By Igor Stepczynski | Broadcast Reporter
Baylor Athletics has been successfully flinging their green and gold afar with high-ranking performance, and Lady Bears Volleyball team is no exception. The team is currently the top seed in the country and headed to post-season play.
The team is a family for each other to ensure excellent athletic performance. However, amid this busy season of Baylor championships, assistant volleyball coach Samantha Erger will soon deliver her baby girl.
“Her name is Demi,” Erger said. “The middle name is a secret right now, and it’s named after somebody special.”
Erger was scheduled to go to the hospital just one hour after her interview with LTVN concluded. Despite this special day, she still made sure to spend it doing what she loves: coaching volleyball.
“I have been working all day,” Erger said. “I’ll leave at 3 o’clock, go to the hospital and I should have a baby by lunch tomorrow hopefully!”
Erger said that being pregnant while coaching the team has been very difficult but also very rewarding. This is thanks to her amazing support system.
“Coaching college athletics in general is a very demanding high-paced career choice,” Erger said. “My husband is my biggest supporter and my biggest help. I couldn’t do it without him. My husband is my best friend. He’s amazing.”
Erger already had a little boy at home, and she’s excited to welcome a girl into the family. Yet in a high-paced collegiate athletic environment, Erger used this opportunity to show the girls on the team that life outside volleyball is very important.
“My team is so incredible,” Erger said. “They definitely root me on and ask all the questions. Like I said, it’s cool to be able to model for them what it’s like to be a working mother.”
She also mentioned multiple times her gratitude for having a boss that values a healthy life balance. After all, as Erger said herself, “Healthy coaches with life balance are great coaches.”
So is Samantha Erger planning on taking the bench as the Lady Bears Volleyball team heads toward the championship? Not a chance.
“I’m not missing postseason,” Erger said. “That baby is going to be on my back, and I will coach with this baby.”
Congratulations to Samantha Erger and the new addition to her family!
