{"id":4974,"date":"2026-01-05T06:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=4974"},"modified":"2026-01-05T09:59:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T14:59:23","slug":"serving-aces-on-and-off-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2026\/01\/serving-aces-on-and-off-the-court\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0Serving Aces On and Off the Court\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

To call Niamh Campbell a student athlete would not be incorrect, just\u00a0somewhat inadequate. Sure,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0starting her third year on a\u00a0Division\u00a01 tennis team after being voted co-captain by her teammates and was chosen as her class\u2019s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2024-25. Yes, she has a 4.0 grade-point average. But\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0also a polished, capable journalist and commentator on Pirate Sports Network (PSN), an enthusiastic cook, an avid movie watcher and a Formula 1 racing aficionado.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0hard to figure out how she has time for it all. \u201cShe\u2019s got a 30-hour day that I haven\u2019t figured out how to unlock yet,\u201d says women\u2019s tennis coach James Enzler.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Campbell\u2019s path to Seton Hall was circuitous. She claims two hometowns \u2014 Phoenix, Arizona, where her parents live now, and Manchester, England, where she spent time growing up. But she spent her last two years of high school at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite focusing heavily on tennis there, it was academics that sparked Campbell\u2019s interest in Seton Hall after her parents texted her photos of a brochure they received in the mail. When she read about the new Center for Sports Media, she knew she had to look more closely. She applied and was accepted before even having a conversation with Enzler.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When they did finally speak, via Zoom, he was quick to see Campbell would be an asset to the team. As he tells his players,\u00a0\u201ctalent\u00a0will get your foot in the door, but then it\u2019s dependent on the calls we have,\u201d he explains. \u201cWith the maturity she showed during that call I was immediately like, yes, if you\u2019re coming to Seton Hall, I am happy to create a space for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s\u00a0risen to No. 1 in doubles on the\u00a0team, but\u00a0hopes to get more time on the court in singles this year \u2014 if\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what the team needs. She also runs the team\u2019s social media presence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Off the court and out of the classroom, she works as much as she can for PSN, where\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0gained experience as a production assistant, reporter, play-by-play\u00a0announcer\u00a0and color commentator. Being in front of the camera talking to viewers appeals to her the\u00a0most, and\u00a0is what she sees herself doing after graduation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even in the offseason, her daily routine may seem daunting: classes in the morning before lunch and homework, a couple of hours of team practice followed by soaks in the hot and cold tubs, and, some days,\u00a0working\u00a0a game for PSN. And then\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0home to\u00a0finish up\u00a0any schoolwork and hang out with friends,\u00a0cooking\u00a0and\u00a0watching\u00a0a movie.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t put 100% into something, I feel like I\u2019ve failed,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But her\u00a0other\u00a0motivator\u00a0is more personal.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Campbell was 10, her parents explained that her brother had been diagnosed with autism. \u201cThey were telling me there\u2019s a possibility I\u2019ll have to take care of my brother for the rest of my life, and there\u2019s stuff that he\u2019s not going to be able to do,\u201d she says. \u201cJust hearing\u00a0that, and\u00a0knowing the responsibility that could potentially come for me in the future \u2014 I just knew that if my brother might not be able to do this, then I want to be able to do it. I want to set myself up in life where I can be successful and be there for him whenever he might need me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her coach takes it on faith that Campbell is prepared to meet any challenge. \u201cSo many times you hear friends, players, people just have very large ambitions of what they want to do in life,\u201d Enzler says. \u201cShe\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0really special\u00a0player\u2026\u00a0really special\u00a0friend,\u00a0really special\u00a0teammate. I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have\u00a0a shadow of a doubt\u00a0that given any opportunity,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0going to fulfill it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harris Fleming is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To call Niamh Campbell a student athlete would not be incorrect, just\u00a0somewhat inadequate. Sure,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0starting her third year on a\u00a0Division\u00a01 tennis team after being voted co-captain by her teammates and was chosen as her class\u2019s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2024-25. Yes, she has a 4.0 grade-point average. But\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0also a polished, capable journalist and commentator on…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading\u00a0Serving Aces On and Off the Court\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5820,"featured_media":4948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[351,10,323,6,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-2025-2029","category-sports","category-sports-2","category-students","category-university-life","entry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5820"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4975,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4974\/revisions\/4975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}