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Roaring to go: Swetz to push more for local talent as new Penn State Fayette Athletic Director

By Rob Burchianti 6 min read
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Samantha Swetz holds the USCAA women’s volleyball championship trophy and the USCAA Coach of the Year trophy at Virginia Beach in 2019. Swetz was selected for the coaching honor after guiding Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus to the national title that season. Swetz was recently hired as Penn State Fayette’s new athletic director.
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Penn State Fayette’s Samantha (Helmantoler) Swetz sets the ball during a volleyball match against Penn State Beaver at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, during her playing days with the Lady Lions.
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Samantha Swetz was recently hired as the new athletic director at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.

Samantha Swetz provided Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, one of its most thrilling sports moments in recent memory when she coached the Lady Lions women’s volleyball team to the USCAA national championship in 2019.

Now the Penn State Fayette graduate is ready to help give her alma mater’s entire sports department a boost.

Swetz was hired earlier this month as Penn State Fayette Athletic Director, taking over for Stephen Oberly after gradually progressing through the ranks.

The former Uniontown and Laurel Highlands girls volleyball head coach is a 2011 Ringgold graduate who now makes her home in Uniontown and says seeking out local student-athletes is one of her top priorities as she settles into her new position.

Swetz, who was a part of two LH volleyball playoff teams, would like for her campus to reach out more to other area schools for potential students.

“I have a few goals in mind for the department,” Swetz said. “However, my biggest goal is to bridge the gap with the local sports teams in the community. We, as a community, have a strong sports presence and I applaud the youth sports organizations in the area that have made this possible. Our high school teams are very competitive in the county and it’s my hope that they’ll consider Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus as an option to further their sports career and earn a Penn State degree at an affordable cost.

“Our coaches will be present in the community and will be more aware of our local talent than ever before. I adopted this county as my own in 2013, and I am proud to call it my home.”

Swetz is a 2011 Ringgold graduate where she starred on the Lady Rams volleyball team, which made the WPIAL playoffs in three of her four years there. While in high school she was twice named to the all-section team, was selected to play in the Terrific 21 All-Star Game and represented Ringgold at the Washington County Hall of Fame Banquet.

Swetz got into coaching early on. She coached a week-long youth volleyball camp as her senior project at Ringgold, served as a youth coach and also coached for the Penn Highlands Volleyball Club. She played Junior Olympic Volleyball for Penn Highlands from eighth grade until her senior year in high school.

Swetz attended Penn State Fayette from 2011 to 2015 where she earned a baccalaureate degree in Administration of Justice and starred for the volleyball team she would later go on to coach. She was selected All-PSUAC three times and helped lead the Lady Lions on an amazing run of four consecutive undefeated PSUAC championship seasons. During that time she was named All-PSUAC three times and All-American Honorable Mention once.

After graduating from Penn State Fayette, Swetz went on to earn a master of science degree in Sports Management with a focus in intercollegiate athletics at California University of Pa.

She began her post-student career at Penn State Fayette in 2017 when she took over as head volleyball coach for the highly successful Nancy Wheeler and the team continued to excel under her reign which lasted until 2022. She led Penn State Fayette to a pair of PSUAC championships and the aforementioned national title. She also coached two Lady Lions to USCAA and PSUAC Player of the Year honors and six to All-American honors while being named 2019 PSUAC Coach of the Year and USCAA Coach of the Year during her five years running the program.

She’s put her coaching experience to good use.

“I believe the years of me coaching volleyball at Penn State Fayette gave me the formula of what it takes to cultivate a winning and positive team culture,” Swetz said. “It also taught me that the talent needed to win is in our backyard, that is to say, our local school districts. Having the perspective of a coach helps me to understand the tools a coach needs to be successful.”

After Swetz was named women’s volleyball coach at Penn State Fayette she added Administrative Support Assistant to her workload for the three years until being hired as full-time Athletic Coordinator in January of 2020. She assisted in bringing the USCAA National Volleyball and Cross Country Championships to Penn State Fayette, as well as live-streaming services to sports programs there.

She was named Assistant Director of Athletics in April of 2022. In her first year at the position she averaged one Penn State Fayette athlete receiving a PSUAC or national player of the week honor for the entire academic year. She also garnered four USCAA Student-Athlete of the Year awards for Penn State Fayette athletes.

Swetz is so well regarded at Penn State Fayette she was awarded the Barbara B. Solesky Staff Support Award in December for her assistance to all departments and involvement with students.

Swetz is responsible for overseeing the campus fitness and recreational services, and assisting with the development of student-athlete academic/mental health support programs. She organized the launching of the FAN (Fayette Athletics Network).

“I love Penn State Fayette. It has a huge piece of my heart,” Swetz said. “My college teammates are still my best friends, one is the Godmother of my daughter, and another I was the matron of honor at her wedding in September. I was proposed to by my husband of now 10 years in the Main Arena during my senior night.

“This campus has changed my life, and now I have the privilege of watching it do the same for others. I love watching our student athletes grow and go out into the world and make a huge difference.”

Swetz makes Uniontown her home now along with her husband Corey, son Lincoln and daughter Roselyn. Swetz is highly involved in her community as well as the campus.

“I owe a lot to my husband, Corey, for what I have accomplished,” Swetz said. “That would not have been possible without him. He encouraged me to complete my Master’s while pregnant and with a one-year-old. He worked jobs that fit around my coaching schedule while taking care of both kids when I had late nights on the road. He constantly encourages me and is my biggest supporter.

“Additionally, Stephen Oberly has been a huge mentor in my life and I will forever be grateful for all that he has taught me in my seven years of working at the University. The pathway that he put Fayette Athletics on as director has forever changed the department for the better.”

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