Notre Dame's Brennan may be a basketball player first, but she's the 2016 Southeast Missourian Volleyball Player of the Year

Friday, February 3, 2017

Sam Brennan comes from a volleyball family. Her mother played in college. Her sister was a four-year starter at Notre Dame High School, where Brennan shines as a two-sport athlete.

So growing up, Brennan played the sport. But it wasn't until high school that she came to develop a true passion for the game, thanks to coach Tara Stroup.

The longtime taskmaster, who stepped down after this past season to pursue other opportunities, pushed and prodded Brennan, and the player responded. This year, Brennan capped her career with a stellar campaign of more than 300 kills and digs, earning her the title of 2016 Southeast Missourian Volleyball Player of the Year.

The girl who played the sport as a kid because her older sister did morphed into a force on the court. While her first love remains basketball, Brennan cherished her four years with Bulldogs volleyball, especially the final three seasons when she played varsity under Stroup.

"I came in freshman year really loving basketball, and I still love basketball," said Brennan, who will play basketball at Benedictine College. "But my love for volleyball grew because she was my coach and showed me what to do and never really got mad at me, just kind of pushed me to do my best and that was really awesome."

Notre Dame's Sam Brennan spikes the ball past Jackson's Montana Stoner and Olivia Wendel during the first set of the championship game in the SEMO Conference tournament Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016 in Scott City.

Fred Lynch

Brennan was a three-year starter for the Bulldogs, following in the footsteps of her sister, Shannon, who was the first freshman to start on varsity during Stroup's 15-year reign (Sam's teammate Lexi Welter was the second). Her mother, Sandy, played at Saint Louis University.

As a kid, Brennan played the sport because she always had a ball in her hand and looked up to her older sister; as a sophomore, her first season on varsity, she began to develop more of a passion for her game.

Suddenly, the speed of the game picked up, and Brennan loved it.

"I don't like slow stuff," Brennan said. "I hate that there's not like a 30-second shot clock in [high school] basketball. That really bugs me because it's not fast, it's all slow. So as soon as I got to the varsity level it got so much faster, and I just loved it. Like, the ball coming at you at 50 miles per hour, you're like 'Okay, I'll get this.'"

Playing for Stroup and with her friends helped that love grow. Soon, Brennan was Stroup's voice on the court, assuming a leadership role midway through her junior season. Off the court, a personal relationship blossomed, too. Their personalities meshed well -- Stroup and Brennan are both sarcastic, the coach said, and had a similar sense of humor. Brennan is done playing for Stroup, and the two still keep in touch.

"Me and her will randomly just talk now, and it's awesome because she's the reason I love volleyball so much," Brennan said.

Stroup spent 15 years at the helm, in which she won over 400 games. Throughout all those seasons and victories, Brennan stands out.

"As far as overall players in all this time she's definitely among the top as far as just I enjoyed working with her, personality-wise, work ethic-wise, athletic-wise," Stroup said. "She's one of my favorite kids I've ever had."

Stroup can't recall a practice in which Brennan didn't come in ready to work. She had an insatiable fire to win, even during serving drills in practice. That competitive drive coupled with her athleticism and an insatiable work ethic is what makes Brennan such a great player, according to Stroup.

This season, Brennan finished with 357 kills and 318 digs as she earned Class 3 second-team All-State and SEMO Conference Player of the Year accolades.

"First of all, she's an exceptional athlete, so that helps, but I've had a lot of other girls over the years that have been super athletes but have been missing that competitive drive or whatever," Stroup said. "But Sam is like a perfect package. She's a good athlete, but she's also very competitive. And she has that desire to win."

Fittingly, when Stroup captured her 400th career win against Jackson in the SEMO Conference Tournament final this past season, it was Brennan's kill that sealed the victory. Brennan, who had 21 kills and 17 digs in the championship match, then turned and pointed to her coach.

"That was for you coach," Stroup recalled Brennan saying.

2016 All-Missourian Volleyball - Sam Brennan - Notre Dame

Andrew J. Whitaker

A game earlier, setter Maddie McClintock had broken the single-season school assists record, topping the 744-mark set by Sam Feeney the prior season. McClintock finished the year with 843 assists.

