Moving just down the road… Elizabethton’s Smith signs to continue volleyball career at Tusculum University
Published 12:56 am Friday, November 22, 2019
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
A table was running full of hardware and awards that Smith had earned in her career as a Lady Cyclone volleyball player.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Smith is joined by her grandparents, Mary and John Smith, at her signing Tuesday at Elizabethton High School.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Smith is joined by her friends, Kallista DePrimo and Marley Wagner, as she signed with Tusculum University on Tuesday in the Elizabethton Commons area.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Members of the travel team Smith plays with stopped by for their teammate's signing with Tusculum University.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Morgan Smith is joined by her Elizabethton coaches and teammates for her official signing with Tusculum University on Tuesday.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Morgan Smith is joined by her father and mother, Phillip and Tonia Smith, along with her sister, Makenna Smith as she signed on to continue her volleyball career at Tusculum University.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Morgan Smith offers a smile as she signs her National Letter of Intent to play for the Tusculum University Lady Pioneer volleyball team.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton head volleyball coach Leslee Bradley speaks about how Smith grew from a contributor into a leader on the Lady Cyclone volleyball team.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Morgan Smith started playing volleyball with one goal in mind and that was to continually hone her craft at every stop along the way in becoming one of the best volleyball players that she could possibly become.
Smith entered Elizabethton as a freshman that soon found ways to contribute to the growing volleyball program at the school and now four years later she will graduate as a record holder and one of the leaders on a team that continually found its way to substate volleyball.
“I have been wanting to play in college ever since I was little and volleyball has been the only sport that I have been serious about,” said Smith about the opportunity to go to Tusculum to play. “It’s really a big accomplishment for me.
“It was definitely their coaches that drew me. They are very competitive and intense. I went to a camp this summer at Tusculum and I really liked the way they coached and the way their girls played.
“The experience here at Elizabethton was really good. The coaches were really intense and I love the girls here.”
Smith definitely left her mark on the volleyball program at EHS as she will graduate as the leading assists leader with 1,884 as well as career kills with 1,072.
She is second on the career ace list with 294 and in single-season assists with 629, just three shy of being the leader of that category behind only Jessica Trivette with 632.
Smith came in fourth in single-season kills with 349 and is tied for fifth in single-season aces with 96.
Her high school head coach, Leslee Bradley, knew from day one that she had a special player entering the program at EHS.
“Morgan has a huge competitive drive so from day one she came in with wins on her mind. She grew up playing the game and came in fundamentally sound so we just continued to build on that,” Bradley said.
“With that competitive drive she had, if it wasn’t going well she wanted to know what we needed to do to fix it immediately. She has had a hand in so many positive things this program has done in the last four years.
“She is such a remarkable athlete,” Bradley continued. “Coming in as a freshman she had a lot to learn because the pace of the game changes the older you get.
“As you get stronger and stronger you turn into a leader so in her junior year she took over the leadership role for our team.
“I am excited to see once she gets with those college coaches to see how she is going to develop her game and she is close enough where we can go and watch some of her matches.”
A large gathering of family, friends, teammates, and coaches were on hand for the festive occasion held in the EHS Commons Area.
