This is the third of a series of stories on award winners from the 2016 Seattle University Athletics Awards Show. Stay tuned to GoSeattleU.com throughout the summer for the remaining stories in this series.
Coming out of high school, Martina Samadan, a native of Split, Croatia, had a choice to make.
“I debated whether I should play professionally or get my education and that’s when I started talking to [assistant] coach Nick [Petrovic] and decided that having an education is more important than just playing. My parents told me they would support me in whatever I decided but I had to think ‘What am I going to do when I finish playing?’ and ‘Will I be able to have a career?’”
Samadan believes she received her athletic genes from her dad, a professional handball player, and picked up volleyball after seeing it on TV and asking her mom to play it at age 13. And she hasn’t looked back.
“It feels great knowing I achieved so many dreams here, but also knowing I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my coaches and teammates who gave me so much advice and pushed me when I needed to be pushed.”
Samadan started her collegiate career nearly 3000 miles away from the Emerald City at VCU in Richmond, Va. When head coach James Finley and Petrovic made the move to Seattle University, Samadan felt it important to come with them.
“I had a great freshman year at VCU and success doesn’t always happen just because you work hard. There are a number of people who support you along the way and I felt a lot of my success was because they gave me everything I needed that first year. I knew so many girls who were promised a million things by their coaches and never got any of them, but I felt really safe with them. And being so far away from home, it was especially important.”
Samadan found another one of those people upon arriving at Seattle University in JoAnn Hulbert-Eagan, one of the 2015-16 Mark Escandon Service Award winners, who became like a mother to her while she was so far away from home.
“She is just a great person, friend, and inspiration. I always felt comfortable talking to her about everything and I would go into her office at least once a week to just talk about nothing.”
While Samadan’s parents were not able to come for Senior Day celebrations, Hulbert-Eagan eagerly agreed to the request to accompany her on court for the special day. Though tragedy struck Hulbert-Eagan’s family, her unwavering commitment deeply touched Samadan.
“I thought a lot about who should walk me out on the court [for Senior Day] and she was the first person to come to mind. She was always there for me, always had advice when I needed it, and was a great person to represent my parents. When her dad died a few days before Senior Day, I told her that I completely understood if she couldn’t do it, it was totally fine, but she said she would be there for me no matter what. It just shows what kind of person she is but I don’t know how she did it.”
Samadan found balance between school and sport, despite the challenge of attempting to perfect her English early on, through organization and learning not to procrastinate. She found that she was able to manage both due to understanding professors, coaches, and teammates.
“When I received my award, [female student-athlete of the year], I thanked a couple people because I don’t think I would be standing there if it wasn’t for them. I spent six hours a day at least with my coaches and teammates and, if they support you and believe in you, there’s nothing really that can stop you from believing in yourself.”
She continues, “I was really honored to first be nominated and then to receive the award. It’s nice to know that hard work pays off and it was just a great feeling. I was kind of tearing up on stage because I know that, as I said, so many people helped me get here. It’s just a great way to end the year and my career here.”
Certainly not expecting to win, she laughed when asked if she had any type of speech prepared, recalling the walk with her teammates to the awards show.
“They asked ‘Do you have a speech in case you win it?’ and I’m like ‘I really don’t’. They asked what I would say and I said I guessed I would just say thank you. When I received it, I just had little flashbacks come back from all the things people have done for me and all the times I was feeling a little bit down on myself and people were there to lift me up. I actually just spoke from my heart because I didn’t have any speech prepared.”
Samadan leaves a legacy at Seattle University, performing a rare feat for a middle blocker in recording over 1000 kills across her career, and becoming the first Redhawk to lead the nation in a statistical category as the NCAA hitting percentage leader in 2015.
She hopes more fellow Croatians will follow in her footsteps.
“There’s a huge number of Croatians in the United States right now and I know a lot of other people coming, which is great to see. The opportunity that’s been given to these people doesn’t happen every day and I really hope they’re going to use it well.”
Now that she has a degree in hand, Samadan plans to return home to compete professionally for the foreseeable future. Once she’s finished playing, she hopes to return to the U.S. to become a coach, giving back to others and imparting the lessons her coaches have bestowed upon her.