Brawley gets second chance with volleyball team
While many would respond to rejection by moping, junior Samantha Brawley took rejection and used it as motivation.
It was a long journey for Brawley to get to where she is today; a team captain of the Central Michigan volleyball team.
The Niles high school graduate actually contacted head coach Erik Olson and CMU first and had him come watch her as a junior in high school.
“I wanted to be a teacher, so it was either here or Western (Michigan University) and I felt Western was too close to home,” Brawley said.
Olson attended her game and came out unimpressed, rejecting Brawley, but that wouldn’t be the last time he’d see her.
Months later, Brawley got a second chance, trying out with one other girl for assistant coach Dave Zelenock. Olson arrived to the tryout with 15 minutes to spare, but those 15 minutes changed Brawley’s career.
“She wasn’t all that good when she tried out, but something about her made me think she would get there, so we decided to invest our time in her,” Olson said. Brawley started practicing with the team and eventually joined the program.
On Aug. 29, 2009 Brawley made her CMU volleyball debut against Florida A & M and was 4-4 with her service receptions and went 6-6 during the season.
“She has won our spirit award two years in a row and has brought a lot of light to the team,” Olson said. “She’s kind of the mom of the team; she always knows what is going on and what we need to do.”
But while she is considered the mom of the team, Brawley doesn’t think making the team would’ve been possible without the help of her own mother, Cindy Cataldo.
“She knew that I loved volleyball and when I started I wasn’t really good and I wanted to just focus on cross-country, but she told me to stay with it,” Brawley said. “She actually was the one who contacted coach Olson first and he always makes fun of me for that.”
