The Claremont Colleges women’s club volleyball team took a trip to Phoenix, Arizona, and came back to Claremont with gold. On April 17-19, the Panthers attended the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCFV) tournament and defeated American University in the final round to take first place in the Women’s Division 2AA National Championships.
Club volleyball practices span the entire school year, with preseason tournaments starting in the fall and regular season beginning in the spring. The team plays against schools in Southern California and the Western United States as a part of the Southern California Collegiate Volleyball League (SCCVL). Claremont club volleyball competed in three tournaments during the regular season that helped them qualify for the league championships, which took place the weekend before nationals.
The team went to nationals in 2022 and 2023 but were unable to emerge victorious. One of the senior captains, Angela Zhou SC ’25, credited part of this year’s difference to the new freshmen players who joined in the fall, as well as to the contributions of the practice players.
“We got a lot of freshmen and new players who just like, showed up to practice consistently and were just really passionate about playing, and that definitely helped with our practices and preparing for [the tournament],” Zhou said.
For Elena Miller HM ’26, a junior captain, it was both the freshmen and the seniors who made standout efforts to bring the Panthers the win.
“Having kind of the fresh energy from the freshmen who are amazing players and are always supporting the team,” Miller said, “And then the seniors who have been here for a while are also amazing players, have had time to get used to, like, the whole college club volleyball circuit.”
Mei Saphir SC ’28 was one of the freshmen additions this year. After playing volleyball competitively in high school, she was unsure of what to expect coming onto the club team.
“It was a little bit more like high intensity, more competitive,” Saphir said. “There were people there that, like, we wanted to get better. It kind of differentiated from what I originally thought a club sport would be, especially at like a smaller school.”
According to Zhané Moledina PZ ’25, another senior captain, club sports present a unique challenge for the athletes. The level of competition is higher than intramural, but commitment can be spottier than varsity.
“I think like with club sports, it’s kind of a weird in between, where one year to the next, it can change drastically, just like the mentality of the team,” Zhou said. “Whether people are kind of like there to just be having fun, or there to really compete and win.”
For Saphir, who will be an underclassman captain next year, keeping up this balance is an important part of her goals for the team to succeed.
“I definitely want to continue, like, creating a little bit more of a more competitive atmosphere and like welcoming more people that want to contribute to the program and make it better and want to win,” Saphir said. “Not that I think it should be taken ultra seriously, because it’s still a club sport, but I think it’s fun to play at a high level and like compete at a high level and be proud of, like how you play.”
While trying to compete at a level worthy of nationals, the players and captains also have to worry about funding, or a lack thereof. The team tries to ensure that none of its members have to pay fees in order to play, which means repeated attempts to obtain more money from the five colleges.
“It’d be nice if it were, like, obviously, more funding, but also just like a more streamlined process,” Moledina said. “Because it does take up a lot of our time as captains, and it’s really fully up to us on, like, how much funding we do get, because how much we start with really isn’t near enough to get us through the season.”
According to Miller, the team was allocated $3,000 at the beginning of the year, which didn’t even fully cover the trip to nationals, let alone the regular season tournaments and equipment needs. The budget defined for each club team doesn’t change based on season-to-season needs, such as new gear. As a result, the team was only able to attend two preseason tournaments in the fall. Miller described how petitioning for extra money can take a toll on the captains who are responsible.
“We’ve had to go to all the individual schools multiple times to ask them for money, which can be really hard on the captains, who are trying to also be students and play volleyball,” Miller said.
During nationals, when the libero’s jersey didn’t meet the standards for the competition, the team had to make one themselves instead of buying a new one, which they didn’t have the money for. Saphir described how this felt a little ridiculous as they competed against teams decked out with team warm-up shirts and backpacks.
“So we were playing with … five people with the same jersey and one person with a T-shirt with a number scribbled in Sharpie,” Saphir said.
The team was able to get more money for specific costs, but without alumni donors, the members have to continue fundraising to try to increase their budget and keep participation free.
Despite these challenges, the team has proved capable of competing at the highest level with teams from all over the country. Graduating this year, Moledina explained how her four years in college have been defined by club volleyball.
“Taking the time to like, be with friends, and like, do something you love, and like, get away from all the other chaos that’s going on has been really awesome,” Moledina said. “I mean, winning nationals was like an incredibly wonderful way to cap things off.”