Samantha Bricio (born November 22, 1994) is a Mexican

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

professional player, the youngest player to play for the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

in its history. Bricio played in the

2009 FIVB Girls Youth World Championship The FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship, 2009 FIVB Girls Youth Volleyball World Championship was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from 3 to 12 July 2009. 16 teams participated in the tournament. Qualification process Pools composi ...

(finishing ninth) and again in 2011, finishing twelfth. She received the

2010 Central American and Caribbean Games The 21st Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish: ''XXI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe, Mayagüez 2010'') took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 18 July 2010 to 1 August 2010. Bid It was understood that Mayagüez was going to b ...

Best Scorer and Best Server awards and the Best Scorer award in the 2011 Youth Pan-American Cup, 2011 Junior Pan-American Cup and the 2013 Pan-American Cup.

Personal life

Bricio, tall and weighing , was born on November 22, 1994 in Guadalajara, Jalisco and attended Preparatoria de Universidad del Valle de Atemajac de Guadalajara High School in Guadalajara. Bricio's brother, Irving Alberto José, was a member of the Mexico senior national team who won the 2007 Pan-American Cup and winner of the top Mexican sports award (the ''Luchador Olmeca''). Bricio received bachelor's degree in psychology in 2016 from

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Career

2008

After winning the gold medal in the Mexican National Games (''Olimpiada Nacional'') in the 13–14-year-old category, Bricio won the silver in the NORCECA U-18 Championship and qualified for the 2009 U-18 World Championships. She placed sixth with her national junior team in the 2008 NORCECA U-20 Championship, winning the Rising Star award for her performance at such a young age.

2009

Bricio played in the

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat of ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

as the team's youngest competitor, age 14. Her team made the second round for the first time, finishing ninth. Bricio's performance attracted the interest of the Mexican Volleyball Federation for the 2011 Pan American Games and the 2012 Olympics. At the end of the year, Bricio and her brother Irving received an award from the Guadalajara city council.

2010

She played in the Guadalajara Volleyball Festival as a junior before the National Games. Bricio then played for Mexico's youth volleyball team, winning a silver medal as Most Valuable Player in the NORCECA Youth Championship and qualifying for the 2011 Girls Youth World Championship. During her first international games with the senior team at the

, she won the Best Scorer and Best Server awards as Mexico finished fifth. At age 15, Bricio was the youngest player ever on the Mexico national team. She later won the Private High Schools National Championship with Preparatoria de Universidad del Valle de Atemajac de Guadalajara. Bricio received the Medal of Sporting Merit from the Guadalajara city council for her achievements in the NORCECA Continental Championship and the Central American and Caribbean Games, and won an athletic scholarship.

2011

In March, Bricio helped Jalisco (her regional team) to qualify for the National Games. Playing again with Mexico's junior team in the first Junior Pan-American Cup, she contributed to the team's fourth-place finish and received the Best Scorer award. Bricio later played in the first Girls' Youth Pan-American Cup, winning a silver medal and the Best Scorer award. She played in the High Performance championship in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, and was scouted by several colleges before deciding to attend the

. Bricio represented Mexico at the 2011 Girls Youth World Championship, where her team finished twelfth after a 0–3 loss to Italy. She and several teammates joined the National Junior Olympic Program to develop players for the 2011 Pan American Games and the

2014 Central American and Caribbean Games The 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games were held November 14–30, 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico.Sport page

. In September Bricio played in the senior continental championship, guiding her team to a fifth-place finish. She later represented Mexico at the
2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...
, where her team finished eighth after a 3–1 loss to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Bricio said she felt excited, but pressured, about playing at home. She won a one-year athletic scholarship and her second Medal of Sporting Merit from the Guadalajara city council.

2012
Bricio helped Preparatoria de Universidad del Valle de Atemajac de Guadalajara win the Private High Schools National Championship, and was selected for the All-Star team. She received a full athletic scholarship to the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
after receiving 12 offers, leading the
Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...
in August to a
Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
Invitational win and receiving the Most Valuable Player and Pac-12's Freshman of the Week awards. The Mexican Volleyball Federation used a
machine translation Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT (not to be confused with computer-aided translation, machine-aided human translation or interactive translation), is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates t ...
of Bricio's performance during the Invitational, leading to several mistranslations. After her first college season, Bricio was ''Volleyball Magazine''s NCAA Freshman of the Year and made the All-America third team. The American Volleyball Coaches Association gave her an All-America honorable mention. Bricio was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team, the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and the All-Pacific Region Team; she was named the AVCA Pacific Region and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and received the team's Best Scorer and Best Server awards. She represented Jalisco at the Mexican National Games (''Olimpiada Nacional''), winning the 17–18-year-old junior silver medal.

