Johanna Ray Lands Full College Scholarship

Former middle hitter, Johanna Ray, faced several challenges when she got back on the court for her senior season.

She hadn’t played organized volleyball since middle school. She had no car and no one to give her rides to and from practices. She lived with her grandmother whose health was declining.

But after some coaxing from her King and club season teammate Mallory Brooks, Ray decided it was time to prove herself.

It wasn’t easy at first. Ray waited in the rain for the bus to take her home from practices. She didn’t have time to do homework. Her grades slipped.

That’s when King varsity volleyball coach Cookie Mitchell stepped in.

“I have always wanted to make a difference in kids’ lives, and the minute Johanna walked into the gym and I got familiar with her situation, I immediately felt like she was the one I was meant to make a difference with,” Mitchell said.

Ray was doing great on the court. Last season, for example, she had 32 kills, 36 blocks and 25 digs. That helped her gain attention from colleges.

“I would say for any other player coming in during their senior season and trying to play volleyball for the first time in high school would have been a huge challenge,” Mitchell said. “However, it was not that way for her. She was very determined to get up to the learning curve and it was much easier for her.”

But Ray needed a mentor, and Mitchell took the role. She even let Ray move in with her and her husband earlier this year.

The goal was always to get Ray playing volleyball in college—on a full scholarship. That notion seemed almost out of reach to Ray. No one in her family had ever been to college. But Mitchell never doubted Ray’s abilities.

“We studied with her and made sure she kept an eye on those grades,” Mitchell said. “I knew she had it in her.”

Ray improved her grades so much that she made the honor roll the first two semesters of her senior year.

Once King’s regular season ended, it was time for the club season to start. Rays' skills and grades had been improving, and that's when schools started to take notice. She received offers from Blackhawk College in Illinois and Broward Community College.

“Coach helped me through everything this season,” Ray said. “Without her individual attention I would not have gotten these offers. She really pushed me to work on my grades and she made sure I did not give up.”

However, neither school offered a full scholarship, and that’s what Ray really needed. During the club season, a private donor stepped forward to sponsor Ray and to assist with the cost of her volleyball uniform.

Then, at the first tournament of the club season, a representative from Polk State College pulled Mitchell aside and said that the school would offer Ray a full scholarship.

On national signing day in February, Ray was at the table and committed to attending Polk State College. According to her coach, it was the perfect fit for Ray.

“Before she got any offers, she told me that she wanted to study criminal justice in college,” Mitchell said. “When Polk offered the scholarship, we looked and saw that they in fact had a criminal justice program.”

At Polk State College, the criminal justice program is taught in the same building as the gym, making it the perfect fit for Ray.

Mitchell even took Ray to the campus last month, a moment that she described as surreal.

“It was such a good feeling when I dropped her off in Lakeland and set up her room for college," she said. "I know she is going to do well there.”

According to Ray, she could not have gotten to this point in her life without Mitchell’s individualized attention.

“This past year has been crazy and I am just so glad I had my coach there to help me through all of it,” she said.