CORNING, N.Y. (WENY) - Corning's Amanda Stephens has played for the Corning Rugby Club team for the past two years. After a strong couple of seasons, Stephens is set to compete at the Division I level.

Amanda signed on Tuesday to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Stephens has played soccer for over 10 years, and when one of her teammates convinced her to join rugby, she immediately fell in love with the sport. Stephens started in the New York Rugby State Championship match as a junior which her team won in 2023. Amanda is also a New York Rugby All-State High School Girls First Fifteen selection as an Inside Center. After competing in multiple tournaments in the Elite Girls Rugby League, Amanda was nominated and selected for the EGRL Select Side and she has also been selected to participate in multiple USA Rugby High School camps.

Stephens is enrolled in multiple AP classes and IB courses, and she is very active in the community. She is ready for this next step.

"Whether it was soccer or rugby, I've always wanted to play at the next level so this is definitely a surreal feeling and something that I'm going to remember probably for the rest of my life," Stephens said.

Amanda will join a Sacred Heart program that is 10-7 overall so far this season.

"I felt a sense of belonging there," she said. "The community, the school, when I went there my official visit was one of the best campus tours I've ever had. The team, the coaches, everything about the campus I loved."

"I'd like to thank Coach McGee, Coach Lararabee, my parents, my friends, my teammates, pretty much everyone in my life that allowed this signing to be possible," Stephens added.