overall records of 4-30 in 2007, 17-18 in 2008 and 23-10 this past season. In 2009, Hayes was named the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) Coach of the Year and had four players earn all-region honors, including one being selected as the ACCC Player of the Year. Last season, her student-athletes combined for a team grade-point average of 3.61. Hayes also filled the role of athletic advisor at SUSCC where she advised all student-athletes and monitored their academic progress.

Last spring, Hayes also worked as a Junior Olympic coach with the Team Sting Volleyball Club near Birmingham, Ala. She mainly assisted with Team Sting's 16-and-under national team. Prior to arriving in Alabama, Hayes served as a volleyball graduate assistant at her alma mater, NAIA member Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn., for two years.

After earning an associate's degree from Southern Union in 2003, Hayes received her bachelor's and master's at Cumberland in 2005 and 2007, respectively. She was a volleyball player for two years at each institution.

Hayes, the former Jenny Griffey, is originally from Jacksonville, Ala., and is a graduate of Jacksonville High School. She and her husband Michael will now reside in the Lake Arrowhead section of Waleska with their son Andrew, born June 26, 2008.