Clark State College will send the Eagles women’s volleyball team to its first National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Conference tournament in Port Huron, Michigan, with a clap-out on the morning of Thursday, November 2.
The Clark State women’s volleyball team ended the season with a 15-8 record, earning a bid as a no. 2 seed in the region 12 Great Lakes B district tournament.
Head Coach Angie Arthur said she is excited to be going to Michigan for the first time and more importantly with this group of young athletes.
“Literally from the first day of practice this year Michigan has been the goal for this group,” she said. “They even created a ‘Road to Michigan’ poster that we hung in the gym to track our progress game by game.”
The team had six return players this season from last year’s squad and recruited seven additional freshman and one transfer student for a total roster of 14.
“It has been my goal every year to be able to have a bigger roster to make practices more intense and create competitiveness for positions,” said Arthur who was appointed head coach in 2019. “It’s worked! This team practices hard every day and they really get along and enjoy and respect each other. It’s been wonderful to see each girl take pride in her role whether that’s a starter or not.”
Arthur said the team has had several season-highlights but some of the best include defeating Edison State in five sets, taking two sets from Wittenberg’s JV team, and collecting seven brooms for the poster by “sweeping” opponents.
“Coach (Trinity) Cline and I are both just so proud of this team and happy that we can have this experience for the first time together,” said Arthur.
Nazarae Butler, director of athletics and student life at Clark State, said making it to the tournament is a significant milestone for the volleyball team players, coaches, and program.
“I truly believe that this is the first of many,” she said. “It is blessing to have coaches like Angie Arthur and Trinity Cline. Their commitment and dedication to our student athletes have propelled the moment.”
Butler said the team set clear intentions at the beginning of the season and manifested this achievement for themselves.
“We have three girls on the volleyball team in the nursing program right now,” said Butler. “To balance school, work and compete at a high level is a testament to the Champion mindset we have been striving for since our Student Athletes first returned back in August for Student Athlete Day. You can feel the sense of belonging and the pride of being an Eagle more than ever!”
The team includes Khloe Berner (#14), Raighen Combs (#6), Hannah Crockett (#8), Lilly Cushman (#1), Arianna Cydrus (#5), Reese Donaldson (#4), Evelyn Fields (#13), Shayla Harris (#11), Alivia Lemen (#3), Chloe Porter (#15), Jessa Robbins (#10), LaToya Rogan (#9), Shelby Stoops (#7) and Trinity Thomas (#12).
The clap-out for students, staff and families of the players will begin at 8:50 a.m. in the athletic complex on the main campus in Springfield. The Clark State Eagles will play November 2 and November 3 - times to be announced - with hopes of advancing to the next round.
Tickets for the tournament are available at the door ($12 each) or in advance online ($10 each) at: https://sc4skippers.com/fanzone/hometownTicketing
The tournament will also be live-streamed at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stclaircountycc/