Morin Makes Waves in the Beach World

By: Alyssa Muccillo, media relations intern

It’s not every day that you get to travel to Thailand to represent your country on one of the biggest stages for your sport, yet, that’s exactly what Samaya Morin got to do at only 20 years old.

Growing up in Lake Stevens, Washington, Morin first got into volleyball when she was six years old because her dad was the coach for a local Boys & Girls Club. She continued to play throughout childhood and into high school, starting to get recruited for indoor volleyball her sophomore year. It wasn’t until her friend, who later attended Cal Poly, invited her to play in a sand volleyball tournament that she got exposure to the sport and ultimately fell in love with beach volleyball.

Due to beach being a less popular sport in Washington, there were limited training options for beach players.

“Where we practice is an indoor facility in Tacoma, which is about an hour and a half away from me, two hours if there's traffic,” Morin said. “Me and my buddies, we would carpool down there and practice for like two to four hours per time just to get the most training in.”

After talking to multiple schools and coaches, Morin decided to commit to Grand Canyon University mainly due to the coaching staff and the weather.

“Kristen (Rohr) and Abra (Rummel) were both super uplifting and had a lot of confidence in me and always did their best to support me on and off the court,” Morin said. “I think that hearing other people's stories and experiences, getting that support on a social level and a mental level, is definitely different from other programs I've seen and heard about.”

“I remember the first time I saw her at a tournament.” Arizona State head coach Kirsten Rohr said. “She was out in Chelan, Washington, and it was her first beach tournament she's ever played in, and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this girl is going to be so good.’ I got her to come out to camp and work with me a little bit. Right after that, she decided to commit.”

Morin has no complaints from her time at GCU, saying that it was a great place to start her collegiate career and enjoy some sunshine. She was a two-year starter and helped the team to two-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and top-10 finishes. As a sophomore in 2023, she was named to the 2023 AVCA Top Flight Award in the No. 2 spot, where she earned a 19-1 record on the year, including an NCAA Tournament win.

At the end of her sophomore year in the late spring of 2023, Coach Rohr informed the team that she was headed to coach at ASU. Morin shared that she struggled in what to do in terms of transferring or staying, emphasizing a want of no regrets. After many conversations with those close to her, she ended up transferring to Arizona State.

“I was really nervous that I would make a mistake but in the end, I wouldn't change anything,” Morin said. “I'm so happy here and I feel so supported and loved and all my teammates are so uplifting and grateful to have me here. It's a really cool experience to have all these people who really appreciate me as not just a player but a person too.” 

During that same summer, Morin competed in the USA Volleyball U21 FIVB Beach World Championship Trials with her partner Taylor Wilson of Stanford. They ended up winning a bid to move on to the FIVB U21 Beach World Championships.

Meeting through a mutual friend and the National Development Training Program (NTDP), Morin and Wilson only got to practice together a few times before heading to Thailand because they lived in separate states. Even with the limited time together, they just clicked.

“I'm typically a pretty calm player, I don't let a lot make me rattled, but Taylor is very fired up and my previous partner at GCU, Allanis Navas, was also very fired up,” Morin said. “I love the energy that my teammate brings to me… We had overall really good communication as a pairing and it made it really easy to adjust and find different ways that we needed to play our game to give us the best result.”

After the initial exhaustion from traveling for 30 hours wore off, Morin was excited to finally touch down in Thailand.

“They were such a giving country and they treated all of us so well,” Morin said. “Waking up that next morning and having practice and walking through the venue and just realizing, ‘Oh my gosh, I made it.’ It was such a surreal feeling to see these big stages and courts built around for this event specifically…I felt content the whole time. I never was not happy there.”

When reflecting on her time in Thailand, Morin had an extreme appreciation for the experience. Morin and Wilson ended up going undefeated in pool play and placing ninth overall in the tournament.

“Any given team on any given day,” Morin said. “We happen to have lost against Thailand with a ton of people watching. It’s not necessarily who prepares the most skill wise, but preparing mentally for those battles that you don't necessarily expect.”

Upon her return home, she has only continued to express her gratitude for the championship and the people that she met and worked with.

“I'm just so grateful for this sport and all the people that brought me to where I am today, because I never would have been able to see that,” Morin said.

Determined and passionate are two words that can be used to describe Morin. Coming off surgery, she is unable to practice but is an active contributor to the team in other ways, keeping score and giving feedback to her teammates. The knowledge and experience she has gained in her first two years of her collegiate career have earned her a spot in leadership for the Sun Devils.

“When you're going to a new school, you're entering a new program, and you have a history with the new coach, it can sometimes be a challenging thing to navigate,” Rohr said. “It just speaks volumes about who she is as a person because she was immediately accepted. She's on our leadership team. That's how much her teammates respect her, trust her, and really feel like she's someone that they can look up to.”

Morin expressed a desire to compete and have fun this season. While breaking records would be an added bonus, she wants to see her team and coaches get the recognition they deserve.

After heading to the NCAA tournament for both her freshman and sophomore seasons, she hopes to make a return.

“I think we definitely have the potential,” Morin said. “Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do. But I think if we keep our heads down and just continue to work on the small things that other people can forget about. I think that we have a chance at creating some commotion.”