How Smyrna spread the ball to win first volleyball state championship

Smyrna had two days to craft a game plan.

They started with looking inward. If you scouted the Eagles you would know that the offense ran through the big swing of Anna Richardson, a first team all-state selection in 2022. Assuming their opponent was ready for Richardson, the Smyrna coaching staff believed in their final match of the season more hitters needed to be involved.

Right on cue, there was Elise Carter with a pair of momentum-seizing kills in the fourth, state title-clinching set. And there was Eliza Schneider burying the final point in the middle of the Ursuline defense to start the celebration for Smyrna.

“You could see Elise’s energy and Eliza’s energy,” Smyrna head coach Daniel Wandless said. “Those girls were just having fun today.”

Moments after Schneider’s final point, Richardson held a trophy carved to mimic the shape of Delaware above a huddle of her teammates. Smyrna was officially the 49th state champion in volleyball, adding its name to an immortal list that starts with A.I. du Pont in 1975.

They also started a new list. Thursday was the first time that a school from below the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal won the state title.

“This is phenomenal for downstate volleyball,” assistant coach John Trabaudo said.

Years of improving access to club teams and offseason training downstate built to a semifinal matchup Monday at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center between No. 2 Smyrna and No. 3 Caesar Rodney. Smyrna won 3-0, led by Richardson’s 17 kills, one fewer than the rest of the team’s kills combined.

Wandless asked his team to assess their performance. Most gave it a C or a C+. They needed an A-game to beat Ursuline, which overpowered reigning state champion Tower Hill after Smyrna cleared the floor Monday.

For an A-game, Smyrna sought balance. They asked setter Abigayle Osborne to move the ball around, especially early.

“We have to get our other people going early so they get comfortable and they feel like they’re a part of the game,” Wandless said. “It can’t just be one player.”

Smyrna hoped that moving the ball around would throw off the Ursuline defense, forcing the Raiders to play “out of system” and giving Smyrna easy balls to counter. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Smyrna worked on a few plays it hadn’t shown yet this season.

Wandless said Tuesday was a rough practice. By Wednesday, they were on fire.

Back at the Carpenter Center against Ursuline, Smyrna leaned on a play called 32. The outside hitters move about 25 to 30% further inside the antenna that stretches up from the net at each end and the middle player runs to the outside. The look can affect the other team’s block.

“That’s what was working,” Osborne said. “Our outside just put it away.”

Carter said her team passed well to Osborne, which then allowed Osborne to pick from several hitters to set.

“I was just focused,” Carter said. “I was like, ‘if you get it to me, I’m going to put it down.’ “

Smyrna won the first set 25-16. They took control of the second set late after a sequence in which Richardson chased down a third hit in the deep right corner and finished the point with a kill at the net from the left side. Three points later, Smyrna took the set 25-22 and had control of the match.

The Eagles had three match points in the third set. Ursuline called timeout trailing 24-22. The Raiders then won 5 of the next 7 points leading to a Smyrna timeout. The teams traded points until Ursuline let two balls go long to win the set 30-28.

It was the first set Smyrna lost in the state tournament.

In the huddle between sets, Trabaudo said the only coaching point was to keep the ball moving. Then there was some joking around to stay loose.

“We told them that you’re here to have fun,” Trabaudo said. “You’re on the biggest stage you can be on in your high school career, go out there and enjoy the next set.”

The Eagles won the fourth set 24-14. Everyone shared in the action. Richardson, Carter and Schneider all had multiple kills. Osborne tapped two sets over in the perfect spot.

“It was relief, excitement, joy, it was everything wrapped in one,” Carter said. “I was in awe. I was crying.”

The players on the court crowded around Schneider as their teammates soared off the bench. They then put the celebration on pause to shake hands with Ursuline beneath the net. After a couple photos, the teams waited in numerical order to receive state champion and runner-up medals. A few cheers erupted as Smyrna players made hearts with their fingers to the crowd.

Then, finally, for the first time Smyrna was announced as volleyball state champion.

Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on X @holveck_brandon.