With COVID-19 putting live sporting events on hold, the Cascade Collegiate Conference wanted to take the time to highlight families within our #ThisIsTheCCC community. Many of our member institutions have administration, coaches and student-athletes family members competing together, making the CCC truly a family affair.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Dylan, Zayne, and Gabrielle Browning were raised by Wolves.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Browning were student-athletes back when Walla Walla University was Walla Walla College, and Dylan, Zayne and Gabrielle followed in their parents’ footsteps.
Oldest brother Dylan just finished his senior season on the men’s basketball team, playing alongside his younger brother Zayne, a junior on the team. Their sister Gabrielle started her first year of college this past fall and is a middle blocker on the WWU volleyball team. They also have a younger sister, Sahara, who is a sophomore in high school.
“I never expected to end up at the same school as two of my siblings, but it has made being a college athlete even more fun,” said Zayne, a health science pre-physical therapy major. “Playing at the same school allows us to support each other and also continue to compete and make each other better.”
Both Dylan and Zayne took a year off from playing to travel – Dylan worked at an orphanage in Uganda and Zayne taught on the island of Palau – which aligned the three older Browning siblings to spend this past year together at WWU. And since volleyball and basketball are in different seasons, it gave the Brownings the opportunity to be cheerleaders for one another. Something the boys took full advantage of.
“I think my favorite part of having [my brothers at WWU] was during my volleyball matches,” said Gabrielle, a nursing major who would like to travel to Africa some day. “We can be winning by six points or losing by 16, but every point we get, I can hear both of their voices loud and clear cheering for us or getting on my case to do better, which motivates me in a different way than my team can.”
The Brownings grew up pushing each other. With four siblings, there’s always an opportunity for a two-on-two pickup game, which could probably get pretty competitive.
“Sports were a part of our lives from a very young age,” said Zayne. “Growing up everything was very competitive. I wanted to be better than my older brother at everything sports related. Once my sisters were born, even though we all played different sports, we would compete and try and outdo each other.”
All four of the Brownings played basketball at an early age, but sisters Gabrielle and Sahara also branched out to volleyball, while the boys stuck with basketball. Spending years playing with and against their siblings has just elevated the Brownings’ games.
“Growing up playing sports with my family members, especially my siblings, made us have a different kind of bond,” said Gabrielle. “When you have a sibling on the court, the chemistry is way stronger. When I got to play both volleyball and basketball on the same team as my sister, the chemistry between us on the court was like nothing I had ever experienced before. On the basketball court, we could simply make eye contact and know what the other person was going to do. On the volleyball court, my sister was the setter and she could place the ball perfectly into my hands anywhere on the court without me saying anything. Having that kind of chemistry with someone on your team makes it a whole different game, it's incredible.”
That bond was seen out on the court between Zayne and Dylan for WWU. Both brothers started a majority of the games for the Wolves and both finished the year averaging double figures. Gabrielle finished her freshman year averaging 1.76 kills and 1.00 blocks per set.
Dylan will be graduating soon, but Zayne and Gabrielle will keep the wolf pack together for one more year at Walla Walla University. Perhaps, there might even be another wolf joining the pack someday.
The Browning family: Gabrielle, Dylan, Robin (mom), Jody (dad), Sahara, and Zayne