Volleyball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Phone:
- 418-7050
Career Records & Honors
Seasons Coaching:Â Fifth
Seasons At Mississippi State:Â Second
Career Record:Â 96-36 (.727)
Career Record At Mississippi State:Â 17-15 (.531) // 6-12 SEC (.333)
National Results:
- NCAA Appearances: 2 (2012-13)
- AVCA All-American: 1 (2014)
Conference Results:
- SEC Player of the Week: 1 (Alex Warren - Nov. 30, 2015)
- Academic All-SEC: 5 (2015: Shelby Anderton, Chelsea Duhs, Payton Harris, Ellen Stuart, Alex Warren)
- Southland Regular-Season Championships: 2 (2012-13)
- Southland Tournaments Championships: 2 (2012-13)
- Southland Player of the Year: 2 (2013-14)
- Southland Libero of the Year: 1 (2014)
- Southland Setter of the Year: 2 (2012-13)
- All-Southland Conference: 6 (All First-Team selections)
- Academic All-Southland Conference: 5 (Four First-Team)
Coaching Biography
Since entering coaching in 2010, Brittany Newberry has experienced nothing but success on and off the court. Her first year at Mississippi State was no different.
The DeSoto, Texas, native helped lead the Bulldogs to a 17-15 record in 2015, posting the first winning season at State since 2006. The 17 wins marked the most for MSU since 2006, while State's six SEC wins were the most since winning seven conference matches in 2011.
While serving as the Bulldogs' coordinator of travel and camps, as well as the teams Adidas contact, Newberry has been instrumental to the development of the team on the court as well.
Along with husband John Newberry and head coach David McFatrich, Newberry and the Bulldogs got off to a hot start, winning six of their first seven matches and 10 of their first 13, both the best starts since 2006. That impressive stretch to start the season also included two non-conference tournament titles (Maroon Classic and Tiger Invitational), marking the first time since 2010 that MSU had won multiple non-conference tourneys in a season.
With the help of Newberry, the Bulldogs accomplished a number of impressive feats in SEC play, with the sweetest coming in the two matches against in-state rival Ole Miss. MSU first traveled to Ole Miss and snapped a six-match losing streak to the Rebels, claiming a sweep for the first time since 2006 against Ole Miss and for only the third time in Oxford (1975 and 2005).
The Bulldogs wrapped up the year with even more success against it's foe to the north, ending the season with a 3-1 victory against Ole Miss to clinch the winning season and marking tthe first back-to-back wins against the Rebels since 2009.
Newberry's guidance helped lead the Bulldogs to a number of other impressive SEC feats. A sweep of Georgia on Oct. 11 snapped an eight-match losing streak to the Bulldogs and marked the first shutout against UGA since 1979. Newberry and the Bulldogs would go on to sweep UGA again later in the year, marking the first season sweep and back-to-back wins against UGA since 2006-07. It was also State's first win in Athens since 2010 and only the fifth in school history.
MSU would end the year with three-straight SEC wins, the first time that feat had been accomplished since 2007. Amongst those wins came a shutout of LSU at home which, coupled with a win last season in Starkville against the Tigers, marked the first time in school history MSU had won back-to-back matches against LSU in Starkville.
Newberry's effect was also seen on the non-conference side of things, as State's 11 non-SEC victories marked the most since winning 13 in 2000.
Between Newberry's extensive knowledge of the game and passion for her players, there was no doubt that the Bulldogs would improve from the 2014 campaign. With the help of Newberry and the State coaching staff, the Bulldogs made significant jumps in seven different offensive categories. After posting 1,269 kills (10.57 K/S) in 2014, the Bulldog offense improved to 1,393 kills (12.55 K/S) in 2015. Newberry's leadership also helped State make major jumps in its setting and serving games, going from 1,184 assists (9.87 A/S) and 115 service aces (0.96 SA/S) in 2014 to 1,308 assists (11.78 A/S) and 158 service aces (1.42 SA/S).
