Editor’s Note: this article was originally a part of our September Print edition.
The Smith College volleyball team has had the best start to their season since 2005, winning 10 out of 11 games so far and sweeping six of them. In the opening weekend at the Elmira Invitational alone, the team clocked 103 assists, 22 digs and 13 kills.
They received national recognition as the leaders in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for Division III hitting percentage. Graduate transfer Taylor Gwynne, the team’s new setter, gained the team regional recognition for being named New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 1.
Captain and outside hitter Ari Cross ’25 attributed the team’s early success to the team building work of last semester and curating clear values during preseason this year. Fostering a tight-knit community is a major priority for them in order to build strong relationships both on and off the court, said Cross.
Co-captain and defensive specialist Olivia Smith ’25 agreed. “Since we’ve been freshmen, a big challenge that’s faced our program is building the type of culture that we want to have because we inherited a team that didn’t have a concrete team culture.” Smith said.
“Last year, we did a lot of work to make sure that [graduating] class divides were as small as possible and that the team culture stood for what we wanted it to. Having that solid foundation that we’ve been working to build for the past three years and adding in two new players that have been very well aligned to our mission has all contributed to what we see now,” said Smith.
One of the team’s core philosophies is accepting and celebrating differences. Gwynne said the team’s welcoming environment is one of the main reasons why she loved joining Smith this year.
“Being new on the team, I have felt appreciation for all the uniqueness and differences that every person brings,” she said. “Everyone feels so comfortable being themselves that it makes me feel comfortable being myself.”
Gwynne previously played volleyball at Oberlin College during her undergraduate career. She remarked that joining the Smith team introduced her to an entirely new level of play.
“It’s a pretty big team for Division III,” Gwynne said, “but that means it’s always competitive. There’s always competition at practices, people competing for spots, but also just the energy in the gym is always very competitive and at a high level. I think the biggest difference is honestly the level of play of our own team and the teams that we play. There’s a lot of coaches here, and at Oberlin, we didn’t have the resources for that. Here, in the gym, we consistently have four to five coaches and so constantly getting that feedback individually has helped me become better already.”
The team has improved this year, but the players agreed that it has not been an easy road. However, Smith said the team feels “united by the challenge of the season.” Cross added that the increased team chemistry and community they have been building has led to the collective engagement and commitment which has driven the team forward thus far.
“We have morning practices, we have 6 a.m. lifts, which is hard,” Cross said, “but when you’re able to go through that […] together as a team, and you recognize that you’re not doing it for yourself but that you’re doing it for other people, I think that makes it much easier.”
On objectives for the rest of the season, all three players agreed that winning the conference championship is the ultimate goal.
“We want to win NEWMACs, 1,000 percent,” Cross said. “That’s been a goal for us pretty much since we got here as first-years, and I think that a large part of that is being proactive in the beginning of the season, making sure we know that is our collective goal, having a light at the end of the tunnel is what makes it all worth it and what gets us up in the morning.”
“It is definitely tough when you hit mid-October and you still have two to three weeks left in the season,” said Smith. “It’s really hard to find that motivation to just keep going, keep being competitive.”
She added that the coaches help keep them moving forward by focusing on specific teams they will face and what the opposing team will target, so they have concrete goals to work towards for the remainder of the season.
“We have practices where they’re replicating what the other team is going to do,” Smith said. “Always having something you’re looking forward to and something you’re preparing for just helps keep the energy going so you always feel like there’s a purpose behind what you’re doing.”
Gwynne remarked that the team’s commitment helps them keep their momentum going as the season continues.
“We’re really lucky because everybody wants to be here, and you don’t have to be here,” she said. “In the gym, it is clear everyone is giving effort. Everybody wants to be on the team, everybody wants to earn their spot and everybody shows up every morning and whether you’re at 20 percent for your day or 100 percent for your day, you’re giving what you have.”
“You know that you’re not going through it alone,” Smith adds. “We’re playing for each other, not against each other every day.”
Smith said the team is in a unique position to strive for a conference championship this year because they have a majority of upperclassmen, with eight players who are in their final year.
“All eight of us want to win NEWMACs, all eight of us want to qualify for the NCAAs and we have an entire team backing us in that mission and that goal,” she said. “It’s a different experience this year having that motivation.”
Gwynne said that while their ultimate goal is winning NEWMACs and qualifying for the national tournament, the team also values the journey to those goals.
“One of our team values is enjoyment and I think we would all enjoy winning, but there’s different ways to find enjoyment and throughout the pursuit of all these goals,” Gwynne said. Cross and Smith echoed her statement. “I know this team will also have a lot of fun on the path to get there. Having fun along the way doesn’t mean we’re not going to get there; it means it will help us get there.”
The team’s next home game will be on Oct. 1 at 7:00 p.m. in Ainsworth Gymnasium against NEWMAC competitor Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
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