KILLER SMILE

By Brandon Petersen

The first set at Golden West College looked like it might be over before it even started.

Cal Lutheran came in with a 7–1 record, a polished machine of a program, and they wasted no time flexing their muscle. The Regals cruised to a 25–12 opening win, the kind of set that usually signals a sweep is coming.

But Westcliff didn't blink.

Instead of folding, the Warriors dug in, fought back, and delivered the most resilient performance of their season. By the time it was over, they had clawed all the way back to stun Cal Lutheran in five sets, and in the process their star right-side hitter had made history.

Samantha Carelock had already been piling up kills all night, ripping through the block with her left hand, when her total reached 497, the most in Westcliff history.

She didn't know it in the moment—her focus was on survival, on keeping the Regals from closing the door—but when the final ball hit the floor in the fifth set, the Warriors had the upset and Carelock had a college program record that may have seemed out of reach for her just a few short years ago.

"She was on fire tonight," head coach Greg Wakeham said afterward. "It's a glory position—you're either successful or you're not, there's no gray area. But Sam is just such a Westcliff person. She's dancing all the time, she's having fun, and she plays with joy. It's her world, and we just live in it."

That joy radiates everywhere she goes. When Carelock walks into a room, she's smiling before she's even past the door.

In pregame, postgame, on the sidelines, she's constantly in motion, dancing, handing out high-fives, cutting up jokes like she's at the club – that's Sam Carelock.

When asked where all that energy comes from, she answered without hesitation.

"Honestly, I mainly think it just comes from the love of the game and getting to do what I want to do," she said. "Whenever I'm in that volleyball setting, it just comes natural for me because I love playing volleyball. I love being around my teammates. I just think I really have the passion for the game. So, I think it all comes naturally from that."

That attitude didn't spring up out of nowhere. It's rooted in her family, in the support she's had since she was a kid in Vacaville, California.

Her parents, Cheri and Jerome, built a home where she never had to doubt whether she could chase what she loved.

"I honestly grew up with a really good childhood," Carelock said. "I never really had any problems growing up. Just having that family support system, even though I'm in SoCal and my family's in NorCal, they're always just a call or a flight away. I know they'll always be there for me. My parents just really set me up to be able to do whatever I want in the world and not really have to stress or worry about anything. I can just go out there, do what I love, and get to be happy and free."

Her older brother Myles and younger sister Autumn each helped shape her too. Myles and her dad were steeped in sports, and their coaching influence rubbed off.

"Not only do I play volleyball, I also coach volleyball, and I'm absolutely in love with it," Carelock said. "I love being able to share my passion and energy and love for the game with kids. My little sister does dance and she's out there doing her thing. My brother's doing what he loves, he has three sons, and I get to have three nephews. My family is just a bunch of people who go out and do what they love, and that's where I get it from."

The path to Westcliff, though, was anything but straightforward.

Carelock started at Marymount California University, only to have the school shut down at the end of her freshman year. She landed at Cal State East Bay, a Division II program where she learned what it meant to be in a grind.

"That was kind of an eye-opening experience for me," she said. "At Marymount we didn't really have accountability in terms of weights or training. At East Bay, the coach was very much on that. I was lifting three, four times a week, always in the gym. It was volleyball, volleyball, volleyball."

Carelock redshirted her first year there, accepted that she'd have to catch up physically, and hoped her junior year would bring playing time. It never did.

"I kind of had to sit with myself and be like, OK, I can either sit here for the rest of my years and hope I maybe get to touch the court, or I can try somewhere different," she said. "I just wasn't confident. I didn't believe I was as good as I knew I could be."

So, she went looking.

She cut together a highlight video from practices—because that was all she had—and sent it out.

It was late in the recruiting cycle, and she wasn't sure anyone would bite.

But former Westcliff head coach Andy Cole saw what others didn't, and suddenly she had a chance.

"I really appreciate Coach Andy, even though he's not here anymore, because he gave me the opportunity to try again," she said. "I went from basically being a cheerleader on the bench to now playing six rotations as a right side. I was captain. I was a leader. I got to show that I love this game, that I have the passion for it, that I know I'm pretty good. That changed everything for me."

Carelock remembers her first match at Westcliff as if it just happened.

"I remember going up to Coach Andy and I was crying in tears," she said. "I told him, 'Thank you so much for this opportunity, I'm having so much fun.' I just found my thing, and I've been with it ever since."

