Records are meant to be broken, yet it is rare to find athletes skilled enough to do so. Ashley Johnson, a senior nursing and psychology student is not only close to breaking the all-time record for digs in her career (1400), but she is set to do so within the next couple of matches.
“I went into the season knowing that I was going to break that record. So while playing, I am going out and competing during the game…I may keep a tab at home though!” said Johnson.
Johnson is the captain and starting libero for the Women’s Volleyball team, a sport that she was introduced to at the early age of 4.
A two-time member of the All-MEAC Academic team, Ashley has one of the highest grade point averages in the athletics department.
Even though the captain has a busy schedule, she still has the same competitive nature that was instilled in her by her brother, who she considers one of the driving forces behind her success.
“My brother didn’t play sports, which in result made him successful academically. But it was my brother who pushed me to excel academically,” Johnson added.
A common misconception about Johnson is that she is Hawaiian. Despite what her brief biography says on the N.C. A&T athletic website, she is Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Filipino, and African American.
While on the court, there is no question about her work ethic and dedication to her craft. Johnson has a sensational track record which makes her case one of the driving forces for the evolution of the volleyball team.
In her first year she played and started in all 32 matches with 118 sets as the starting libero.
In addition to earning firstteam All-MEAC honors, she became the first N.C. A&T player to earn such an accomplishment since 2007. At the end of the regular season, she led the MEAC with 461 digs.
Since then, Johnson’s success has continued to rise. In recent years, she matched her career-high with two service aces against Murray State on Sept. 21; helped N.C. A&T to its most wins in a season since 2008; and entered the 1,000 digs club against Alabama A&M on Sept. 13. She is now just a couple digs away from breaking the record at N.C. A&T.
Ashley Johnson’s passion for the medical field runs deep. She was four years old when she first told her father that she wanted to be a doctor.
As her tenure comes to a close, Johnson still has high hopes and aspirations after she finishes her undergraduate degree in Psychology.
“I want to go to grad school [to] get my masters and doctorate in order to be a professor. Dr. Hall is one of the reasons why I want to become a professor, and he is the type of professor that I would like to be.”
The Lady Aggies are back on the court this week as they face Savannah State on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and South Carolina State on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. in Moore gym.
Dominique Moody – Copy Editor
—Email Dominique at jdmoody1@ aggies.ncat.edu and follow him on Twitter @theatregister
