Three athletes from American River College’s Fall 2024 volleyball season, Morgan Castaneda, Sofia MacPherson and Kyla Powell have committed to four-year institutions this semester. All three athletes are moving towards a new chapter in their academic and athletic journey
The schools that the ARC athletes committed to are San Jose State University, Cal State Monterey Bay and Alcorn State University respectively.
For community college athletes who want to continue their journey at a four-year institution, going through the process of committing to a university can be a trudge in the mud. Athletes first need to have trained for years and performed at a stage with a high standard. Then go through a seemingly endless stream of outgoing emails.
“You email a ton of schools and you don’t hear back from a lot, and sometimes you can take that personally, but it’s important not to take that to heart,” said MacPherson, sharing her experience as an athlete reaching out to institutions over the past year.
And this process can take time.
“I started back in, like, May (2024), so I think you just have to stay focused and…not bother, but keep emailing the schools over and over again, and just staying persistent,” MacPherson said.
Despite the struggles that student athletes face contacting schools, an ARC volleyball athlete can be at ease knowing that the competition is something that they will not need to worry about.
The ARC volleyball program over the last decade has been one of the best in the state with winning the past Big 8 Championship as well as making six straight appearances at the California Community College Athletics Association State Women’s Volleyball Championship.
“I think we do a good job of development. I think in order to have that be a positive experience with transfering to the next level,” said Carson Lowden, ARC Volleyball Head Coach. “we’re all about developing the players who are in our program to be the best volleyball players that they can be, to be the next version of themselves as people, so they’re prepared to go on and thrive at the next level.”
The great performances from the team in the last 3C2A was also a great factor in the recruitment process, showcasing their abilities at a big stage. The team went deep into the tournament and was defeated by subsequent State Champions Feather River College in the semi-finals.
In the last week of the regular season Powell was named the California Community College Women’s Volleyball Association State Player of the Week for week 13 thanks to a great performance against Modesto junior College where she recorded 18 of her 31 attempted kills.
Castaneda also had a stand out performance in their quarter-final win against LA Mission College, with 21 kills, 10 digs and three blocks.
In an interview with The Current, Lowden gave a send off message to those who have committed to four-years.
“Continue to play to play and remember the process. The process is the most important part of the “thing,” Lowden said. “Your greatest win and your gnarliest loss are both just one moment in time. And yet you still get to show up every single day and be in the process. So it’s always that process.”
Although the Indoor season is over, ARC also has a Beach Volleyball season that sees many of the same players from indoor. They currently have an 18-5 record and have 5 pairs advancing into the NorCal Pairs Championships and will play Friday, May 2 at Cosumnes.
