Lauren Brooker: Hard Work Paying Off

Lauren Brooker, the true freshman setter for UC San Diego’s women's volleyball team, is the only daughter amongst four brothers. Brooker grew up in a family that valued hard work and determination. A point of inspiration for Brooker is her older brothers. Her oldest brother Jon started a film business while attending USC, her brother Zach would wake up at 5 a.m. to practice basketball, and her brother Alex plays club lacrosse for USC. Brooker discussed her brothers’ impact on her life, “They've all been role models in all different ways in my life. School wise, athletic wise, all of them individually, different aspects. Just a really good way to grow up. And I'm really grateful that I've had them as older siblings.”

One thing her brother’s helped Brooker find is her work ethic. Brooker described watching her brothers work hard for their dreams as inspiring, “… I saw what they wanted to do, and they weren’t going to let anyone get in their way and they really pushed themselves and did everything in their power to do it. It was just really inspiring to watch them do that…we just pushed each other individually and helped each other succeed in different aspects of our lives.” 

Brooker had the help of family to shape who she is as a person and the help of a strong coaching staff to shape her as a player. Brooker looks back on her high school career very fondly as she attributes a lot of her current success to the coaching staff she had. “They had the tools to help me get better. I just went in every day with the mindset that I wanted to improve and get better. Carry and Antoine, they've just done everything for me, setting, hitting, they shaped me into the player that I am today, and I give a lot of credit to them and of course my parents.”  

In high school she won the Most Hardworking Award, so it was evident that Brooker had the mentality to succeed in Volleyball. Brooker has started every single game in her freshman season for the Tritons, when asked about what it takes to be able to play at this level she responded stating, “Coming here, I knew I had to work and nothing was going to be given to me regardless of who's been here, that I'm a freshman or whatever. Whatever the situation was, I knew I had to work. I come before practice, I come after practice, I watch film with the coach…you have to do more than what's required of you. If you want to improve and get on the court.” 

Brooker’s dedication to volleyball has shone through to anyone watching her, especially to Coach Ricci Luyties. The longtime volleyball coach had glowing things to say about Brooker’s work ethic. Coach Luyties said, “She's showing that she's maybe the hardest or one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached. She stays after every day of practice and does things on her own or tries to get people to do things with her and it's really nice to see that she's that dedicated to getting better.”

Brooker has the strong support of the coaching staff to help her improve. Coach Luyties discussed the improvement he's seen in Brooker throughout this season, “She's always trying to improve and that's something I really admire about her and like about coaching her. She's never satisfied with anything she does. She's constantly coming in and watching film, trying to figure out how she can get better. I think she's improved at everything, and I think she's going to keep improving at everything just because she has that drive in herself to keep trying to get better.” Brooker has made large strides throughout the season, and it’s been recognized by the Big West Conference.

She has won multiple Big West player-of-the week awards, has made the All-Tournament team in both the UC San Diego Invitational and the TSU/Belmont Invitational and was recently named to the 2023 Big West All-Freshman Team. Brooker’s constant high-level performance is something to marvel at, but it's something she expects of herself, “I have a very high standard for myself. I'm never satisfied with my play. Even if we do win and there are little things that I need to work on. Just getting better week to week, every team is improving. There are a lot of freshmen in this conference that are really good. So just doing what I need to do, whether that be watching film or getting a lot of sleep, it's all very important to my success.”

Lauren Brooker is a determined athlete and will stop at nothing to accomplish her goals. The true freshman has exceeded all expectations from everyone but herself. She expected to play at this level and will continue to work hard to improve. Brooker has a strong resolve that will lead her to a bright future in volleyball.