Even though it’s in the middle of the summer, Starkville outside hitter Campbell Davis has still managed to rack up another accomplishment.
Davis was selected as the first Yellow Jacket to participate in the Mississippi Association of Coaches annual North-South All-Star Volleyball Game as a member of the North team on Wednesday and the incoming senior put on a show and took home Most Valuable Player honors.
“It was really such a fun experience just getting to know some of the girls that I’ve played against in the past and some faces that I’ll get to see again this season in district play,” said Davis, who helped the Jackets reach the MHSAA Class 7A playoffs last year for the second year in a row with 326 kills, 233 digs and 90 assists. “I think it was a really good warmup for this upcoming fall season.”
The award kind of came suddenly for Davis, who said she had no idea she was getting it. If anything she thought someone else for sure had it locked up.
“I didn’t really expect that it would happen,” she said. “There were some other really good girls on our team. Like I thought one of my teammates, Addison Cole, who goes to Lewisburg – she won Miss 7A (Volleyball) this past year – I thought she was definitely in the running for MVP. I thought she did a great job. I really admire her.”
What really made the week so much fun was also all the activities the all-stars participated in. On Tuesday the team had a practice at Brandon and had more practice on Wednesday before playing in “a little coaches clinic.” Some local college coaches came down to watch the all-stars go through drills before getting into the all-star game later.
“It was super fun,” Davis said. “It was a great experience. All of the girls were very sweet and our coaches did a really amazing job just working with everybody that we had. We had 15 people on our team, which is quite a lot, and only six can be on the court at the same time. But I was really honored to be named MVP for this year’s all-star game.”
The MVP isn’t the first honor Davis has picked up recently. Shel was also listed on the American Volleyball Coaches Association 2025 Phenom Watch List, which recognizes up-and-coming underclassmen for outstanding performance on the court, and was named the SHS Offensive MVP by the Starkville’s coaches at the school’s postseason awards banquet. Last year Davis took home the MVP of the North Mississippi Volleyball Coaches Association Rising Stars Game.
Now it’s all about preparing for the upcoming high school season at Starkville, where the Jackets are looking to advance to the playoffs once again and go on a deeper run. Davis said her team has been locked in this summer building chemistry and she believes that will result in success on the court.
“I think we’ve done a good job of trying to connect off the court as well as on the court better than we have in the past, “ she said. “I think our head coach Meghan Mullane does a really good job of leading our program and does a really good job of trying to build a special culture and mission that you’re not really going to find anywhere else. I feel like if our connection is good off the court then it can get even better on the court.”
What makes this upcoming season even better is that Davis’ gets to play varsity volleyball with her younger sister, Collin, an incoming freshman.
“So I’m super excited to play my last high school season with her before I go off to play in college,” Davis said.
Starkville opens the upcoming season on July 31 at the Mississippi Volleyball Invitational in Jackson.
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