Borum, an American studies major, has drawn inspiration from her teammate Grace Turner. Injuries slowed Turner for much of her college career, but as a fifth-year senior in 2022 she earned second-team All-ACC honors and led the Cavaliers on and off the court.
Turner is back in Charlottesville this fall, and she and Borum talk often.
“I just continuously thank her for her mentorship towards me,” Borum said. “She’s like, ‘No, that’s all you,’ and I literally tell her I couldn’t have done it without her. I look up to her so much and she’s been so great to me. She’s just the type of girl that always wants to give back.”
Turner “was such an incredible asset for our program,” Wells said, “and that’s what we see in Brooklyn right now. She’s just compelled. She’s willing to take the big swings. She’s our hardest worker at practice. She’s the first one to say things when things aren’t going in the right direction. There’s just nothing that’s going to stop her from being successful right row, and ultimately that’s what you would hope for from every senior. Your team ends up wanting to play for the seniors, and she’s being such a great role model for our underclassmen.”
As Turner has mentored her, Borum goes out of her way to share her knowledge with such younger teammates as sophomore Lauryn Bowie and freshmen Becca Wight and Sarah Brodner.
“They want to learn, they want to get better, and they want to build a leadership role in the future,” Borum said. “They’re just so receptive to feedback and it makes it so easy to play next to them.”
Borum is from Sterling, Ill., about 120 miles west of Chicago, and grew up in a volleyball-mad family. Her mother, the former Tami Alexander, played at Illinois-Springfield, and all three of Brooklyn’s sisters have played the sport in college.
The oldest of them, Jay, played at Illinois-Springfield, and Josi played at Chicago State and Youngstown State. Then came Brooklyn and Breelyn, fraternal twins who starred at Sterling High School, where their teammates included Lexi Rodriguez, now an All-American at Nebraska.
The twins could have stayed together after high school, but when it came time to choose their colleges, they chose to take separate paths. “We weren’t growing apart,” Brooklyn said, “but it’s just cool to experience different things.”
Breelyn spent her freshman year at Florida Gulf Coast before transferring to Loyola (Chicago), where…