During the spring, Lincoln-Way East senior Hayven Smith had a big decision to make.
She could either concentrate solely on her future basketball career at Illinois or play one more season with her friends on the volleyball team.
It was a no-brainer.
“There is just something about the coaching staff and the bond we have as team,” Smith said. “I couldn’t leave. It pays when you have a bunch of friends on the team who support you and what you are doing. I love it here.”
Smith, a 6-foot-5 middle hitter, paid off in a big way Monday for the Griffins in a 25-18, 25-22 victory over visiting Joliet Catholic in Frankfort.
Alaina Pollard led Lincoln-Way East (9-7) on offense with six kills. Smith contributed three kills and four blocks, while Lexi Byas had 13 digs and Maggie Simon tallied 13 assists and four aces.
Ellie Blotnik paced Joliet Catholic (12-6) with six kills and four digs. Olivia Chovanec added three kills and three digs, while Jessica Horn had 12 assists.
Smith started and ended the first game with big plays.
On the first, she took a quick set from Simon and slammed it straight down. Later, she smothered a spike attempt by the Angels and blocked it to the floor for the final point.
She also ended the second game on a slide play to the right side.
“I didn’t even know if the hit was inbounds,” Smith said. “I turned and said, ‘Was that good?’ I couldn’t even see it.”
It brought a huge smile to Simon’s face.
“It’s crazy,” Simon said, laughing. “I love her. And I love her blocks, her hits. I love running slides with her because we connect really well.”
Smith punched her ticket to Illinois in the spring. Soon after, she received a text from Sean Burns, the Griffins’ newly named girls volleyball coach.
He was, to say the least, a little nervous.
“I had heard a rumor going around that she wasn’t going to play volleyball,” Burns said. “The first thing I did was talk to (former coach) Kris Fiore. I asked him, ‘Hey, have you heard anything?’ And he said no.
“So then I reached out to her, and she said her U of I coaches would be good with her playing volleyball. That was great news to hear. That made us all happy here.”
For the season, Smith leads the Griffins with 34 blocks. She also has 35 kills.
“She’s a big block for us in the middle,” Burns said. “She’s really starting to connect with Maggie on the quick set, the one-ball in the middle.
“At the beginning of the season they weren’t really connecting, but when she knocked off the rust a little, they really started to jell.”
Smith, meanwhile, is taking one last break before devoting a total effort to her main sport.
“I’ve put the basketball down since the end of summer,” Smith said. “I think it’s just important to put it down for a little bit. You don’t want to create a toxic relationship with basketball.
“I missed tryouts for volleyball because I was a basketball tournament. But everybody understood and they knew where I was coming from.”
Her absence at tryouts? Yes, Smith got a free pass and made the team.
And when she showed up at the first practice?
“When I saw her come into the gym ready to play I was like, ‘Yea, she’s here,'” Simon said. “We all had kind of felt that, ‘Oh, maybe she won’t play this season.’ We thought she might stick to basketball.
“When she came in, everybody was happy to see her. It’s great.”
