CdM’s Bruening picks UCSB
The first college to recruit Natalia Bruening was UC Santa Barbara, for women’s volleyball. The Gauchos reached out to her at the start of her sophomore year at Corona del Mar High.
Two years later, Bruening has picked UC Santa Barbara, but to play basketball at the school, not volleyball.
Bruening, an incoming 6-foot-4 senior, said she committed to the Gauchos, an NCAA Division I program, on Wednesday. Last season, she averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds per game, tops in the area, to go along with two blocks and two assists.
“It’s a bit of relief to make my decision before my senior season,” said Bruening, adding that she had offers to play basketball and volleyball on the next level. “It was a tough decision [on whether to play basketball or volleyball], but at the end I’m really happy with the decision. I just love [UC Santa Barbara]. It’s such a great school, it’s [closer to home], and I get to play in front of the home crowd. I love the support and energy.”
Bruening won’t follow in her mother Julia’s footsteps in competing in two sports while in college. Julia, who played basketball and volleyball at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, told her daughter to stick to what she knows best.
That wasn’t easy for Bruening. She is a standout on the basketball and volleyball courts, leading the Sea Kings to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA girls’ basketball playoffs and the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA girls’ volleyball playoffs during her junior year. She made the All-Pacific Coast League first team and Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team in both sports, sweeping the top award in basketball.
Going into Bruening’s final year at CdM, volleyball will come first. The expectations in the fall are always high for the Sea Kings, the No. 5 team in the country in the MaxPreps Preseason Top-25 poll.
While Bruening said she turned down volleyball offers from Mississippi State, UC Davis and Dartmouth, there was never talk of the middle blocker dropping the sport in high school if she chose to pursue basketball in college.
“I want to finish my senior year with CdM,” said Bruening, whose volleyball team begins practice on Monday.
The next seven months will be a grind for Bruening, the Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Co-Player of the Year in girls’ basketball as a sophomore.
The volleyball season runs from August to November, it can last until December if CdM can make a run at a section finals appearance and qualify for the CIF State tournament. The Sea Kings’ first basketball game tips off in December and the playoffs start in February. Bruening and the basketball team played into March last season and made history. The Sea Kings won their first CIF State playoff game in the program’s history, defeating San Diego Kearny, 70-34, in the opening round.
With Bruening, Kelly Tam and Krista Anderson returning as starters, Bruening is hoping for another big year with Coach Mark Decker at the helm of CdM. Next season, Bruening, who had basketball offers from Colorado, the University of San Diego, UC San Diego, Dartmouth and Cornell, plans to play for Bonnie Henrickson, whom the Gauchos hired in April.
“[She] was extremely successful in the Big 12 [Conference] and I’m excited to learn from her wisdom and experience at the next level,” Bruening said of Henrickson, who coached at the University of Kansas for 11 seasons, leading the Jayhawks to the Sweet 16 twice. “The coaching staff is phenomenal and [we] have so much talent as well. The coaching definitely factored into my decision to go to UCSB.”
