Daily Journal Volleyball Player of the Year: Notre Dame-Belmont's Katie Smoot

After leading NDB to the program’s first-ever volleyball state title as a junior in 2015, Smoot’s senior swan song was as dominant an effort seen in the Central Coast Section this season. She reached exactly 600 kills in the penultimate match of her varsity career. In her final match, she added a career-best 30 more, totaling 630 to capture the CCS kills crown, according to MaxPreps.com.

“I’ve always been a really strong kid because I’ve always been a lot bigger than everyone,” Smoot said.

At 6-1 with a right arm that — if there were any justice in the world — should have intrigued many a Division I football recruiter in search of a gunslinger quarterback, the crimson-haired terminator features the best sheer hitting velocity to come out of a San Mateo County volleyball program since current Cal outside hitter Christine Alftin graduated from Woodside following the 2013 season.

For Smoot, though, the secret to her success has been refining her monster kills to become a more exacting marksman. Judging by her kills total, and her accepting a full scholarship to play at University of Arizona next season, it would seem she has struck the right balance.

“I’ve always been able to hit it really hard,” Smoot said. “Just, through my years of playing, I’ve been able to place it better. So, I think I’ve always had the ability. It’s just being smart and knowing where to put it changed a lot since my freshman year to now.”

At the start of Smoot’s varsity career in 2013, upstart head coach Jennifer Agresti was determined to return the team to dominance. The Tigers hadn’t won 30 games in a season since 2006, the last time the team brought home a CCS championship. With Agresti having just finished her fifth year at the helm this year, NDB capped its third consecutive season of 30 overall wins.

Smoot proved the pillar of that success. During her four-year varsity career, the Tigers posted an overall record of 119-43, including back-to-back CCS Division IV championships in 2014 and ’15. They would have had a legitimate chance at a three-peat this season, but the institution of a new Open Division throughout both the CCS and California Interscholastic Federation state championship brackets saw NDB move up to join the most elite teams in the state.

It was a test that, at the outset of the season, the Tigers welcomed. But two weeks prior to the start of the postseason, Smoot’s longtime friend and vaunted terminating partner, senior outside hitter Tammy Byrne, blew out her knee in a tournament finale against Menlo-Atherton.

“I freaked out,” said Smoot, who was on the court when Byrne suffered the season-ending injury. “I was trying to keep calm, like ‘OK, she’s fine. It’s cool.’ … It’s overwhelming because I’m always used to having her on my side because she’s one of my best friends. It’s hard for her but it’s also hard for me to see her go through that pain.”

Add to that injuries to senior middle blocker Mele Fakatene and junior libero Kat Ho — both, along with Byrne, missed the CCS semifinal playoff loss Nov. 8 to St. Ignatius — the Open Division proved too tall an order for Smoot to shoulder essentially as a solo act.

NDB was holding out hope to bypass the Open Division come the state tournament, but the team’s prestigious track record overshadowed the personnel issues in the eyes of the seeding committee. Hence, the Tigers were thrust into the CIF Northern California Open Division, being eliminated by Marin Catholic-Kentfield — despite Smoot totaling 30 of NDB’s 46 kills — in the opening round.

“Everyone was kind of upset, which sounds bad, because it’s an honor to be in Open,” Smoot said. “But given the circumstance with our team … everyone was injured. It was hard to want to play in such a competitive bracket for state.”

NDB had to settle for a West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division title this season. The league championship was a first for Smoot and company though. Having previously played in the West Catholic Athletic League through the 2015 season, the Tigers never finished above the .500 mark in WCAL play from 2013-15, including a winless league record in ’13.

“It was really cool to see how our program has transformed from being 0-6 to winning a state championship last year,” Smoot said. “It’s been really cool for me to be a part of that and to be a part of the teams that helped change Notre Dame’s program.”

Moving on up to the Pac-12 next season with Arizona, Smoot said she expects to start from scratch.

“I’m not expecting any playing time right out of the gate,” Smoot said. “Obviously they’re an amazing team and we’re going to be playing the hardest teams in the country. … I know there are other outsides who are way better than me. So, I’m just expecting to work as hard as I can every day and hopefully improve to where the coaches see my ability.”

That’s a world of ability though. Not only did Smoot lead the CCS in kills — and ranked 42nd in the nation, according to MaxPreps.com — she proved a talent through all six rotations this year, racking up the second most digs at 237 of any Tigers defender.

As for her front-row skills, Smoot owns a vertical leap of over 10 feet to add to her sensational smashing abilities. And though she is still working on her slam dunk on the basketball court, she’s got high hopes in this respect as well.

“It’s in the works,” Smoot said.