Feeney was one of three key contributors from that 2015 district-winning team the Bulldogs had to replace. That trio included 2015 Southeast Missourian and Semoball Awards Volleyball Player of the Year Abbie McAlister.

In order to compensate for those losses everyone had to chip in a little more, Brennan said. She also became Notre Dame's primary hitter after watching McAlister excel in that role last fall.

"She was our go-to hitter and in the year before that wasn't the case," Stroup said. "She knew Abbie would get the majority of the sets, and she would get them when Abbie wasn't in the front row or if we needed to set outside. So she didn't need to carry that load her junior year.

"But her senior year she did. In some games if she couldn't get going we were in trouble. So I think she stepped up and took that role in stride. Sam is very confident. That's one of the key things about her. She can make a mistake and shake her head and say 'Just set me again. I'm ready for the next one.' Some kids it really gets in their heads if they get blocked right back in their face, their confidence just hits the floor. If they block her back in her face it makes her mad. Like, 'All right, give me another one. I'll get it by them.'"

2016 All-Missourian Volleyball - Maddie McClintock, left, and Sam Brennan, right - Notre Dame

Andrew J. Whitaker

Stroup saw a change in Brennan midway through her junior season when the two set down and talked about her taking on more of a leadership role. Brennan embraced that challenge and rode the confidence from her end of the season displays, including a solid performance in the district final against Dexter, into her senior campaign. Against the Bearcats, Brennan finished with seven kills, including an emphatic opening spike that set the tone, Stroup said.

"When we ended up winning districts I think they were all on cloud nine after that, so they were really ready to go for her senior year," Stroup said. "At that point, I told her after the end of her junior year, 'I know you think you're a basketball player, Sam Brennan, but I hate to tell you, you're a volleyball player.'

"Because she's always so interested in basketball, but she ended up getting all-conference and all-region and a lot of things her junior year, those postseason recognitions that I really don't think she thought she was going to get. So kind of when she got recognized for a few of those things I think that kind of made her go, 'Huh, I am pretty good at volleyball.'"

This past summer as Brennan split time between personal workouts, volleyball commitments, AAU basketball and high school basketball sessions -- "She probably didn't have much of a summer because a lot of it was spent practicing and training for both sports," Stroup said.

Notre Dame didn't end up repeating as Class 3 District 1 champions, falling to Dexter in three sets in the semifinals, but Brennan enjoyed the ride with her peers.

"We just had such good chemistry on the court," Brennan said. "It was crazy because we've played together. And some of them didn't play varsity all four years, but they were with us all four years. Then senior year they finally got their chance to be on the court all the time, and we did really good and I was really proud of us.

"It was just so fun just to have the person beside you -- you love the person beside you -- you love the person to the other side of you. All of it together was just awesome."

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com

Notre Dame's Sam Brennan gets some low fives from her teammates during the Bulldogs second set against the Dexter Bearcats on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Notre Dame won 22-25, 25-21, 25-23.

With the loss to Dexter this season, Brennan's competitive volleyball career ended. Stroup believes Brennan could have played volleyball in college, but understands that basketball came first for her pupil. At one point, Brennan even considered playing both sports, Stroup said, but decided the demands of two sports in college would proved too much as she pursues a career in nursing, following her father into the medical field.

Her love of basketball also comes from her dad, and her brother. Both played the sport, and her brother Stephen starred for Notre Dame's baseball team.

"I was a tomboy when I was younger," Brennan said. "So the spandex and the cute little uniforms didn't really appeal to me. It was more of the basketball uniform. I always followed my brother around.

"My brother really liked basketball. I always played with him. That's kind of where that came from I think. I've always had that little connection with basketball."

So with basketball season in full swing, Brennan is back on the court. This time, instead of a net in the center, there are baskets at each end. She looks forward to continuing to play the sport in college at NAIA-member Benedictine.

A couple of weeks ago, Brennan donned the Bulldogs' volleyball uniform for at least one more time as she posed for photos. The coach that got her engaged with the game, Stroup, wasn't there to beam with pride. But when she talked about Brennan days later the happiness in her voice was unmistakable.

Because this time, Brennan's skills spiking the ball, not shooting it, were being honored.

"I'm just really proud of her," Stroup said. "I'm glad she was able to be recognized for her volleyball skills because as I told her last year she is a very good volleyball player."