Each semester at Sampson Community College (SCC), the College’s Student Government Association (SGA) offers various on-campus activities for both Sampson Early College High School (SECHS) and SCC curriculum students to participate in– such as clubs, events, and sports. But for the first time this year, Sampson CC offered another option to students looking to engage in SCC’s vibrant campus community: Spring Intramural Volleyball.
Sampson CC’s 2022 Spring Intramural Volleyball League & Club, an SGA sponsored activity, saw a great turnout of students who were interested in playing the newly offered campus sport. Because of the number of students interested, the SGA was able to create five student-named league teams this year: Heart, Kraken’s, Los Diablos, Raptors, and Cosmo Girlz. Leading each team, respectively, were student captains: Bradley Verdugo, Abigail Smith, Genesis Ramirez, Jamya Skinner, and Madison Cannon.
At first, the five new teams had nowhere to host their volleyball games. But with the help of many SCC faculty members, staff, and students, the SGA was able to create a safe, outside, on-campus volleyball court where the players could now hold their matches. The College’s new sand volleyball area is located in Sampson CC’s Sampson East Park, where many community members and students go during the week to utilize the track.
Amanda Raynor, Student Engagement and Enrollment Coordinator, leads the SGA at Sampson CC and oversees the college’s new volleyball league & club. In a quote, she voiced her vast appreciation towards the great many people who made creating the league, court, and Spring 2022 volleyball season possible.
Raynor expressed, “The SGA is thrilled to offer another sport on campus for high school and college students to participate in while having fun and meeting other students. This project would not be possible without the hard work of Crystal White, Barney Grady, Dustin Hatcher, Kenny Lynch, Ryan Rutherford, Mark Brown, and the Construction Management 1 class. Special thanks to the Selected Topics – Construction Equipment class for digging and building the new field for us, and the Welding 151 Fabrication class for customizing equipment for the volleyball court. This has truly been a campus-wide effort and I am forever thankful for the support from the staff and Student Government Association.”
The games began on March 28, 2022 and finished on May 10— marking the end of the Spring 2022 semester at SCC. The May championship game was played between Los Diablos and Kraken’s, with Los Diablos coming out victorious. Remaining undefeated for most of the season, the team of eight outscored Kraken’s 25-8 the first set and 25-19 the second set to become SCC’s 2022 Spring Intramural Volleyball League & Club champions. Playing for Los Diablos were teammates: Tatiana Austria, Cole Bass, Celeste Castrejon, Shane Kendall, Samy Reza Mendoza, Genesis Ramirez, Lisbel Rivas, and Ariadna Santos.
Genesis Ramirez, team captain of Los Diablos, voiced that she was incredibly thrilled to learn of Sampson CC’s new volleyball league and was very blessed to have participated in it. She hadn’t played volleyball since middle school, and after switching to SECHS, playing didn’t appear to be a possibility anymore. So, after learning of the new SCC campus sport, Ramirez quickly signed up and created Los Diablos. In a quote, she thanked her teammates for all their hard work and dedication this season and expressed how proud she is to have been a part of Los Diablos– SCC’s first Intramural Volleyball Champions.
Ramirez remarked, “When I found out about SCC creating a volleyball league, I was excited, and I knew I wanted to put a team together. Starting off, almost everyone on Los Diablos had never played volleyball before and did not know each other very well. I kind of put a group of strangers together and called it a team. But because of our spirit and will to learn and practice, we ended up having great chemistry while playing! We took time to meet every Sunday, and most of my teammates went out of their way and got together after school, even when some of us couldn’t make it. Our team ended up being undefeated during most of the league, only losing once to the Raptors.”
She finished, “Thank you so much to my team for their hard work and thank you to Amanda Raynor for taking the time to make all of this happen! The season was truly an experience, we all had a lot of fun, and we were able to create many unforgettable memories.”
For more information about Sampson CC, how to enroll, or how to become involved in campus activities, visit www.sampsoncc.edu.
About Sampson Community College
Sampson Community College is a member of the North Carolina Community College System, located in Clinton, NC in Sampson County. The college offers many programs to include two-year degrees, college transfer, continuing education and workforce development options and early college education.
