The Eastern Nazarene College women's volleyball team celebrated the careers of the program's senior class of Samantha Caldwell (Quincy, Mass.), Gabrielle DiCamillo (Eighty-Four, Pa.), Jenna Meacham (Millington, Mich.), and Rebecca Thorne (Quincy, Mass.) Thursday evening at the Lahue Athletic Center.

The Class of 2021 has led the Lions to 48 wins since arriving on campus and helped ENC capture its first-ever NECC title and first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019.

Samantha Caldwell

A setter from Quincy, Massachusetts, she has appeared in 183 sets spanning 64 matches in her four years with the program. She has dished out 880 career assists while collecting 242 digs and 39 kills. As a sophomore she was named to the NECC Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team and Academic All-NECC list. 

Gabrielle DiCamillo  

A defensive specialist hailing from Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania, she has appeared in 41 sets spanning 25 matches in her three years with the program. She has registered 42 career digs to go with eight service aces, four assists, and three kills. A two-time academic all-conference honoree, she was selected to the NECC Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team last fall.

Jenna Meacham

An outside hitter out of Millington, Michigan, she has appeared in 253 sets spanning 79 matches in her four years with the program. She has notched 308 career kills, 517 career digs, and 88 career aces.

Rebecca Thorne

An outside hitter/Middle hitter from Quincy, Massachusetts, she has appeared in 254 sets spanning 81 matches in her four years with the program. A three-time all-academic honoree and an All-NECC second team selection, she has racked up 289 career kills, 108 career digs, and 84 blocks.

Coach Derek Schmitt had this to say about the Lions' Class of 2021:

"While I wish tonight's ceremony was under different circumstances…like we were getting ready to play a match tonight, the circumstances do not take away from the significance of this celebration.  While I've have been a collegiate volleyball coach for over 20 years, my career path has allowed me to only see five players participate in their very first practice with me as their coach until their final match or practice.  Sammie, Gabby, Meacham, and Thorne, that number almost doubles tonight.  Has it really been four years since Thorne and Sammie needed days off from their first pre-season practices because they had just returned from a mission trip to Honduras?  Meeting Meacham for the first time and asking her immediately if she was okay if I called her by her last name instead of her first name.  (I called her Jenna the other day in practice in the middle of a drill which was weird.)  And then there is Gabby who was so tired of me, she expedited her academic track so she could graduate in three years…that's OVER HALF AS FAST as it took ME to graduate from ENC! 

I am so very thankful for the four of you…for what each of you have brought to the program, on the court and off the court.  SO SO many good memories with you guys…trips to New York and Costa Rica, lots of memorable wins, a few Meacham spills to the ground…those will stay with me forever.  I so hate that you didn't get the typical senior season in the fall and this spring season is not off to a great start either!  Thank you Sammie, thank you Gabby, thank you Meacham, and thank you Thorne.  I am proud to be your coach…I'm proud of all that you've accomplished in the classroom, and I know you are all going to absolutely crush it in your respective careers.  You have made the ENC Women's Volleyball program better than it was when you arrived on the scene and know that after you graduate, you are always welcome in this gym…as long as you show a negative COVID test result within 72 hours of coming into the gym and of course your co-verified app."