Leigh Mullins begins her fourth season at the helm of the Campbell volleyball program after joining the Camels in March of 2008.

Last season, the Camels, guided by Mullins, trekked through arguably the most difficult schedule in CU history, lining up opposite defending national champion and No. 1 team in the country, Penn State, as well as nationally-ranked Duke and North Carolina.

The Camels won the UNC Wilmington Beach Bash, posting victories over North Carolina State and Elon as Allyson Goldbach earned tournament MVP accolades. Kelsey Campbell and Heather Wilson also earned all-tournament recognition at UNCW. The win over NC State was Campbell’s second in as many seasons against the Wolfpack.

Jordan Reaves, Annie Kobeski also garnered all-tournament recognition throughout the season.

Goldbach took home Atlantic Sun Player of the Week honors after leading the Camels to a 3-2 road win at Coastal Carolina with 21 kills and 23 digs, adding a pair of aces.

The Camels continued to be one of the top blocking teams in the A-Sun under Mullins’ direction, setting single-game records in a 3-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast in Buies Creek.

In 2009, her second season in Buies Creek, Mullins piloted the Camels to one of the biggest turnarounds in the A-Sun.

Led by Mullins, the Camels went from seven total wins in 2008 to 17 in 2009, the team’s most wins in nearly a decade, matching the program’s win totals of both 2000 and 2001. Campbell also set a record for A-Sun wins, taking 10 on the year.

The Camels were also one of the A-Sun’s top road teams in 2009, posting a 13-6 record away from Buies Creek.

For the second straight year, the Camels made an appearance in the Atlantic Sun Tournament, marking the first time since the 1997 and 1998 seasons that a CU team had made consecutive postseason appearances.

The team posted its most attack attempts (4,234) and digs (1,847) since 2005. The Camels also notched their best attack percentage (.193), service percentage (.924), digs per set (15.52) and reception percentage (.929) rates over the five year span.

Campbell also led the A-Sun in blocks per set at 2.23 per frame; as one of only two teams in the league to average two or more blocks per set.

Four Camels received accolades for their play on the court during the 2009 season. Ashley Weers, who was an all-freshman performer in 2006, became the first Camel to garner First Team All A-Sun accolades since Tinsley Gordon in 2000, and only the third in school history to receive the award since Campbell joined the A-Sun in 1994. The middle blocker from Littleton, Col. led the A-Sun in attack percentage and set a new school record in the category.

Jordan Reaves also earned all-league recognition, being selected to the A-Sun All-Freshman team. Reaves, a Holly Springs, N.C. native, was the second Camel freshman in as many years to earn all-rookie honors under Mullins, after setter Hope Leatigaga was named to the squad in 2008.

Outside hitter Emily Werner also notched 2009 North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) All-State accolades after leading the Camels in kills and points. Werner was the fourth Camel to ever receive the honor, and the first since 2006.

In Mullins’ first season as a Camel, CU qualified for postseason play for the first time since 2001, making a trip to Macon, Ga. for the Atlantic Sun Tournament. The Camels more than doubled their conference win total from 2007 as well, putting together a sweep of a league opponent for the fist time in eight years, downing Stetson by a combined score of 6-1 between the two matches.

The team also managed to win their opening home match for only the second time in seven years, and were able to begin the conference season with a win for the third time in that same span.

Over the past three seasons, 19 student-athletes have earned A-Sun All-Academic accolades, including eight last season.

Mullins, who has experience building programs at both the Division I and junior college levels, served as Dean of Students at Hopewell Academy in Cary prior to being named head coach at CU in March of 2008. She was head coach at Northwestern (La.) State University four years (2002-2005) and three seasons at Neosho County (Kan.) Community College (1998-2000).

Mullins led Northwestern State to its three best seasons in 19 years of Southland Conference volleyball competition before leaving in early 2006 to join her husband, Ty, who had been transferred to the Triangle by his employer. She guided the Lady Demons to 25 Southland wins in her four seasons, 22 in the final three, bolstering a program that had only 26 conference wins in its 15 previous seasons in the SLC. 

She capped her NSU head coaching career with a 45-83 overall record and a 25-53 mark in conference play after taking over a program that had won just 31 percent of its games overall and only 16 percent of its SLC contests under four head coaches prior to her hiring.

Mullins’ teams posted a 22-36 (.379) SLC mark in her final three seasons, going 17-19 (.472) in the last two years, including the .500 mark in 2005. In 2005, the Lady Demons finished sixth in the 11-team league, an all-time best performance, and qualified for the first time ever for the SLC Tournament. Northwestern (11-16 overall, 9-9 in the SLC) posted a school-record nine SLC victories. 

Three 2005 seniors, two recruited by Mullins, received honorable mention All-SLC recognition, when only one NSU player prior to Mullins' arrival had ever been included on an all-conference team.

Two of her recruits became the first Lady Demons to earn All-SLC status and another was the first NSU player ever to receive Freshman of the Year honors from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Twelve of her NSU players gained Southland All-Conference Academic recognition during her tenure.

At Neosho County (Kan.) Community College, Mullins posted a 96-36 coaching record in three seasons as head coach before moving to Northwestern in 2002 as an assistant coach. While at Neosho County, 14 of her athletes were named to all-conference teams and six gained all-region honors. She was named 2000 Jayhawk Conference Coach of the Year.

A 1996 graduate of Dickinson (N.D.) State University, with a B.S. in physical education, Mullins captained a conference and nationally-ranked volleyball team. She earned all-league honors in both volleyball and basketball, while also qualifying for the national championships on the track in the heptathlon.

She began her coaching career as a student assistant at Dickinson State in 1996-97 before moving to Division II Northern State (S.D.) as an assistant in 1997-98. Mullins earned her Master’s of Science in teaching and learning from Northern State in 1998.

Mullins and her husband, Ty, are parents of two daughters, Avery (6), and Bailey (2). They reside in Cary.