This season the Brevard College (N.C.) volleyball team moves up from NAIA to NCAA Division II play. That means quite a bit for at least one Hernando County product.
Brooke Seaman, the 19-year-old daughter of Spring Hill's Ronald and Barbara Seaman and a 2006 graduate of Springstead High, has played middle hitter for the Tornadoes the past two seasons.
"I think it's going actually very well," Seaman said as her team prepared for the start of the season this past weekend. "Since my freshman year we've been in transition from NAIA to Division II. We have a good class coming in and some great returnees, so I think we'll do well."
The 5-foot-10 junior has done quite well since coming to Brevard, a team that went 16-15 last season and a member of the South Atlantic Conference.
Playing in all 31 matches last season, Seaman led the Tornadoes in kills with 455, averaging 4.14 per game, and also paced the club with 127 blocks.
She began this year with a bang at the season-opening Montreat Tournament at Montreat College (N.C.), helping the Tornadoes go 2-1 with 37 kills and 10 blocks over the three matches.
That performance earned her the school's Athlete of the Week honors.
"The competition is getting tougher every year since we're integrating into Division II," Seaman said. "There are tougher opponents, bigger girls. I coach in the summer and I told the girls 'You can't control how big you are, but you can increase your speed, power and vertical.'"
Seaman admits she is small for a middle hitter, the same position she played at an All-County level for Springstead. Because Brevard had few returnees, Seaman played a major role on the team as a freshman.
"I didn't have time to be nervous," Seaman said. "I had to step in and do what I was supposed to. It's (the college game) a lot faster and a lot more strategic.
"The offseason training is very important. In season if I come across something I want to get better at, I make a note of it. I have to improve my back-row defense and serving. I've improved on that a lot.
"Being only 5'10", I've got to play smarter. With the big girls in the middle, I have to make plays on the outside and get away from them or run higher sets to get over them."
Looking ahead
Seaman said she would like to at least make second team All-Conference this season, and would like to help the Tornadoes succeed in their first Division II season.
But beyond her time at Brevard, she wants to continue playing volleyball, perhaps overseas.
Academically, Seaman has a double major in art, specifically sculpture, and graphic design. She continues to operate a graphic design business she started in high school, Blue Nebula Graphics. She said she has done some work for recording artist MIMS.
She has also worked as a coach for the Transylvania Club and for the last three years at a camp at the University of Florida. However, she doesn't necessarily want to do that full-time.
"I love to do it (coaching) in the offseason," Seaman said. "I just think if I'm coaching I'm not really playing."
Wherever her life takes her next, Seaman has enjoyed her time in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Tar Heel State, this latest stop in a life already well-traveled.
"The experience overall I believe has been great," Seaman said. "I lived in New York when I was younger. I had the opportunity to live in Germany because my father is in the military. In high school I lived in Florida. I've never lived in the mountains. It's just a different experience. I've enjoyed it a lot."
BY THE NUMBERS: BROOKE SEAMAN
Year Matches Kills Blocks
2007 31* 455* 127*
* Denotes team leader
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