Edwards’ Brown starts senior year at Northeastern

BOSTON – Time flies.

Britney Brown is a senior … at college, or more specifically Northeastern University, where she is beginning her fourth year as the Huskies’ starting setter on the volleyball team.

Brown’s been honored twice by her league (first team in 2008, second in 2009), is a co-captain this fall and is one of seven seniors who hope to lead the Huskies to big things.

If this is all starting to sound a bit familiar, well, the Battle Mountain Huskies of 2006 had eight seniors, including Brown (Crystin Rodrick, Sofia Lindroth, Sydney Nichols, Kendra Havlik, Allie O’Connor and Sarah Simmons). Brown was a co-captain with Rodrick, and both, for that matter, had been named all-Western Slope the previous year, and those Huskies went on to a state championship.

“We had a close group of seniors my senior year of high school. I’m a senior now, and we’re still the Huskies. I’m liking it.” Brown said before her newer Huskies – black and red, instead of gold, started their season with the Beanpot Classic with matches against Fordham and Holy Cross Friday.

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Instead of a state title, the goal is a Colonial Athletic Association title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. And while the conference games – especially against Northeastern’s natural rival Hofstra and well as nemesis Delaware – remain a priority, Brown’s and Huskies’ road will be going through Colorado this season.

Northeastern plays Sept. 10-11 at the Rams Volleyball Classic in Fort Collins. Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m., the Huskies face Illinois State. The next day, it’s Northeastern against Colorado State at noon and Texas Tech at 4:30 p.m. Huskies coach Ken Nichols makes a point of trying to schedule homecomings of sorts for his players and since Brown and teammate Christie Kubik (Chatfield High School) are from the Centennial State, there’ll be a familiar face in Fort Collins.

“I’m excited about Colorado State,” Brown said. “I know the girls there. I’m close to the coach. We did a lot of camps together at the club level. I respect him as a coach, and am honored to play against them. It’s a good group of competitors and it will get us ready for conference.”

And as a reminder to Brown’s father, Bob, who graduated from C.S.U., you have to root against your alma mater.

Brown has made the transition from high school to Division I volleyball deftly. When you’re at this level, everybody on your team and your competition was also all-everything in high school. Nonetheless, Brown’s a four-year starter, which is amusing, given that she didn’t crack the lineup at Battle Mountain until her junior year.

“Club definitely prepared me when it came to college,” Brown said. “The players are bigger and faster, including the girls on you own team. Training with them for three years definitely helps. There’s also a lot more strategy involved than you think.”

In her final year of eligibility athletically, Brown will spend one more year in Boston – she’s enrolled in a five-year business program – completing her degree. She hopes to start a career in business marketing and event coordination.

In the meantime, she’s never short of Huskies gear – either Battle Mountain or Northeastern.

“I still wear my high school stuff around campus,” Brown said. “People come up to me and ask how I got that and why’s it in black and gold?”

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.