Local Scioto County native Devan Spriggs, a 2011 Northwest High School and a 2015 Shawnee State University graduate, will begin her sixth season as the head coach of the Shawnee State volleyball program in 2024, and her 11th season overall on staff.Â
A four-year letterwinner of the Shawnee State volleyball program, Spriggs will be involved with the SSU volleyball program for 15Â straight seasons when the 2025Â season begins, and is the only individual in the history of the Shawnee State Athletic Department to collect a conference's champions of character honoree as both a player and a coach. Spriggs was honored as the 2014 Mid-South Conference Champions of Character Award Winner in the sport of volleyball, when individuals were rewarded, and in 2024, was honored as the River States Conference's Coach of Character. The latter award marked the first time that a volleyball coach had ever won the award in the history of the conference.
Since Spriggs took over as the head coach in 2020, SSU has gone 73-65 over her first five seasons as head volleyball coach, including a 16-13 record this past season which is the third winning season for the SSU volleyball program in the last four years -- the first time that feat has been accomplished since the Bears had five winning seasons in six years from the 2007 to 2012 campaigns. Shawnee State went 38-97 in the four seasons prior to Spriggs taking over as head coach of the Shawnee State volleyball program beginning with the 2020-21 season.
The former four-year letterwinner replaced her former coach, Susan Shelton, who retired following the conclusion of the 2019 season. She had been handling the day-to-day operations of the program as the school’s interim head coach upon her official promotion to the spot. Spriggs was promoted from her assistant coaching spot to the head seat within the SSU volleyball program following a four-year stint as an assistant under Shelton.
In her first season as the head coach of the volleyball program at SSU, Spriggs, despite her team playing in 12 less matches than the 2019 season due to the shortened campaign as a result of COVID, won three more contests than the season prior, and finished 11-12 overall to go along with an 8-8 Mid-South Conference record. The .500 record in conference play represented the first time since the 2014-15 campaign -- Spriggs' senior volleyball season at SSU -- that the Bears finished at least .500 or better in MSC competition.
Along with the records, Macie Rhoads obtained Mid-South Conference Attacker of the Week honors four times for Shawnee State -- including each of the last three weeks of the season for SSU. Rhoads also earned First-Team All-MSC honors, becoming only the fourth multi-time first time honoree in program history, and was named to the CoSIDA-NAIA Academic All-District list in June. Seven players were also named to the Academic All-MSC unit.
In 2021, Shawnee State finished with its first winning record (17-13) since 2012, as the Bears started the year 8-1 overall. That beginning spurt was the second-best start to a single-season campaign in school history, behind only the 2008 unit that won its first 24 matches to begin the season.
Overall, Spriggs proved herself as a talent capable of impacting multiple lines on the volleyball court.
The four-year talent from nearby Northwest High School sits tied for sixth all-time in single-season serving percentage — a mark that she set during her freshman year in 2011 — and also sits 14th in career assists (700), 19th in single-season assists (593), and 20th in career assists per game (2.13).
In addition to her high standing on the volleyball court, Scarberry proved herself as a student-athlete and as a strong servant of the community.
She obtained All-Academic Mid-South Conference honors during her junior and senior seasons in 2013 and 2014, and won the Mid-South Conference’s Champions of Character Award during her senior year.
Prior to her time at Shawnee State, Scarberry starred in three different sports — basketball, softball, and volleyball — at Northwest.
She finished her high school career as the basketball program’s second all-time leading scorer, and helped lead Northwest to winning records in the volleyball realm during each of her four seasons as a student-athlete for the Lady Mohawks.
At SSU, her four top-20 rankings in Shawnee State volleyball history are made even more impressive by the fact that Spriggs took on two different positions.
Initially slotted as a setter to begin her college career, Spriggs made the unselfish move to a right-side hitter before moving back to her primary position of setter prior to her senior campaign.
Between her time as a player and as a coach, Spriggs has not only contributed to 118 victories as part of the volleyball program at SSU, but has also formulated a successful volleyball club — the Southern Ohio Spikers — which has helped raise awareness of the sport in the area.
With her and SSU assistant coach Sydney Seth’s leadership, the program has grown from one team in 2013 to seven as of the present day. There are more than 70 student-athletes currently involved in the SOS program.
Spriggs, an intervention specialist at Northwest High School in McDermott, is married to Stefan Spriggs and is the daughter of Rick and Trish Scarberry and the brother of Drew Scarberry, a former Northwest grad who was four-year letterwinner at Notre Dame College. Both Devan and Drew scored over 1,000 points as basketball players with the Mohawks.
