Two years ago, LSU volleyball coach Fran Flory called then-freshman walk-on defensive specialist Haley Smith the “Rudy” of the team.
The comparison seemed appropriate at that time because of Smith’s small stature and her emergence on the team after humble beginnings.
“I swept the floors here for the volleyball team my freshman year,” Smith said. “I did the little floor thing. I was part of the mop crew.”
Now, Flory would compare Smith’s role on the team more to that of a starting quarterback or middle linebacker than a member of the practice squad waiting for their shot.
“Haley is the fire,” Flory said. “Haley is the person running up behind those hitters and driving them to do what they are supposed to do. Her understanding of the system and her understanding of play takes her to another level.”
Now a junior, Smith has become the centerpiece of a searing hot LSU squad climbing the Southeastern Conference ladder with a
seven-game winning streak.
After becoming the sixth Tiger in history to reach 500 digs in a single season, Smith hasn’t slowed down, accumulating a team-high 4.05 digs per set that places her at No. 4 in the SEC.
“There’s not a task or challenge that we’ve put in front of her ever that she hasn’t met or exceeded,” Flory said. “It’s been a pretty amazing run for her, and I’m proud of her and certainly happy for her.”
Flory said she almost passed on her star libero two years ago.
Smith decided late in her high school career to forgo plans of playing collegiate basketball for a chance to walk on to LSU’s volleyball team, but the late decision led to a lack of space on the roster her first semester on campus.
After Smith spent the fall sweeping gym floors and paying her dues, Flory granted her an opportunity to try out followed by a conditional two-week period on the team for a chance to prove herself.
“The recruiting process starts pretty much your freshman year of high school, so I did get in the game kind of late,” Smith said. “But when she said she’d give me an opportunity to try out, I knew I had to try.”
But Flory wasn’t convinced right away.
“Honestly, we were on the cusp of not letting her stay,” Flory said. “Technically, she was a long away, but physically and attitudinally she was right there. That’s what kept her … It was absolutely a gut call.”
Smith acknowledged she had a lot of work to do in the beginning both technically and emotionally.
She reminisced about her first game in purple and gold against No. 2 Texas and how nervous she became when coach called her number.
“I just remember not remembering how to pass,” Smith said. “Good thing it was muscle memory because other than that, it was really overwhelming.”
But two years later, Flory’s gut call has paid off.
It added a hyper-competitive workhorse who hates not being the best. Even with the Tigers currently on their longest conference winning streak since 2009, Smith’s appetite for improvement remains insatiable.
“Everything seems like it’s falling into place, but that doesn’t mean we stop improving and working hard,” Smith said. “We’re not where we want to be. The RPI says we’re No. 25, so we still have 24 teams ahead of us. That is not where we want to be.”
Smith is 86 digs away from becoming the 15th LSU volleyball player to earn 1,000 digs, and with another season in her future, she could make a run at the program record of 1,527 career digs set by Daniela Reis in 1992.
Smith said these accomplishments mean the world to her, not because she’s had more success than she anticipated but because of the program she’s succeeded for.
“I’ve always been an LSU fan, so obviously it’s a big honor to put on an LSU jersey and represent LSU,” Smith said. It’s this passion and love for LSU that Flory said makes Smith special.
“You have to have that player that has a true understanding of what it means to wear that uniform and the honor and the privilege. That’s Haley,” Flory said. “When you have that extra edge and that extra little push — that extra pride in wearing the uniform —things tend to be more important. She makes all those little things important. Those types of intangibles you can’t create. You either have them or you don’t, and she’s got them.
Smith said she couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity Flory gave her two years ago, and she hopes to pay it forward in the future.
She often goes back to her former team at Chalmette High School and other programs in the area and encourages athletes pursuing collegiate careers to follow their dreams and work hard to achieve them.
“I want to look back and know that I did my best for them and I did my best for the people that come after me,” Smith said. “I encourage them to do what you feel and do what you believe what you can do,” I made it here, so hopefully they will see that and look up to that and believe they can do the same.”
You can reach Tyler Nunez on Twitter @Nunez_TDR.