By Kaleb Knowles
The stadium lights in Blake Arena glowed a fluorescent white, shining down on the net as Sam Levinson marched out onto the court for the first time in his junior season. Levinson took a deep breath before stepping up to the line. It was the first time he had taken a serve since the National Championship game 10 months earlier. Levison tossed the ball into the air, launched himself forward, and torpedowed a bullet over the net and past the Stevens Defender.
After missing the first eight games of the season, being sidelined with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, Levinson was back, just a little over six months since he had surgery to repair it back in July of 2025. His first game came in one of the biggest regular-season tournament games the Springfield College Men’s Volleyball team plays all year, The Morgan Classic.
“It’s something that I will never forget,” Levinson said, “it took a lot of work behind the scenes to get to that point, to being back like I never left.”
But getting back took a long, grueling rehab process, something that did not come easy to Levinson or his teammates. “He might have the highest pain tolerance of anybody I know.” Teammate AJ Seveland said. The two star setters have developed a brotherhood that has become unbreakable, despite competing for the same position.
“He needs to be out there for his team,” Seveland said. “He realizes that the significance of him showing up and supporting while he’s on the bench and when he’s hurt, or even when he’s healthy, and he’s on the court, it’s the same impact.”
Levinson’s original diagnosis for the injury was a confusing process. He had been dealing with minor aches and pains in his shoulder since before his collegiate career kicked off, but when lunging down to dig out a ball early in last year’s tournament, that’s when Levinson knew it was torn completely.
“We got into the playoffs, and on a block, I tensed my arms, I could feel it tear further,” Levinson said. “From that point on, the last two weeks I just was trying to grind through.”
And grind through is exactly the mindset that Levinson brought with him the rest of the tournament and throughout his life. He pushed through and played the following games in the tournament, including in the national championship game, where, despite the loss, he managed to collect a team-high 16 kills. It wasn’t until a few months after the season that Levinson knew it was time to get the surgical repair.
“It was impressive that he was able to even play through it last spring,” Head of the Men’s Volleyball Team Charlie Sullivan said. “That was rough news. I remember I was doing a camp in Wisconsin, and I was walking after camp, and Sam was texting me about it.”
Back at home in LaGrange, Illinois, Levinson began to work through the dark and long days of the rehab process, while also trying not to think too much about volleyball and the time he would be out. He wanted to take things one day at a time, keeping his goal to return stronger in the winter in the back of his mind and remaining excited for what Springfield College and the volleyball program have to offer him.
“When I was choosing the college, I’d always thought about what it might be like staying closer to home, as opposed to somewhere I’d need to fly to, like Springfield,” Levinson said. “It was something exciting and kind of eye-opening to me.”
Levinson joined a team with members from all over the country, and at the time, one of only two from the Midwest. He knew that despite being so far from home, Springfield and the men’s volleyball team were going to provide a new home and a new dynamic for him. Something that would benefit him along his rehab journey.
“I don’t feel alone either on our team, there are maybe 10 guys, it might not even be 10 guys who actually drive to school,” Levinson said.
Through his connection with his teammates and his steady grind, Levinson made it to February knowing his return would be soon. However, a return as soon as the Morgan Classic wasn’t even in the thought process of Levinson until his number was needed. Just the night before, a few hours after having dinner with him, Levinson got alerted that Seveland had contracted food poisoning and was not going to be able to play, forcing him to step up to the line.
“He couldn’t get out of bed. He was in his bedroom for the next four or five days, so it was sort of an emergency to get anybody to play right side,” Levinson said. “I didn’t think I was ready, but I tried it out in serve and pass, hit a few balls from the center, served a couple times, and felt I was good enough to play.”
Once the game began, Levinson’s confidence grew quickly, and so did his dominance. In just three sets of action, Levinson racked up 12 kills and a service ace in game one. And then later that night in the Championship game, against Hobart, Levison flipped another switch. A look of intensity and emotion in his eyes, Levinson thundered the ball over the net, locating the perfect spot between three Hobart defenders. The zing of the ball flying could be heard from the rafters, and the roar of the crowd from down Alden Street inside Blake Arena. Levinson put together a streak of two straight service aces, the final one being a set winner, and would propel the team to a two-set advantage.
“The next day, when I woke up and was able to watch the games, it was awesome to see him ball,” Seveland said. “He’s been a three-year starter, and so that’s huge, The court experience, but also his insight on situations he adds in team meetings.”
Now that Levinson is fully back on the court and healthy, he has continued his dominance and his leadership, helping the team to a 21-3 finish to the regular season as the number one team in the nation. In the Final Four 3-0 sweep over Cal Lutheran to advance to the national championship game, Levinson was everywhere on the court. Feeding off the crowd, pumping his fist in excitement, and radiating emotion with every kill and block. Levinson knows how much his energy and compassion mean to his teammates, no matter the stakes of the game he can change the game with both his skills and his heart.
“He’s a leader, he’s always talking, he’s always pointing out things that you wouldn’t notice,” Seveland said. “He always gets everyone’s energy up.”
And it’s not just his teammates who acknowledge and understand that Levinson brings something more than just big-time kills and service aces. He brings compassion and energy, and is never shy about speaking out in front of the team.
“One of the best things he does as a teammate is he’s very empathetic to situations and to people’s situations that they are going through,” Coach Sullivan said. “He has a global perspective of values that are important, which he consistently portrays.”
While winning is of the utmost importance to Levinson, it’s his ability to be a good teammate and a good person that shines among all of the qualities. Whether it was from the sideline dealing with injuries, or on the court securing a big-time ace, Levinson is never one to back down from any obstacle that stands in his way.
Photo by Emma Bynes/The Student