Notre Dame's epic comeback Sunday against Louisville culminated in a decisive kill by junior setter Maggie Brindock. The kill gave the Irish their first win over a top-25 team since 2009 and announced them as contenders for a Big East championship.
Making strong statements is nothing new for Brindock, as the junior from Rockwall, Texas, is one of three team captains. She said she was humbled by how much her teammates and coaches respected her leadership.
"It is such an honor knowing all my teammates and coaches believe I can take on this job," Brindock said. "It is just a great honor knowing I can lead this team and have a big impact on them."
Brindock grew up in a volleyball household and credited her sister with cultivating her love of the sport
"I started doing YMCA ball around the fourth grade," Brindock said. "My sister played volleyball collegiately at Angelo State, which is a small Division II school, so she had a lot of influence. We were always competing in the backyard. We were always peppering and she was always teaching me a lot."
Although she excelled at the sport at a young age, volleyball was not her first love. She participated in gymnastics at younger ages and did not play at high levels of volleyball until high school.
"I did gymnastics all through middle school and high school and volleyball was kind of a late-blooming thing," Brindock said. "The first time I started playing competitively was as a freshman in high school."
Her high school career was marked by tremendous achievements on and off the court. She was a four-year letter winner in volleyball as well as an outstanding student. Brindock was a three-time academic all-district representative and a member of the National Honor Society.
This type of academic prowess, as well as her skills on the volleyball court, made her an ideal recruit for the Irish. While Brindock knew little about the school before she visited, she immediately fell in love when she arrived on campus.
"I really knew nothing about Notre Dame coming from Texas," Brindock said. "My dad was always the big person at the qualifiers. He would hand out my resume to all the teams and coaches and when he saw Notre Dame, he was like 'oh, you have to go there,' because we are Catholic and that was a big deal.
"I was looked at by Colorado State and Tulsa, but Notre Dame was just the special place. When I came to campus, the people here and the community just made it an automatic, easy decision."
Brindock and the rest of the Notre Dame squad will next be in action Saturday against Marquette at 2 p.m. in the Purcell Pavilion.
Contact Joe Wirth at
jwirth@nd.edu
