PCCC Men’s Volleyball Student-Athlete Receives NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Award
Congratulations to Sebastian Cano Guzman, PCCC Men’s Volleyball Student-Athlete for receiving the 2022-2023 NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Award.
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) recently announced the 2022-23 All-Academic Teams, recognizing student-athletes across the country for their dedication in the classroom. A total of 10,267 student-athletes have been honored for achieving a GPA above 3.60.
Sebastian is a senior Men’s Volleyball student-athlete majoring in Nursing at Passaic County Community College and fulfilled the NJCAA All-Academic Second Team criteria with a grade point average (GPA) ranging from 3.80 to 3.99.
“We are extremely proud of Sebastian’s academic success and of his being the first Men’s Volleyball player at PCCC to receive such a prestigious award, particularly in an NJCAA emerging sport,” said Wayne Martin, PCCC’s Athletics Director.
Men’s Volleyball is a fairly new sport at PCCC. The seed was planted in 2021 when PCCC was among the NJCAA member colleges to share in a $200,000 grant from NJCAA in collaboration with First Point Volleyball Foundation, an organization that supports the growth of men’s volleyball. PCCC received a $10,000 grant toward establishing the sport at the College.
“This was very unexpected, but really nice,” said Sebastian of the award. He plays the defensive Libero position on the team and said he never played sports seriously before coming to PCCC. “I really like the volleyball coaches at PCCC and the culture of the sport,” Sebastian explained. “The teammates are very supportive and like a family. We are close on the team and close outside of volleyball, too.”
Linda Hicks, the head coach of Men’s Volleyball at PCCC noted, “I am so happy Sebastian is receiving this recognition. He has worked so hard. He’s a stellar student, a leader, and a pleasure to coach.”
Sebastian was the valedictorian of the 2022 graduating class of his high school, Garret Morgan Academy in Paterson and he plans to become a physician.
The student-athlete says his overall PCCC experience has been “amazing.” In fact, he had turned down a scholarship offer from a different college, because he wanted to stay local and attend PCCC.
In addition to his academic and athletic commitments, Sebastian also works on campus as a mentor for the SSS-STEM student supoprt program and as a work study.
Fairly new to team sports, Sebastian said he has learned important lessons from playing volleyball. “I learned it’s ok to fail sometimes,” he explained. “Failure is usually viewed as a punishment, but I realized it’s an opportunity to learn how to be better. You learn what you need to do differently to succeed next time.” Congratulations Sebastian. We are PCCC Proud of you!
Photo (left to right) Daniel Crespo, Assistant Coach, Men’s Volleyball; Linda Hicks, Head Coach, Men’s Volleyball, Sebastian Cano Guzman; Wayne Martin, Athletics Director.
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