Senior Bri Smith is a whirlwind of talent both academically and athletically. Between this semester’s load of four classes and two labs (she’s a biology major), being an RA, and applying to nursing schools, Smith leads EC’s star volleyball team, dedicating around 20 hours per week, plus travel, to the sport. The team is currently 23-4 overall, 11-3 in conference. Smith, looking stylish in shorts and a cute grey sweater (welcome to Florida winters), was able to take a break from her hectic schedule to give Her Campus Eckerd an interview.
The volleyball team just won two huge games against University of Tampa and Rollins. How did that make you feel?
“It was awesome. I think the best part though is that I got to do it with my team. I’m so lucky I have such a great team. They’re all my best friends, so it’s lucky I get to do that my senior year, you know? And it was great because it was our first time beating Tampa. I couldn’t stop crying, I was so happy. Tears of joy,” she laughed.
So the team’s really close this year?
“Yeah, we’re really close. It’s hard to find a female team with 16 people and not have any drama, but we really do not have any drama, it’s so great. We’re obsessed with each other.”
Tell me about it, what do you guys do together?
“Like, right now I’m in the library with four of them, we eat together, we always hang out on the weekends together.” Smith giggles, “I don’t know, we don’t really have any other friends so we all just hang out with each other. Can you read your handwriting? You’re crazy, scribble scribble. You should be a doctor, you have doctor handwriting.”
Her bubbly words turn into chicken-scratch on my notepad. Don’t worry, I’ve got it.
What position do you play?
“I’m a setter.”
How many games do you have left?
“We have two more regular season games, and then next weekend the national tournament starts. So that’s the playoffs, basically. Our goals are to make it to the Elite Eight.”
What’s that?
“The tournament starts at 64 teams, then each round it gets cut in half. So Elite Eight is the final eight, and you do that by winning your region. That’s our goal. The furthest we’ve made it is 32, past the first round, but even if we don’t reach our goal, it’d be cool to make history and beat what we’ve done. This is a team that could do it though.”
What is it about this team that’s different?
“I don’t know, I think it’s that we click so well together, we know how to communicate and work with each other and that’s just so good. It’s the same team from last year, and I don’t know if you remember, but we were 9-21 last year, we were bad. I think that working through those bad times with each other really made it so much better to get through the good times and know how good it is because of how bad it was last year.”
Do you guys have any weird team bonding rituals?
“We have some weird things that we do. Before every game, everyone in the huddle does this, here put your hand like this.” Smith extends her left hand to mine so our thumbs are facing the sky and our fingertips are touching.
“Everyone in the huddle puts their hand like this and then we swirl [each curves their hand to make a C shape] and so if you picture a lot of hands together. And then your nails are in the middle, so your left thumb nail is always painted. Even if none of your other nails are painted, it’s called your “swirl nail” and your left nail is always painted. If it’s not you’ll be judged, you have to paint it. That’s probably the weirdest thing about us.”
How do the four new members play into the mix?
“One of the freshman, Ali McAlvany, plays every game, and she’s been a huge support. If I had a choice I would make her freshman player of the year for our conference, she’s so great. And then Maija, the transfer junior, she also has played in a lot of games and has made a huge impact. She’s a really good player. The other two freshmen [Grace Jones and Katarina Milojevic], although they don’t play, they just have such a good attitude in practice. They know that their role is to push the upperclassmen to do their job and be better, and they’re good at accepting that and being a good teammate. And that’s important, you don’t want egos on a team.”
The team will begin the NCAA Championships, where they will attempt to break the Elite Eight, on Dec. 1. Fingers crossed for our Lady Tritons!