ARCANUM – Arcanum Lady Trojans Haley Smith signed with the Edison State Lady Chargers volleyball program to continue her education while taking her athletic skills to the next level.
“I was on the edge all year and I didn’t know what I wanted to do and then it hit me, I’m going to miss this,” Smith said of her decision to continue her volleyball career. “It hit me at the all-star game and I was – I’m going to miss this.”
Smith, the daughter of Jenny and Shawn Smith is undecided on her field of study but is leaning toward becoming a physical therapist stating, “I like working with people.”
“Haley and I have talked about it since I started a couple of years ago,” said Arcanum volleyball coach, Jacie Holman. “The potential was there. I am super excited for her and Edison is going to be a perfect fit for her.”
“Haley is an outstanding young lady and she’s a great ambassador of Arcanum,” said Arcanum High School Principal, Tyler Cates. “She has a lot of fire and I love the intensity she plays volleyball with. We know she is going to be a great student, she’s that kind of competitor who makes everybody else play better around her. We’re excited to see what she does at Edison – they’re getting a great one.”
Both Smith and Coach Holman see her fitting in well with the Lady Chargers volleyball program.
“I know a lot of girls that are committed to Edison right now so hopefully I’ll work my way in,” said Smith. “I went there for a college visit and the coach said I have the spot for you.”
“Haley is a solid middle and she has some great assets,” Coach Holman stated. “She has a strong blocking game she could also go to the right side if they needed a big block. She can read hitters well and run some different hitting options as well.”
“She has a fire and a spark in her that she brings to the court her teammates feed off of,” added Holman. “She is one of those girls I can look her in the eye and say get your head up, let’s go. She feeds off it and goes right back on the court and gives us exactly what we need.”
And in the classroom and Coach Holman sees her former junior high student doing well on the academic side of college.
“Haley is a great student,” she said. “I have had her in the classroom as a seventh and eighth grader and now I have her as an aide. She is a great girl, she helps the kids when I ask her – she’ll do just fine in the classroom.”
Smith took time to thank the many who helped her reach her goal of playing and studying at the next level.
“I want to thank all my coaches and my family,” Smith said. “My dad definitely pushed me a lot to do something and I hope I am making him proud. My sisters and my little one because she would always go to the gym and help me. My boyfriend, Payton Stout, would always come to the gym with me and toss for me, do anything it took.”