That joy has carried her through a rebuilding stretch with the Warriors. Last year's squad managed only one win. This year's team has already quintupled that total, sitting at 5–9 heading into Cal Pac play.

They've taken their lumps—early sweeps against, OUAZ, Embry-Riddle, Hope International created tough questions—but they've also found answers, beating a game Justice squad twice, handling their business against West Coast Baptist, and then toppling Cal Lutheran in a five-set thriller.

The more they play together, the more different they look on the court.

The difference, Carelock says, is chemistry.

"At the beginning it was a little bit iffy because we have a lot of big personalities on this team," she said. "A lot of people just wanted it to go their way. But once we realized to take a step back and realize we're all here for the same thing, that we all want to win and play together as one, we started letting that happen. Recently we've been coming together and just playing as one."

That togetherness was on display against Cal Lutheran.

After the Regals reclaimed momentum in the third set, Westcliff answered again in the fourth, leaning on Carelock and Folas for the heavy lifting.

By the fifth set, the Warriors left no doubt.

"Honestly, that's probably one of my favorite volleyball games I've ever played in my entire life," Carelock said. "We started that first set and I looked at the score and thought, oh great, we're going to go 0-3. But then we won the second set, and I thought, maybe we have a chance. And then those last three sets were just a battle. It was really about who wanted it more, and we really wanted that win. Every single person showed it. It just felt like awesome, good volleyball."

The victory was a collective effort.

Stacy Folas delivered 20 kills, setter duo Lauren Phinnessee and Amanda Ferreira combined for 41 assists, Joliayns Roman chipped in 11 kills and 11 digs, and libero Daniela Sandoval anchored the back line with 23 digs.

But the night belonged to Carelock, who powered through for 18 kills and a school record.

"It just felt so awesome," she said. "Coming from a school where I wasn't given the opportunity or seen as somebody who could be used on the court, to now be able to prove to myself that I can do it—it just felt so cool. I came home in tears. I'm a very emotional person when it comes to volleyball. My hard work is finally paying off. I feel seen."

The growth of the program under Wakeham has mirrored Carelock's own.

She admits the transition after Cole left wasn't easy.

"At first I was a little iffy because every coach has their own style, and I was already used to the way Coach Andy ran things," she said. "As a coach myself, I was butting heads with Greg in the spring. But once I realized I had to buy into him and he'd buy into me the same way, we started meshing. He may have an unorthodox way of coaching, but once we bought in, it all came together."

Carelock is studying business at Westcliff after three years as a psychology major, and her academic path is already feeding her passion for coaching.

"I really want to coach volleyball professionally," she said. "If not, I'd love to create my own volleyball club. I've been working on that in my business classes, building a business plan. Being able to take what I'm learning in school and use it in real life is super beneficial."

She admires her professors at Westcliff, many of whom teach because they love it rather than as their main source of income, and her classmates, many of whom are already entrepreneurs.

That environment has her dreaming big.

She's been playing volleyball since age nine, when her mom was her first coach, and has always been a hitter.

A left-hander, she's been a natural right-side since her teens.

"If the other team doesn't know how to block a left-handed person, they go up expecting right-handed and I come with my left, and they're like, oh shoot," she said. "It works for me, not so much for them."

Asked what it feels like to soar and crush the ball down from that angle, she grinned from ear to ear. "It's so amazing, I really can't explain the feeling," she said. "That's why I cried after my first game here. It was just pure joy."

Now, as her senior season moves into conference play, she knows what's at stake.

The Warriors are confident, and Carelock believes they can chase a Cal Pac title and beyond.

"Honestly, after these last couple games, I really think we have a solid chance," she said. "I think as long as we stay focused on the goal, we have a chance, and I'm really excited."

Carelock also knows her time at Westcliff is limited, which makes the present that much sweeter.

"I really wish I could have come here sooner," she said. "I'm sad it's my last season. But life happens for a reason."

For Sam Carelock, volleyball is the North Star.

It's her first love, and she lives for it. That's simply an undeniable fact. But it's also true that for a time there, volleyball became work for Carelock.

It's stopped being fun and became a job.

But then, things changed. Carelock found her way to where she belonged all along.

Her time at Westcliff may be short, but its impact won't be.

In just two years, Carelock has done what no one else at Westcliff could, no matter how long they patrolled the hardwood.

It's a different weight when your name is in the record books.

Carelock's in there.

That's special, and something no one will ever be able to take away from her.

Yet another reason to keep smiling.