When Mikela Waugh decided to attend Virginia Commonwealth University after graduating from Warwick High School in 2017, she passed up a chance to play collegiate volleyball.
However, nearly 10 years later at age 27, she’s a key player on the Virginia Peninsula Community College team, which competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). At VCU, she played on the club team and later in adult recreation leagues.
“I never really thought I’d play in another formal, organized situation,” she said. “I just assumed it’d be adult leagues until I stopped playing.”
She struggled to find a job in her field (psychology) and in 2025 worked remotely from home processing data before layoffs hit.
“I took that as a sign that I probably need to go back to school,” she said.
She mentioned her plans to a fellow coach at Coastal Hampton Roads Volleyball Club. He coached at VPCC at the time and suggested she attend the College and play for him. She enrolled in fall 2025 and joined the volleyball team, although that coach had left for another position.
She was first drawn to VPCC by its Dental Hygiene program. However, the program was paused. But she didn’t want to wait so she’s working on her associate degree in Health Science. She’s considering transferring to VCU or Old Dominion University for dental hygiene or obtaining a master’s in counseling.
“I’m not entirely sure, honestly,” she said. “I think I’m going to see how I feel at the end of this associate (degree).”
She does know she wants a profession where she interacts with people. She got bored working from home during the pandemic.
For now, she’s getting a lot of that on the volleyball court. In addition to playing for the Gators, she’s an assistant coach at VA Wave and York High School. She said being a player has been “interesting” and it has benefitted her coaching.
“Having different coaches’ perspectives has helped me grow as a coach. It’s helping me help players,” she said. “It also helps me understand my players more too because I haven’t played since I was 18 myself.”
She’s particularly excited about implementing the drills she learned in her VPCC practices into her coaching plans. She admittedly struggles sometimes going between the coaching and playing roles, and isn’t sure which one she prefers.
“Honestly, I love them equally,” she said. “I enjoy watching players grow and then seeing things click with my players at tournaments and at games. But I also really enjoy playing. I love both.”
She is the oldest player on the team, and one of her teammates just turned 18 in September.
“It’s interesting seeing how kids change. There are some similarities,” she said. “I find myself not feeling old most of the time until they bring up something when I was 10, and they were 2.”
No one teases her about her age. And she usually doesn’t feel old except during cardio conditioning.
“I think if nobody told them how old I was, they wouldn’t know,” she said.
She’s enjoying being part of a team and is thankful for the opportunity. Her last home matches for VPCC are Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (11 a.m. and 3 p.m.) at SafeHaven Empowerment Center.
“Sometimes I feel a little embarrassed,” she admitted. “But everybody that I talk to, my friends and my family and parents of kids that I coach, they think it’s really cool. So, I guess I have to change my own mindset about it.”
For more information on Gators athletics, go to www.vpccgators.com.
