Redshirt freshman setter Brynn Covell committed to the Sun Devils last year but with a veteran-stunned team, she didn't see any playing time. Nevertheless, being determined and talented, Covell set forth this season to make a name for herself on the court.
Covell has racked up significant play-time this season compared to the other six underclassmen girls, with her debut dating back to the first game against Butler. Since then, she has proved to her coaches and teammates that she deserved her chance to play.
"Brynn is a very steady player," assistant coach Preslie Anderson said. "She earned her spot on the court this year because she is steady and she is for sure one of our most consistent players. While she is technically a setter, she can really do it all for the team."
This season Covell has been dealing with the adjustments of switching from her natural setter position to a defensive specialist because transfer graduate setter Argentina Ung took over that role. While she's been successful, it's difficult for her to take on because both require different reads of the game.
"Taking this new role and only focusing on that has been a little tough," Covell said. "There's just a lot of moving pieces," Covell said.
Senior outside hitter Geli Cyr sees Covell hold herself to high standards in games, and with her strong game mentality, physicality and athleticism, she feels Covell will continue to do very well. Covell already has 140 digs, 94 assists and 19 aces in her new role.
"Yeah Brynn's great," Cyr said. "She just started playing more this year which is awesome. I've been seeing her put a lot of work in the offseason so I'm just really proud of her."
Covell didn't go into this position completely blind, as she has a past in beach volleyball. She said she's found this experience to be a cool way to shift back into that and is grateful for the chance to prove herself worthy.
Covell started playing volleyball when she was around nine years old after watching her older sister play growing up. After taking one lesson, she fell in love with the sport and took off from there.
She went on to play club early on in high school before she transferred to Crossroads Flex in North Carolina, an athletics-focused school, in her junior year where she trained all the time.
Covell believes her time at the academy plays a great part in crafting her mindset and her skills. She said being part of an athletic school where every student had the same goal of becoming a D1 athlete helped drive her toward her goal.
The game mentality she built there frames herself as a winner. She said she plays in a composed and competitive rhythm. She wants her team to count on her to help fight and do whatever it takes to win games.
"Brynn is someone we want on the back of the line serving match point or to send us into the fifth set," Anderson said. "I always tell Brynn, 'There's nobody better for the job,' and I mean it. She has the confidence in herself and her teammates and our coaching staff has the confidence in her that she can get it done at any point."
Anderson said she believes she is one of the best servers and defenders on the roster. Her game style feeds positively onto the team because she is so balanced in every play factor.
Covell gives credit to those she treads behind such as Ung and one of last season's stars, graduate setter Shannon Shields.
"The IQ that our team has had in the past and has now is so good," Covell said. "It's cool for me to watch. Last year I got to watch Shannon and the same now with Argentina. I get to see why they make the decisions they make when they make them, and how they play and read the game … I've learned a lot these past two years, it's crazy."
The program is filled with seasoned players, but Covell has become very appreciative of being part of a team that values their freshmen and helps build them into future leaders. This year, she's the head of the community committee, which means a lot to her, and she uses that leadership on the court.
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"I think it gives us that confidence in a game because yeah I'm younger but if off the court I'm given opportunities, on the court is the same thing," Covell said. "It builds a lot of trust letting us hold each other accountable with those committees and I think that's cool."
Covell also said she sees beauty and surrealism in the youth of her career with tons of support from girls who are just like her when they come to watch the team play. She said she remembers when that used to be her in North Carolina thinking those girls she watched were the coolest people.
She said she often reminisces over a piece of wisdom her dad told her when she first started and how she wants young girls to learn from her as they continue to support her journey here as a Sun Devil.
"The first thing he told me when I got to college was 'remember where you were'… I think when I see kids here, it makes me think of little me," Covell said.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Madeline Schmitke.
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