By: Joey Mullins
Samford Athletics
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Personal connections can often influence big decisions for anyone. For Samford senior outside hitter Lauren Deaton, it was a personal connection that led her to Samford.
 
Deaton's club coach, Meredith Wright (now Towsend), went to Samford for both her undergraduate studies and for pharmacy school. Wright was Deaton's introduction to Samford when Deaton was 10 years old and the impression the school made on her stayed with her until she committed to play volleyball for the Bulldogs.
 
"She's the reason I knew about Samford, and I bought a Samford volleyball t-shirt after I met her and saw the campus," Deaton said. "And then, however many years later I used that shirt in my photos to commit to Samford. So, it's cool to see it's because of her I knew about Samford, and I ended up playing here. I think that's cool for her too."
 
Deaton picked up volleyball quickly. She says her competitive nature as well as growing up with a brother and male cousins who were all very competitive and athletic, helped her grow and improve as a player.
 
"I was just a very competitive person, so if I was bad at something I would work on it until I wasn't and then find something else I was bad at to work on," Deaton said. "I pretty much had my overhand serve, I really didn't underhand serve ever. I just had my overhand serve from the get-go, but I kind of give that credit to my all-boy cousins and my brother who were always playing sports of some kind or being competitive in some way. I got that from my family members."
 
While Deaton played some other sports when she was younger, she decided early that volleyball was the sport for her.
 
"I really kind of decided on playing volleyball in fifth grade," Deaton said. "I dropped every other sport and just decided to play volleyball because I loved it that much. Before that I played basketball, softball and flag football. I was the quarterback of the flag football team."
 
Deaton said people were surprised to see her playing flag football, until they saw her throw the ball.
 
"We only lost one game, and everybody would always ask, why is there a girl on the team?" Deaton said. "And after they saw me throw, one of their coaches called a timeout and yelled at his kids and said, 'that's why they have a girl on their team!' That was funny. I just played whatever I got signed up for and I have always enjoyed the team aspect of sports."
 
Deaton said the reason she chose volleyball is because she sees it as the ultimate team sport.
 
"The reason I gravitated toward volleyball was the team aspect of it," Deaton said. "Every single touch determines the success of another person, or their touch determines your success. So, I feel like it's one of the ultimate team sports. You have to work together as a team in order to be successful, so I really enjoyed that aspect."
 
Deaton played her high school volleyball at Harding Academy in Memphis. She finished a stellar high school career with 2,138 kills, 1,488 digs and 309 aces. She was ranked as the No. 18 player in the state of Tennessee by MaxPreps.
 
When Deaton was looking at schools to continue her academic and athletic careers, she says it was the way she was treated by the people at Samford that ultimately made her decide to attend the school.
 
"It was the people and culture and the community," Deaton said. "And the campus, obviously, is gorgeous. But I really have never met a mean person on this campus or even just someone who doesn't greet you with a smile. There's just not many people on this campus that aren't good people. I feel like you're surrounded by people who want you to be successful in everything you do, whether that's spiritually or as a player athletically. I loved that I wasn't going to be just another number on a jersey, and I was actually going to be treated as a person and poured into holistically rather that just as an athlete."
 
Deaton came to Samford in the fall of 2018 as a freshman. That season, she tallied 411 kills and was named the Southern Conference's Freshman of the Year. That season, the Bulldogs won the SoCon Tournament and reached the NCAA Tournament. When asked about her success, Deaton gave credit to those around her for helping her succeed.
 
"It was funny because I felt like I was kind of a fish in really deep water, kind of drowning, but keeping my head slightly above water," Deaton said. "Just because of everything that was going on with school and learning so much on the volleyball court, but my teammates really helped me through that process and so did the coaches, specifically (associate head coach) Ben (Sabin). Ben is my court coach and my position coach, and he really spent a lot of time with me in video and extra work, really trying to get me on track so I could be the best for the team. So, I really attribute that to the people around me who really helped me that year. And it just so happened that I was able to execute on the floor. But, if I had not have had those people around me, I definitely wouldn't have gotten that award."
 
As a sophomore in 2019, Deaton ranked second in the SoCon in kills with 442 and was named first team All-SoCon, leading the team to another SoCon Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. The 2020 fall season was moved to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That season, Deaton was named the SoCon Player of the Year and the team won a third-straight SoCon Tournament title and made a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Deaton talked about the experience of playing a spring season.
 
"It was definitely very different with the COVID restrictions," Deaton said. "On the bus we had assigned seats. At the hotels we normally switch it up every weekend and get to be with a different person, but we had the same person to room with for our entire travel time that season. And then, just having a mask on the entire time, that was just terrible in itself, but to not be able to see your teammates expressions while playing, it was just very different and very hard. But it was a great season. We had success, and it was good to win another SoCon championship."
 
In the fall of 2021, Deaton was named second team All-SoCon, and the Bulldogs had an up-and-down season, falling in the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament. This season, Deaton has already reached a career milestone as she became Samford's all-time leader in career kills earlier this season. Entering this weekend, she has accumulated 1,668 career kills, breaking the old record of 1,639 by Michaela Reesor. Deaton talked about the experience of setting the record.
 
"It's definitely an honor because I was looking at the girls that are on the list that had record previously or that were in the top five and those were the girls I was looking at when I was committing here," Deaton said. "Before I had one kill on the stat sheet, those were the girls that I wanted to be like and wanted to have success like. I remember watching the 2016 (SoCon) championship match that was here. I watched it in my living room, and I had chills. I vividly remember watching that and having chills and wanting to do the same thing. And to be able to be here and do the same thing with my team and also have the same success as some of those girls is cool."
 
Deaton has earned her degree in sport administration and is currently working on her MBA. She said after her Samford playing career is over, she wants to stay involved with the sport she loves.
 
"I want to coach in college for sure," Deaton said. "I would love to be a recruiting coordinator, director of operations and assistant coach for a college team. I'm kind of up in the air about possibly playing professionally overseas just for maybe a year or two. Just to travel, I'm a huge travel bug. And I would love the opportunity to do that. So, at the end of the season, I'll probably figure that out. I'll talk to (assistant coach) Sabel (Sabin) a lot because she's been there, done that. So, I'll talk to her and see if that's what I want to do."
 
Deaton and her teammates have accomplished a lot in their time at Samford and have done a lot to make Samford proud. Regardless of what she chooses to do after her time at Samford ends, she will always make those of us who have watched her grow and play the sport she loves proud.
 
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