Player profile: Samantha Bricio

I wanted to do a profile on someone not from the US or Brazil, and the best I could do was someone who plays college ‘ball in the US. Rest assured, though, even at the tender age of 17, Samantha ‘Samy‘ Bricio’s story is already a good one.

Bricio hails from Guadalajara, capital city of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. She began her international career at just 15 years of age, playing for Mexico’s U-18 national team in the 2010 NORCECA Youth Championship. Their silver medal there qualified them for the 2011 Girls Youth World Championships, where Bricio also played, but Mexico finished a distant 12th.

She debuted with the senior national team just a few months after the NORCECA Youth Championship, playing at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games (a multi-national event with 32 possible participating nations). The Mexican team finished the tourney fifth, and it’s really because of Bricio that they were able to do that well at all. When I first heard that she, at freaking 15, was part of the senior national team at this tourney, I figured she was a bench-warmer, but she was actually the team’s leading scorer. Check out the boxscore for Mexico’s win over Nicaragua in the the 5th place classification match. Nobody brings their A#1 team to a tourney like this, and you don’t exactly think Nicaragua when you think volleyball, even in terms of Central America, but I wouldn’t expect a 15 year old to be that effective, notching 8 kills, a block, and a downright staggering 5 service aces. She won two all-tournament awards, being named Best Scorer and Best Server. At 15 years of age. Have I pounded that point home enough yet? :p I mean, look at her page for that tournament, which includes a photo. She was a freaking child.

She played at three different international levels in 2011, at the age where most of us are stressing out over when we are ever going to get to drive a car (not me, I hate driving and always have, but that’s what most 16 year olds go through I think). At the first Youth Pan-American Cup and Junior Pan-American Cup, Bricio again led her teams, taking Best Scorer all tournament honors at each as Mexico won silver at the youth event and took 4th place at the Junior event (I think the difference is U-18 against U-21). This marked the fourth time Bricio had taken all-tournament honors in an international competition. She also played at the Pan-American Games, and is now a regular in the Mexican national team’s starting lineup. No more youth or juniors play for Samy.

Then, of course, came USC. Bricio has said that playing with the women of Troy is actually easier for her than her past experiences because she’s playing with teammates and opponents (roughly) her same age, where that has not usually been the case when playing for flag and country. And the successes and accolades have been rolling in. Forget the ‘Pac-12 Freshman of the Week’ honors that are practically hers before they’re even handed out — she’s also been named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (first true freshman ever to be so named) and has also been named National Player of the Week following two ludicrous matches against the Arizona schools:

against Arizona — 22 kills, 11 digs, .475 hitting percentage

against Arizona State — 24 kills, 16 digs, .317 hitting percentage

Yeah, a .317 hitting night was her “bad” performance of the week. For the Arizona-double shot, that’s a cumulative .380 hitting percentage and a downright silly average of over six and a half kills per set. Six kills in a match wouldn’t be a terrible total (for a middle, anyway). Bricio is the first Trojan freshman to be named National Player of the Week since, oh, I don’t know, April Ross.

The sky’s the absolute limit for a player like this. One would hope her early successes don’t go to her head, because there’s always still room for learning and improvement. As Karch Kiraly noted in the coverage of the big USC-UCLA match a few weeks ago, Bricio seemed a bit too enthusiastic at making offensive shots during her back-row rotations, which led to attacking errors and easy points for the other side. Kiraly suggested she should focus more on defense in her back-row rotations, and if needed, just send a free ball over to make the other side work for their points. I don’t doubt that something that USC coach Mick Haley has gone over with her. The really scary thing about Bricio is that she may not even be done growing yet. She was 6 feet even at the Central American and Caribbean Games (a 6 foot, 15 year old girl! My gawd), was listed at 6’1″ at the Pan-American Games, and is now listed at 6’2″ at USC.

Bricio’s the sort of player I could totally see transitioning to the beach after her college career is over. You don’t really think of Mexico as a volleyball powerhouse, and while they could build their indoor team around her, it’s easier to find one additional skilled player than 5-10, and she’s showing the kind of two-way ability you need to succeed on the beach. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she followed the same career path as April Ross.

But that’s years from now. She still has what looks to be a brilliant college career to complete first, one which will no doubt take off with an NCAA tournament run for the women of Troy this November and December.