By Peter Briguglio, CUNYAC

Few students possess the intelligence and work ethic to maintain a 3.9 GPA. Few athletes are talented enough to receive both conference and regional All-Star and All-Tournament Team honors in the same year. Few people are born with the natural leadership qualities needed to captain their team to Conference and Regional Championship appearances. When you combine such academic success with impressive athletic prowess and irreplaceable leadership skills, you get Queensborough Community College Women’s Volleyball star and 2015 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Stephanie Ho.

“Receiving this award is very important to me,” said Ho. “It changes me and makes me step up my game. Now that I got this award, it makes me happy that I’m being seen. I feel like I am a big part of the team both on and off the court. I can show people I’m capable of doing these things.”

Ho’s journey to the courts and classrooms of Queensborough began when she transferred from Stony Brook University--an unconventional move from a four-year school to a two-year school. Ho received a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Stony Brook, but upon graduating she found it extremely difficult to land a desirable job. She decided to go back to school for nursing.

“I became a nursing major at Queensborough because I took the classes there and enjoyed it, and knew that’s what I wanted to do,” said Ho. “I’ve always liked taking care of people, and now I’m carrying it on to my career and to everyone I encounter. The thing I appreciate about nursing the most is it’s very rewarding, and having patients tell you they’re grateful you’re there at the most vulnerable and difficult times.”

As a student at Queensborough, Ho collected numerous academic honors, including appearances on the Dean’s List every semester as well as induction into the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, which recognizes exceptional two-year college students. Ho shared the CUNYAC Scholar-Athlete of the Month award for her performance throughout the month of October 2014.

To build her resume, she spent countless volunteer hours working and learning at the Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation at PS 193 in Lower Manhattan and the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in Flushing, in addition to gaining hands-on experience at hospitals such as New York Presbyterian, Stony Brook Hospital, and NYU Langone Medical Center.

On the volleyball court, the star libero first made her presence known in the 2013 CUNYAC Championship where she made three game saving defensive plays that ultimately led the Lady Tigers to a 3-1 victory over Kingsborough. According to head coach Jason Demas, “nobody else on the roster could have made those plays.” However, her roster spot was hardly guaranteed when she first arrived at the school.

When the Fall 2013 semester began, Demas tells a story about how Ho walked into the gym during one of the Lady Tigers’ practices looking to try out for the team. Unbeknownst to her, Queensborough’s season began in August with organized practices and scrimmages designed to prepare the team for the upcoming season. Due to the large number of girls already on his roster, Demas considered turning Ho away with the reasoning that she had missed team tryouts. It wasn’t until his libero at the time, among others on the roster, recognized her from VBLI competitions and remarked at how talented she was. Demas decided to give her a chance, and the rest is history.

Ho brought plenty of outside volleyball experience from club and outside tournaments that made her transition to the college game easy. Stephanie was an exceptional leader for the Queensborough Women's Volleyball team during the past two seasons, setting the example for her teammates with her dedication on the court, in the weightroom, and in the classroom. Her maturity and leadership ability prompted her coach to name her one of the team’s captains for the 2014 season.

Upon being named captain, Stephanie resigned from a job that would’ve cost her two days of practice per week. Quitting allowed her to assume the leadership role on the team whole-heartedly. Once the season ended, her volunteer work at the Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation developed into a paid position, which she still currently holds.

“Playing for the CUNY Athletic Conference really challenged me to be a better person, both as a player and as a student,” said Ho. “It pushed me to a level that was very different from what I played in high school and open gym.”

This year, Ho helped lead her team to a very successful season with an overall 21-7 record. Stephanie finished the regular season with a team high 303 digs, while also recording 18 service aces and 17 kills. She ran the serve receive for the team all year and was undoubtedly the best defender in the conference. Teams targeted her almost every game, but the rugged second-year player committed a very low total of 18 reception errors the entire regular season. Unfortunately, the Lady Tigers ultimately fell in the CUNYAC Championship game to Hostos. The captain was the top rated Libero in Region XV, earning First-Team All-Star honors in addition to being named to the conference All-Star team. She was a noted big-game performer, garnering All-Tournament team honors in both the CUNYAC and Region XV Tournaments.

“She doesn’t get rattled at all,” said Demas. “When she was a freshman in the 2013 Championships, she was playing sparingly as a defensive specialist at the end of the season. One of the other girls under the pressure was feeling a little nervous, and Stephanie stepped right in like it was practice and made some amazing plays. At that point I knew she’d be the libero and probably captain as well.”

With her collegiate volleyball career now in the past and the highest honor CUNYAC has to offer under her belt, Ho is focused on continuing her education and development in the nursing field at NYU.

When asked about the legacy Stephanie Ho will leave behind at Queensborough, Demas simply said, “you don’t replace her. Stephanie’s presence will be extremely missed and what she provided for our program on and off the court will be incredibly hard to ever duplicate."