Headstrong may be the politically correct way to say it, but Julianna Bryant is stubborn. So much for political correctness, but she would be the first to agree, followed by coaches and teammates and family …
Sometimes it’s justified. At other times it may be borderline. On occasions it may be downright silly — like when she refused to learn the steps on her approach to the net.
But as she puts it, when she “gets out of my head” and lets her talents and skills take over, the former Harlingen High star and now UTRGV freshman middle hitter can drop jaws in awe as quickly as she can hammer balls into the floor.
“The first time she came to us for training she was maybe a freshman, and she would just stand at the net and be athletic — ‘that’s what they tell me do’ — she would say,” UTRGV head coach Todd Lowery said. “She didn’t want to learn steps, and there was a lot of crying that day.
“At first, the ball was going all over the gym, but by the end of the first hour she took an approach on the outside and hit a ball that was inside the 10-foot line. People just can’t do that, especially at her age then.”
That was the beginning of a continuing process that is documenting the rapid growth of one of the Valley’s best all-around athletes turning into a NCAA Division I college volleyball star. There’s still plenty of growth and improvement coming, too — Bryant refuses to not let that happen. That’s where stubbornness is a positive reinforcement for the 6-foot-1 freshman.
“I never really believed in the potential that others were always seeing in me and I haven’t seen in myself,” Bryant said. “Everyone would say they believed in me, but it didn’t matter what everyone believed until I believed in myself.”
With the help of Lowery, the UTRGV coaching staff and teammate/setter/roommate Luanna Emiliano, that belief is manifesting into reality.
“(Luanna) has had a great impact on me,” Bryant said. “I came home one day trying to figure out if I was good enough to be here and I was really down, and she asked me why I was being so hard on myself. It’s because I expect to be perfect. I thought I was supposed to have all this potential but why wasn’t I playing?
“I have these expectations — I have to get out of my head sometimes and push myself — the mental game has always been my weakness. Luanna really opened my eyes and my mindset changed.”
Bryant has now played in 10 of the Vaqueros’ 19 matches, including the past five matches against WAC opponents. She had a breakout match against San Jose St., playing in all four sets and tallying eight kills and five assists on a .278 hitting clip. For the year she has 21 kills (all in the past seven matches) and 10 total blocks. And the script says “more to come.”
When it comes to people and potential, Lowery is masterful. He saw early on that there was no ceiling for Bryant’s potential, no opponent — other than herself — that could hold her back or slow her down. That’s when he’s at his best, bringing out the hidden greatness in so many of his players over the years.
“Juli has obviously been the best natural talent in the gym most of her life, whatever sport she was playing,” Lowery said. “But then she’s coming into an environment where there’s a bunch of Julis and the thing is to get her confident as a freshman — all the mental things.
“She just has such a natural pure arm swing and so strong and fast, and she can hit angles that are super hard to teach — some people never get there — right away we saw a lot.”
Lowery and his staff talked about whether they should take a shot on the local superstar. They talked with her and told that that the first two years were really important and that maybe she would be better off going to junior college first.
“Not playing at all here was a real possibility,” Lowery said. “We had some come-to-Jesus meetings during club season. But she was OK with coming and growing and looking at the big picture, and maybe not being an everyday starter and being the best kid in the gym. She had other opportunities, but in the end this is what she wanted and she’s already showing her abilities.
After running off four straight WAC wins — all with 3-0 sweeps — Bryant and the Vaqueros return to action at 6:30 p.m. today at home against Grand Canyon University. The teams are tied for second in the conference at 5-1 and the teams have a 9-9 record against each other. UTRGV won the last meeting between the teams in four sets, ending a five-match winning streak by GCU over the Vaqueros.
“It has been insane the intensity and how the standards are really high in the gym, and how we are accountable to each other and how everyone is expecting more from us,” Bryant said. “I’ve adjusted in so many ways. I know it’s not the Juli show anymore. When I finally got the opportunity to play the girls were all screaming for me, and I went in and took care of what I had to take care of. It’s been a very good season, and I’m having a lot of fun.”
