University of Tennessee Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Director of Sports Medicine - Volleyball / Golf (W) / Co-Manager of East Athletic Training Room
- Email:
- Phone:
- (865) 974-1916
Sammie Charters joined the sports medicine staff full time in June of 2015. She was promoted to Assistant Director of Sports Medicine in July 2025 and continues to serve as Co-Manager of the East Athletic Training Room. She is the primary athletic trainer for the volleyball and women’s golf teams. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, she oversees the Athletic Trainers for Softball, M/W tennis, M/W Swim & Dive, and the Intern Athletic Trainer for the Tennessee spirit programs. Her current administrative duties include adidas ordering and inventory, new staff orientation and onboarding, oversees Intern ATC programming & and serves as the women’s health liaison.
In the fourth season for Charters in 2025, Tennessee reached the NCAA Tournament for the fifth-straight year, while eclipsing 20 wins for the 26th time since 1973. Setter Caroline Kerr reached All-America status for the third season in a row, becoming the first Lady Vol since Nikki Fowler to garner All-American honors in three-straight seasons. Kerr reached the 3,000 career assist mark in 2025, the seventh player in program history to reach that milestone. Charters also worked with outside hitter Hayden Kubik. The senior outside hitter received First Team All-SEC and AVCA First Team All-Region recognition following a season where she led the team in kills (390), kills per set (4.19), points (431.0), and points per set (4.63), while ranking in the top ten in the conference in both kills per set and points per set.
In Charters' third season with volleyball, the Lady Vols returned to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season in 2024. Outside hitter Nina Cajic earned All-America second team honors from the AVCA after breaking the Tennessee single-match record and SEC modern era record for kills (42) as well as UT's 25-point rally-scoring era record for aces in a match (7) and aces per set (0.39) in a single season. Caroline Kerr garnered All-America honors for the second year in a row, becoming the first setter in program history to earn recognition in multiple seasons.
During Charters’ second season with volleyball, the Lady Vols enjoyed one of the best campaigns in program history in 2023, advancing to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2005, hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 and earning the program's best-ever national seed at No. 10. She worked with four All-Americans, including 2023 AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Morgahn Fingall as well as freshman standout and All-SEC setter Caroline Kerr.
A staple with the program since the 2016-17 season, Charters continues to serve women’s golf during an impressive stretch, as the team boasts eight NCAA Regional appearances in nine years (excludes the 2019-20 season) and three NCAA Championships berths in 2019, 2025, and 2026. During the 2025-26 golf season, the Lady Vols set a program record with four tournament wins, capped by the team's first-ever SEC Championship, a landmark moment for the program. Additionally, UT compiled an overall record of 138-52-3, eclipsing the 100 head-to-head wins mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2010-11 and 2011-12. Throughout her time with the program, Charters has worked with two-time All-American Anna Newell, All-Americans Kyra Van Kan and Madison Messimer, and All-SEC performer Michaela Williams.
Charters previously served as the athletic trainer for Tennessee softball from 2015-2022. During her seven seasons with the Lady Vols, UT hosted the NCAA Knoxville Regional every year, reached the Super Regional round three times and finished top-4 in the Southeastern Conference on five occasions. She oversaw medical care for 14 All-SEC players and five NFCA All-Americans, including 2017 SEC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year Finalist Meghan Gregg.
Charters also served as a two-year graduate assistant athletic trainer at Tennessee from 2013-2015, earning a Master of Science in Recreation and Sport Management. She worked directly with the Lady Vol tennis team.
Prior to arrival at Tennessee, Charters worked as an Intern Athletic Trainer at Missouri State University for the 2012-2013 season. There she was responsible for the health care of the field hockey and women's cross-country teams.
A native of Chesapeake, VA, Charters received her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from James Madison University in 2012. While at JMU, she worked directly with JMU Women’s Soccer, East Mennonite University spring sports, JMU Football, and JMU Softball. She worked various summer camps as a sports medicine student at the University of Virginia, College of William & Mary, and Old Dominion University in 2010 and 2011. Additionally, she served as the Madison Athletic Training Student Association President and earned the JMU Director’s award her senior year.
Charters is a board-certified athletic trainer and licensed through the Tennessee Board of Health. She is trained in Sound Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (SASTM), Myofascial Decompression, Level II Kinesiotaping, Level I Graston Technique, certified in Blood Flow Restriction Therapy through Northeastern Seminars & BStrong, QPR Institute, McKenzie Spine Institute Course A, Postural Respiration Institute Myokinematic course, Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and Integrative Dry Needling (IDN) Level I. She regularly attends the SEC Sports Medicine Conference and the Female Athlete Conference in Boston, MA. She has also served as an American Heart Association CPR instructor since 2019.
Updated: July 2026