2013
Bricio began the year as #60 on the ''Smartasses Magazine'' Top 100 Sexiest Women List. She played in the 2013 Pan-American Cup with her U-20 national team as a warm-up for the
2013 FIVB Women's Junior World Championship The 2013 Women's Junior Volleyball World Championship was held in Czech Republic, for ten days between from 21 to 30 June 2013. This was the first edition of the tournament that features 20 teams. __TOC__ Qualification process Competition Form ...
, receiving the Best Scorer award. May 25, 2016

2016
While at USC, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best collegiate female volleyball player in 2016. Bricio played with the American
Premier Volleyball League The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) is a women's professional volleyball league in the Philippines organized by Sports Vision Management Group, Inc. The league began in 2004 as the Shakey's V-League, a women's collegiate league. Since 2011, the ...
club Chesapeake Rising Tide from
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
at the 2016 league tournament held along the Open National Championships. She helped her team to win the bronze medal after they lost to Team Iowa Ice but defeated Great Lakes Lightning to achieve the third place. She signed with the Italian league champion club
Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Conegliano and currently playing in the Serie A1. History The club was founded on 15 March 2012, two months after the bankruptcy of the other volleyball team in Conegliano. In April 2 ...
for two years, starting in the 2016/17 season. She made the All-Star game selection and later won the Italian Supercup defeating 3–1 to Foppapedretti Bergamo, where she became Most Valuable Player after leading her team with 24 points.

2017
In the 2016–17 CEV Champions League, Bricio helped her team in the pool play against and Chemik Police, another victories in the Italian Cup and helping to retake the domestic league first place. After that, she was sidelined from playing in February when she got a virus, even though, her team won the Italian Cup. She suffered a sprain during the second domestic league quarterfinals match, being unable to play the CEV Champions League Final Four hosted by her club, who claimed the silver medal.

Clubs
* Jalisco (2009–2012) * Chesapeake Rising Tide (2016) *
Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Conegliano and currently playing in the Serie A1. History The club was founded on 15 March 2012, two months after the bankruptcy of the other volleyball team in Conegliano. In April 2 ...
(2016–2018) * Fenerbahçe (2018–2019) * Pallavolo Scandicci (2019-2020) *
WVC Dynamo Kazan Dinamo Kazan (''russian: Динамо-Казань'') is a Russian women's volleyball club based in Kazan. The club was founded in 2002 and plays in the super league, the top Russian league. Previous names * Kazanochka (2002–2008) * Dinamo Kaz ...
(2020-2022 ) * Shanghai Bright Ubest (2020-Act )

Awards

College
* 2012 Texas A&M Invitational Most Valuable Player * 2012 AVCA All-America honorable mention * 2012 AVCA Pacific Region Freshman of the Year * 2012 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year * 2012 All-Pacific Region Team * 2012 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team * 2012 Pac-12 All-Conference Team * 2012 Volleyball Magazine's NCAA Freshman of the Year * 2012 Volleyball Magazine's All-America third team * 2015 AVCA National Player of the Year * 2015 Volleyball Magazine's Player of the Year * 2015 espnW National Volleyball Player of the Year * 2015 PrepVolleyball.com National Player of the Year * 2015 HERO Sport's National Volleyball Player of the Year *2016 Honda Sports Award for volleyball

Individuals
* ''2008 NORCECA Junior Championship "Rising Star"'' * ''2010 NORCECA Youth Championship "Most valuable player"'' * '' 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games "Best scorer"'' * '' 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games "Best server"'' * '' 2011 Youth Pan-American Cup "Best scorer"'' * '' 2011 Junior Pan-American Cup "Best scorer"'' * '' 2013 Pan-American Cup "Best scorer"'' * ''2016-17 Italian League "All-Star"'' * ''2016 Italian SuperCup "Most valuable player"''

Clubs
* 2016 Premier Volleyball League – Bronze medal, with Chesapeake Rising Tide * 2016 Italian SuperCup - Champion, with Imoco Volley * 2016-17 Italian Cup - Champion, with Imoco Volley * 2016–17 CEV Champions League - Runner-Up, with
Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Conegliano and currently playing in the Serie A1. History The club was founded on 15 March 2012, two months after the bankruptcy of the other volleyball team in Conegliano. In April 2 ...
* 2017-18 Italian League - Champion, with
Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Conegliano and currently playing in the Serie A1. History The club was founded on 15 March 2012, two months after the bankruptcy of the other volleyball team in Conegliano. In April 2 ...
* 2020 Russian Super Cup - Champion, with Dinamo Kazan Динамо-Ак Барс * 2020 Russian Cup - Champion, with Dinamo Kazan Динамо-Ак Барс

References

External links

FIVB Profile

Italian League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bricio, Samantha 1994 births Living people Mexican women's volleyball players Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Sportspeople from Guadalajara, Jalisco USC Trojans women's volleyball players