Written by Grace DeWitt, USC blog contributor
With a laundry list of accolades, including AVCA All-America Second Team, Pac-12 All-Conference Team, and Pac-12 All-Star Team in 2014 alone, it's hard to find something senior Samantha Bricio has not accomplished, but this year's USC women's volleyball captain still has a couple of goals in mind for her final season with the Trojans. First, reclaim the title of No. 1 server in the country, which she held as a sophomore in 2013. Add in winning a national championship, and Bricio has her work cut out for her. Her greatest challenge, however, has nothing to do with aces or W's.
"Normally, I'm a really quiet player. I don't really like to talk a lot, but now that I'm the captain, I know I have to talk more to help my teammates," explained the Mexican native, for whom English is a second language.
While a language barrier may have excused her from being more vocal in the past, the veteran knows it's time to shake her shyer disposition.
While a language barrier may have excused her from being more vocal in the past, the veteran knows it's time to shake her shyer disposition.
"I'm still working on it. When I'm playing, I don't like to be cheering and jumping, I'm not like that. I'm more like a quiet player," she said. "Now I have to communicate more, I have to talk more. It's going to be hard for me."
Bricio admits that as a young volleyball star growing up in Guadalajara, she had not even heard of the NCAA. That lack of awareness is something she hopes to change as she considers the legacy she'll leave behind when her time at USC comes to a close.
"For me, it's really important to give an example of someone from a different country, from Latin America, who can come here and do [what I've done]," said Bricio. "I don't know of a lot of players from Mexico, Guatemala, places like that in Central America or South America, so I think that's something that I really want to leave as a legacy. Letting little girls know they can do it--even in the U.S., even in collegiate volleyball--that's something I'm really excited about. That's something I really play for."
Bricio and the No. 22 ranked USC women's volleyball team host the Baden Invitational at the Galen Center this weekend, and start their season tonight against No. 7 North Carolina (Pac-12 Networks at 8 p.m. PT).