State made its biggest showing from the service line, where its 1.42 aces per set stood second in the SEC and its 158 total aces finished fourth. Leading the way for State from the service line was Evie Grace Singleton, who Newberry helped coach the previous two seasons at Central Arkansas. Singleton led MSU with 46 aces (2nd SEC, 26th NCAA) and a 0.43 aces per set average (1st SEC, 20th NCAA). State's star junior also stood top 10 in the SEC in kills (378, 6th), kills per set (3.53, 6th), points per set (4.13, 6th) and points (441.5, 8th).
The Newberry effect can be seen in the classroom as well, as the Bulldog assistant has relentlessly pushed her players to achieve greatness both on and off the court. The Bulldogs landed five players on the All-SEC Academic Honor Roll in her first season, which is the most on the team since MSU landed five in 2011. The Bulldogs posted a 3.44 GPA in the spring, which set a number of impressive marks, including the highest GPA amongst all MSU sports for the 2015-16 year. The spring semester GPA, led by seven players who posted career-best GPA's in that span, also marked the fourth-best semester in program history.
One Bulldog landed on the 4.0 List (Riley Duzenack), while four earned President's List honors (Duzenack, Emily Howard, Katie Nicholson and Ellen Stuart) and two placed on the Dean's List (Savannah Cressman and Chelsea Duhs).
Newberry's effect on the Bulldog program has also stretched beyond the court and classroom, as since the staff's arrival, MSU has brought in a number of stellar recruits, including seven Bulldogs that played important roles throughout the 2015 season. The Bulldogs' home, Newell-Grissom Building, has also seen a number of improvements since McFatrich and the Newberrys' arrival, as State's locker room and playing court underwent major renovations and included the addition of a team film room.
Brittany Newberry, along with her husband, John, was named to David McFatrich’s coaching staff at Mississippi State on January 15, 2015, rejoining McFatrich after serving as an assistant on his staff the previous three seasons at UCA.
“I’m very grateful that I have been able to bring my coaching staff, John and Brittany Newberry, with me to Mississippi State,” McFatrich said. “John and Brittany share not only my coaching philosophies, but my off-court priorities as well.”
“I feel very honored to continue this coaching journey under the leadership of David McFatrich at Mississippi State,” Brittany Newberry said. “When we stepped on campus, my husband and I could sense that MSU is a special place and we wanted to join the family. We are excited about the future of MSU volleyball.”
Central Arkansas Assistant Coach (2012-14)
Newberry came to Starkville after spending the previous three seasons on McFatrich’s staff at Central Arkansas. In that time, the Sugar Bears made consecutive NCAA Tournaments in 2012-13 and won back-to-back Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships, the first team in the league to do so in 23 years.
In that two-year span, UCA also went 59-9, the second-most wins in Division I during that period behind only the NCAA National Champions Penn State.
During her time on the bench at UCA, the Sugar Bears defeated several Top 25 teams, broke into the Top 45 nationally in RPI and maintained perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. Individually, she helped produce two Southland Conference Players of the Year, one Student-Athlete of the Year, two Setters of the Year, one Libero of the Year and seven First Team All-Southland selections. Last season saw UCA earn its first AVCA All-American in program history.
Conway Christian High School Head Coach/Pre-UCA Experience
Brittany Newberry brings over 15 years of volleyball experience to the Maroon and White. Her coaching career began at the middle school level, leading to her being named the head volleyball coach at Conway Christian High School in January of 2010. In only her second season at the helm, Newberry led CCHS to a conference runner-up finish and a third-place finish in the state tournament. Both stand as the best finish the program has ever achieved. Following two seasons at CCHS, Brittany and her husband, John, were named to the UCA coaching staff.
As a player, Newberry was a member of the prestigious Texas Advantage Volleyball Club in Arlington, Texas, for three years. In her final season, she earned a spot on the 18’s National Team.
Outside of her coaching career, Newberry also spends time with her husband and Mike Barber Ministries doing prison outreach work.
Personal
A native of DeSoto, Texas, Newberry graduated from UCA in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and completed her master’s degree in teaching in 2014. Brittany is married to current MSU volleyball assistant coach, John Newberry.
