School: Quakertown
Volleyball, Soccer
Favorite athlete: Lance Armstrong
Favorite team: Any Philadelphia sports team
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Growing up as a team and getting to know everyone. Many of them are now my best friends.”
Most embarrassing/funniest moment competing in sports: “Breaking my teammate’s nose on a block in volleyball. I was crying more than her.”
Music on iPod: Pop-Rock, Rock, inspirational
Future plans: “I would like to go to college for Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering to one day become a Sports Engineer.”
Words to live by: “Most of the shadows in life are caused by us standing in our own sunlight.”
One goal before turning 30: “Make someone’s dreams come true.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I like to write poems, and I still enjoy playing the saxophone.”
Sam Cowan excels on the soccer field and on the volleyball court, but the Quakertown senior is a reluctant star.
“She definitely is a team player,” volleyball coach Wendy Mahler said. “She doesn’t want to be the star of the team. She wants to help the team, and she wants the team to do well.”
The soft-spoken senior might not seek out the spotlight, but it has found her, putting Cowan in the limelight in a way she least expected it.
The Panthers’ senior outside hitter was recently named the SOL Continental Conference Player of the Year.
“I couldn’t believe what my coach was telling me,” Cowan said. “I was shocked. I didn’t know what to think. It’s exciting.”
Making the award most impressive is the fact that Cowan competes in soccer year round and only plays volleyball during the high school season. Add to that the fact that she only plays front row, and it’s clear the Panthers’ outside hitter made quite an impression on opposing coaches.
“It’s amazing,” Mahler said. “I have a lot of girls who play volleyball year round, but Sam is one who just stuck out in everybody’s mind. When we had our league meeting – everybody said that number eight (Cowan) stood out. Her stats are so good for only being on the court half the time.
“We went to a team camp this year, and she couldn’t do that, but she’s never missed a practice, never missed anything. She’s a team leader, and for not being a captain, she led the team in a lot of ways. On the court, the girls look up to her. They know how good a player she is.”
A first team all-league recipient, Cowan finished the season with 113 kills and 18 blocks.
“She puts her heart into it,” Mahler said. “She puts 110 percent into it. When she goes up to hit, she wants to hit that ball and get the kill.
“She would never, ever yell at another teammate. She would always take the blame first if she hit the ball into the net. She just got along with the rest of the girls really well. “
Cowan – who briefly dabbled in other sports – has played competitive soccer since she was seven years old and began playing on the Quakertown Soccer Club’s U-9 squad. These days she is a member of the U-18 team where she plays defense or midfield.
Her versatility as an athlete is underscored by the fact that she began her soccer career in goal, and three years ago became a field player when another goalie arrived on the scene. She excelled at both.
Volleyball entered the picture in ninth grade when junior varsity coach Lisa Cravner encouraged her to try out for the team.
“I tried out, and I went from there,” she said. “I just really enjoy playing volleyball – the whole team thing. It’s a different sport for me, and I stuck with it.”
Cowan played jayvee as a freshman and sophomore but was the middle hitter for the varsity last year before moving to the outside where she excelled as a senior.
“When she came in as a freshman, she was very raw,” Mahler said. “She’s very athletic. I think what turned her around was she fell in love with the game of volleyball. She just absolutely loved the game, and she worked very hard to improve.
“Last year she was good. This year she really shone. We lost two varsity players (to graduation). She just stepped up this year and took charge. I was shocked to see how good she was.”
As good as Cowan is on the volleyball court, she might be even better in the classroom. An honors student and member of the National Honor Society, she is a member and past officer of the Technology Student Association and was part of a team that was the 2008 national champion for video game design at the National Society of High School Scholars catapult completion.
The educational game Cowan’s team created was called Cellular Conflict and featured red blood cells and white blood cells fighting off a virus in the body. The team traveled to Orlando, Fla., to receive this honor.
Cowan has been part of TSA since she was in sixth grade and has advanced to nationals each year. She has been a national champion before.
“It’s been a big part of my life,” she said.
The gifted senior would be hard pressed to choose between sports and TSA when it comes to extra curricular activities.
“They’re totally different,” she said. “Sports is kind of a passion and fire I have. I like sports a lot, but TSA is what I would like to do.”
Cowan plans to major in mechanical engineering with a biomedical engineering minor. She has her sights set on working as a sports engineer with an interest in working with prosthetic body parts and sports equipment that would be more aerodynamic.
Cowan’s major will limit her college choices, but wherever she goes, the senior standout hopes to continue competing in either soccer or volleyball.
“I’ve told her from day one – if you would play some club or play year round – I really think you could play in college and become a great volleyball player,” Mahler said. “She just has a lot on her plate.”
Cowan, it seems, wouldn’t want it any other way.
