Last night they learned that that they’ll travel to Tallahassee later this week to tackle the University of Alabama in the NCAA tournament.  We’re proud of our student-athletes and coaches and we wish them the best.

 In a matter that gathered far less publicity, I heard this story a few weeks ago from Betsy Dobbins of our Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences:

 Virginia Estes, junior volleyball player at Homewood High School, went this summer to Panamá to teach rural mountain girls volleyball.  Although she was traveling with a group, the volleyball clinic was her own idea.  She had skills, but needed equipment and sent out requests for help.  Dex Schroeder, the Samford volleyball coach, received information from a friend of the Estes family and responded with wonderful donations to her project!  He gave her volleyballs, kneepads, and Samford shirts. The girls in Panamá loved learning how to play and were thrilled to "earn" their very own volleyballs, jerseys and knee pads!

 The world is better because Coach Schroeder understands that there is more to volleyball than playing in the NCAA tournament.  (But it is still nice to be playing in the NCAA tournament.)

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.