Window Rock's Allyson Everson Commits to Volleyball at Central Maine CC

Allyson Everson, a senior at Window Rock High School on the Navajo Nation, has committed to play volleyball at Central Maine Community College in Auburn, Maine, adding her name to a small but growing list of Navajo Nation athletes who have made the cross-country journey to suit up for the Mustangs.

The commitment carries real geographic weight. Window Rock High School sits in Fort Defiance, Arizona, roughly 2,500 miles from CMCC's campus on Turner Street in Auburn. For families in the Fort Defiance and Window Rock area, where many households straddle the Arizona-New Mexico border and the community anchors much of McKinley County's cultural identity, a college placement that far from home requires navigating recruitment exposure, travel costs, and institutional support that simply aren't a given for student-athletes in rural Native communities.

That path has been walked before. Tiara Begishe, who grew up in Kayenta on the Navajo Nation, earned a sports scholarship to play volleyball at CMCC and went on to achieve All-American status with the program. She has since returned to Auburn as the Mustangs' assistant coach, a position she holds heading into the 2025-26 season alongside first-year head coach Hanna Webster. That presence, a Navajo coach who made the same leap and stayed, gives the program a credibility with Diné families that few community colleges in New England can claim.

CMCC competes in the Yankee Small College Conference. The Mustangs reached the conference quarterfinals in October 2025 before falling 3-2 to NHTI, a sign of a program competitive enough to provide meaningful playing time while still being accessible at the junior college level.

For coaches and parents in McKinley County working through the recruiting process, Everson's path underscores a specific lesson: visibility beyond state lines matters, and programs with existing ties to the Navajo Nation represent realistic, verified landing spots. The junior college route, particularly at a school like CMCC, also preserves eligibility and gives athletes two years to develop before pursuing a four-year transfer.

Everson will wear Window Rock's identity to Maine. The Fighting Scouts program, under head coach Amelia Holtsoi, has built one of the more competitive rosters in the region, and her commitment reflects on the program's ability to prepare athletes for the next level.