From High School Standout to College Hope: Halle Brazelton’s Journey to Volleyball Excellence
By FRED KRONER
Numbers don’t lie.
Statistics can often be twisted and contorted, but some ultimately speak for themselves.
When a volleyball setter – who plays in a 5-1 offense – leads her team in both assists and digs, the only apt conclusion is that she is a special player.
A setter’s job is to take a pass and distribute it to a hitter in hopes of producing a kill.
A digger’s job is to get the ball to the setter. Since a player can’t hit the ball twice in a row, a setter who accumulates a high number of digs then needs to rely on someone else to get the ball to a hitter, this eliminating the chance for getting an assist on that play.
St. Joseph-Ogden’s Halle Brazelton is an example of an athlete who can excel in both capacities.
As a senior, she led the 29-6 Spartans in assists (633) as well as in digs (223). Brazelton’s assists accounted for more than 86 percent of the team total.
When the high school season volleyball ended with multi-sport Brazelton receiving little recruiting interest, she resigned herself to facing the end of her days as a competitive athlete.
“At first, I didn’t hear anything from coaches or colleges, so I was planning to go to a big college (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale) and just attend school,” Brazelton said.
She had given up club volleyball because there were too many conflicts with her second sport. Brazelton is a softball player who served as the cleanup hitter on the Spartans’ 30-win regional championship team.
Her dream of playing in college was fading, but was not obliterated.
“I thought it would be really cool if I did play in college,”: she said. “I never really forced it as I was playing sports in high school, but I always said if the right opportunity came, I would take it.
“I’ve always taken playing sports seriously.”
The right opportunity was closer to home than she originally realized.
“I actually heard from a friend saying they (Danville Area Community College Jaguars) were looking for another setter,” Brazelton said. “Coach and I got in contact.”
It was a whirlwind courtship, starting with the first contact in January and continuing until Brazelton committed and signed a letter of intent in February.
Since Brazelton was no longer with the Champaign-based Prime Time club program, and since her high school season had ended, DACC volleyball head coach Shawna Jameson had to look at other ways to gather information on the potential recruit.
“I was able to watch a few videos of her and noticed that she had good setter hands,” Jameson said. “She is able to run a fast offense, which is the type of setter that I’m looking for.”
It was a win for Brazelton, too, as she could continue in the sport and not have to move far from home.
“I was immediately excited because I was closer to home, and all my friends were staying close, so I was excited about that,” said Brazelton, who had no other scholarship offers to play volleyball beyond high school.
SJ-O coach Abby McDonald said that the 5-foot-4 Brazelton had one intangible trait that should lead to continued success in her sport of choice.
“Halle has always been one of the hardest workers in the gym,” McDonald said. “She would run through a brick wall for her teammates if that is what they needed in order to be successful.
“Her setting skills allowed us to vary our offense exceptionally well and she always led by example on and off the court. We look forward to watching her compete and lead at the collegiate level.”
Once she did her due diligence, Jameson quickly formed a favorable impression.
“After talking to her, her family, and her high school coach, I noticed some great characteristics that Halle possesses,” Jameson said. “She is a hard worker, she’s a team player, she’s dedicated to the sport and is willing to continue to learn and grow in this sport.
“I am looking forward to coaching Halle and all that she brings to the program.”
In her final season at SJ-O, Brazelton played in 78 of the team’s 79 sets. She also had 26 service aces (fifth on the team) and 12 kills. She put a team-best 96 percent of her serves in play.
Brazelton regards the key to her development as never being satisfied.
“I’m always working to make myself better,” she said. “I know I’m not perfect and there’s always something to be fixed and make myself better than I was before.
“I’m also glad to have the people around that make me a better player. During the offseason I continue to work and lift to get better.
“I want to thank my past teammates and my parents for always pushing me to be a better player and a better person.”
Brazelton believes her strength lands more in her knowledge of volleyball.
“I would consider my strengths as having good IQ on the court,” she said. “The reason is because I’m not the tallest person, so I need to find things on the court during the game and take good advantage of it.”
She took up the sport as a sixth-grader and has now played it for seven years. As a seventh-grader, she was a part of an IESA state-qualifying team.
She was led “to play,” she said, because “at a young age, I was always watching college volleyball on the TV and I really enjoyed it.
“I thought I would try it out and I enjoyed playing.”
She wasn’t a natural, however.
“At the beginning, I did have a lot of setbacks,” Brazelton said. “Volleyball is a hard sport to play. It’s all about communication and that was difficult at a young age.”
When she joins the Jaguars, who are resurrecting their program, she will have a familiar face on her team.
Another SJ-O senior, outside hitter Peyton Williams, has also committed to DACC.
“I am really excited that Peyton is also playing at DACC,” Brazelton said. “Me and Peyton have been playing together since we started in middle school volleyball, which made us become really close friends.”
Brazelton plans to major in construction.
“I see myself having my dream job and working in building my dream house in the country with my family,” she said.
First things first. Her initial priority in the fall will be to help construct a winning tradition within the DACC volleyball program.
“I think I will fit in really well,” Brazelton said. “I am excited to play with a new group of girls that like playing the same sport as I do.
“I feel like once I reach college, I will grow as a person. I will learn new things. I like the fact that I will be stepping in and making it better for the team.”
