By Teresa Acosta, Aug. 27,2024
Cal Poly Pomona volleyball outside hitter Samantha Campion was chosen as the 2023-2024 California Collegiate Athletic Association Impact Award recipient for her exemplary leadership in community service and engagement activities on campus.
The CCAA recognizes one student-athlete from their 12 institutions who demonstrates dedication to their academics, athletics and community involvement with the Impact Award each year.
The award is voted on by each of the conference’s 12 Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, made up of around four to five board members.
This is the first time a Bronco has won the award. Her mentor, teammate and coach felt it was clearly well deserved.
“One of the big reasons why she got this award is because she showed so much initiative on her own to try and pursue things that interested her,” said Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Alex Kline. “Sammy was really pushing herself not only to be an All-American volleyball player, but to be a good student, to get good grades.”
Campion approached Kline last year to offer assistance with the athletic department’s gamedays and other event activities. Kline was happy to have the help and saw that Campion wanted to learn more about sports journalism and the sports-communication opportunities available on campus. Kline said he felt comfortable trusting Campion with the work.
“She took the initiative to pursue these different opportunities,” Kline said. “I think that’s a good quality of a leader is to continuously try to improve yourself as well as those around you. So, I think she definitely showed leadership qualities.”
Campion worked as the creative-content intern for the Athletic Department at CPP, is the sports editor for The Poly Post and currently has an internship with the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences as their social media intern. As team captain of the volleyball team for the past three seasons, she led CPP to three consecutive NCAA regionals.
Campion ranked sixth in the CCAA, averaging 3.51 kills per set and was fifth, with 4.20 points per set, to earn first team All-CCAA and third team AVCA All-American honors this past season.
Senior setter Caitlin Mueller, who has played with Campion all three seasons, spoke about some of the difficulties of being an athlete at the college level. She said at one point there were only eight women available to play because of injuries. During these games, Campion showed encouragement and support.
“Every game she is constantly shouting out other players,” Mueller said. “She is the hype man, and she’s fun to play with. She’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever played with.”
According to Campion, candidates were nominated by their coaches based on the student-athletes’ performance in the classroom and in the community. They had to submit an anonymous application detailing their contributions to their communities on campus and engagement in activities outside of their team.
Campion was recruited by CPP after her sophomore season at the College of Charleston, head coach Traci Dahl recognized her leadership from the beginning. Dahl said Campion leads by example. She is the first one in for practice and the last one out.
“She is a well-rounded, 100% good human, going above and beyond on and off the court,” Dahl said.
To be selected for this award, student-athletes must also remain dedicated to their academics. Campion was named a CCAA All-Academic Award recipient for earning a grade average above 3.4 this past year and will graduate with a communication degree with a focus on multimedia journalism at the end of the fall semester.
Campion credits the supportive community at CPP for allowing her to thrive in the multiple roles she takes on.
“There are professors and there are my coaches who really allow me to lean on them in times of difficulty,” Campion said. “Their doors are always open, and they’ve really worked with me.”
She sees this award as an incredible accomplishment and is proud to have been chosen.
“It’s a high award to receive, and it really just shows that the people around me really respect the things that I do for the program and for the team,” Campion said. “I really hope to continue in these leadership roles going forward and just continue to find success in the different companies or different workplaces that I’m in.”
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics