Hall of Fame: Alma Brahimaj Wrote The Central Record Book

7/27/2017 2:26:00 PM | By: Mike Kirk

Former Central Oklahoma volleyball player Alma Brahimaj will be inducted into the UCO Hall of Fame this fall. [Photos by UCO Photo Services]

As a child growing up in Albania, Alma Brahimaj often wondered what it would be like to come to the United States. Little did she know that volleyball and a friendship forged in the fourth grade would be the ticket to making it happen.

Brahimaj – a three-year member of the Albanian Junior National Volleyball Team – came to Edmond and the University of Central Oklahoma as a 23-year-old freshman in August of 1998 at the behest of Edgar Miraku, the former classmate who was serving as UCO's graduate assistant coach at the time and is now head coach of the Bronchos.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Alma sat out a redshirt year before embarking on a prolific four-year career at outside hitter that saw her set a bevy of school and conference records. Arguably the greatest player in UCO history, Brahimaj was a dynamic offensive force who imposed her considerable will on the court from start to finish.

And now she's headed to the UCO Athletic Hall of Fame, joining the rest of the 2017 class that will be inducted this fall.

"Edgar is the source of everything that happened to me at UCO," Brahimaj said. "We were friends in elementary school and always kept in touch. He came to UCO and started helping with the women's program and when I expressed the idea of playing volleyball and getting an American education, he talked to Mark Herrin (then UCO's head coach) and they decided to give me a chance."

The adjustment of living in a new country was tough and it took some time for Alma to adapt to her new home.

"I was lost at first," Brahimaj said. "It was a big culture shock. I was always worried about saying things wrong, so I didn't talk much. It took me a couple of semesters to get into the flow of class."

It was a different matter altogether on the court.

Brahimaj dominated for the Bronchos from 1999-02 in becoming the school's first-ever four-time All-Conference player. She was twice named Lone Star Conference North Division Player of the Year, earned All-Region honors two times and led UCO to 95 wins. Alma still holds school records for most kills in a match (46), season (644) and career (2,404), with the career kills mark also a Lone Star Conference record that ranks as the ninth-best in NCAA Division II history.

"It was fun," Brahimaj said of her playing days. "We had some tough practices and we had a lot of really good players. My setter, Stacey Meek, she was an all-star who should be in the Hall of Fame herself. Her sense of presence on the court always amazed me. Basically, I got all my kills because of her.

"Stacey was so talented and her whole family was so nice to me. Stacey's mother bought her some new knee pads one year and I liked them, so her mother bought me a pair as well. I still have them and still wear them in a league I play in here."

Here is New York City, where Alma works as the financial director for a mobile marketing company and lives with her husband, Israel Rosado. Brahimaj earned an Accounting degree from UCO and looks back fondly of her time in Edmond.

"I just have great memories of UCO," Alma said. "I was very lucky. Oklahoma has amazing people who opened their hearts, opened their homes to me. My first year I lived in the dorms and I loved that. I really enjoyed working on campus in the Housing Department and the people there had a great influence on me. I had some great people around me that helped a lot."

Many people in her adopted land have played a key role in Brahimaj's life over the past 20 years, but Alma is quick to single out her childhood buddy for having the biggest influence.

"Edgar is my family, he's like my brother," she said of Miraku, who is entering his sixth year as UCO's head coach. "He's an amazing coach and I'm so proud of him and the success he's had. I never could have done anything without him and don't give him enough credit for what he's done for me."

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