Anna Maria College Closes After 80 years

Anna Maria College (Paxton, MA) is closing after 80 years in operation due to declining enrollment and underlying structural financial issues. 

Anna Maria, which opened in 1946, will cease operations after the spring semester in 2026. Regis College, Worcester State, Springfield College and Fitchburg State will work to ease the transition for current students by offering transfers.

With the closing, it also signifies the end for the Anna Maria volleyball program, which began in 1991. The AMCats, who competed as part of the GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference) from 2011-2024, managed two winning seasons during the program's history in 2015 and 2016.

Despite the lack of team success, the program can boast some talented players, especially in the last decade. Rebecca Foti ('18) ranks as the AMCats all-time career leader in kills (1,131) and aces (207). Samantha Parker ('16) is the all-time leader in assists (2,374) and second in digs (886).

Carolina Garcia is the all-time leader in career digs (1,183), while Sandy Acosta ('13) finished as the career leader in blocks (215) and third in kills (686)

Amari King also had two amazing seasons for Anna Maria before transferring to Worcester St., and Tierney Clancy might have put together the best season in Anna Maria volleyball history with 1,033 assists and 63 aces in 2016, which also led to the best single-season team record (21-12).      

A number of current AMCats players will potentially be looking for new programs to latch on with, including sophomore middle hitter Lauren Decoteau, sophomore setter Gia Hall, freshman outside hitter Vanessa Guimares, and junior Ella Moon.

Although the AMCats were never a traditional volleyball powerhouse, it is always sad to see the end of a program and a college's closing. Anna Maria, who had moved to the MASCAC this past year hoping to reduce travel costs, just was unable to remain open. The MASCAC will now return to eight member schools.  



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