Courtesy of Brian Beard

Alison Smith ’28 is having a scorching start to her Bowdoin volleyball career. Notching an average of 2.75 kills per set and racking up six blocks during the team’s opening weekend in New York, Smith earned NESCAC Player of the Week to kick off her first collegiate season.

While Smith believes her kills to attempts ratio is what earned her these honors, she said that her  performance couldn’t have happened without the strong efforts of the whole team. Together, the team has gotten off to a 5–2 start, including a victory over New York University on September 8, the highest-ranked opponent the team has defeated in program history.

“I do think that wouldn’t have been possible without our defense and everything, being able to get so many reps in each game, because we just kept the rallies going, and we ended up winning a lot of them. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without my team,” Smith said. “We’ve been really strong blocking, and I think being able to play a part in that has been really important for me and the team.”

For Smith, the fact that no one can succeed by themselves is one of the best parts of playing volleyball.

“I love how competitive it is, but it’s also team driven,” she said. “What you do depends on the next person to get it over the net, even just to keep a rally going. And so it’s never going to be just you and the ball, unless you’re serving. So, I love how it’s a very team dynamics-driven sport, but you can also be super competitive as a unit.”

Although she has only known her teammates for a mere four weeks, she says she felt instantly welcomed by the team. She described its dynamic as supportive and says she feels connected to both upperclassmen and other first-year players.

“I feel like the whole team is always willing to be there for you at any time. They’re always willing to show you around if you don’t know where something is,” Smith said. “I really do feel like I’ve grown so close to all of them, and I love all of them. They’re so awesome, and they’re such good role models as well.”

Growing up, Smith also played basketball for six years and soccer for a short period but decided in sixth grade that she wanted to focus on volleyball. After seeing older players from her high school team go on to play volleyball in college, she realized that she wanted to pursue the sport at the collegiate level as well.

Although Maine’s natural beauty and the program’s competitive reputation played a part in her decision, Smith says that the sense of community she felt when meeting members of the team was ultimately what drew her to the College.

“When I went on my visit, I really felt a sense of community here, especially just meeting the team. And I already knew how they were playing competition-wise, and I knew they were great,” she said. “But getting to know the people was so important to me, and to find out they were such amazing, well-versed, knowledgeable people was awesome.”

So far, Smith says that the transition to collegiate volleyball, albeit slightly nerve-racking at first, has been very positive, something she attributes in part to the invaluable support system the players provide to each other. When it comes to game days, Smith emphasizes the importance of staying confident and positive.

“I think that’s my biggest goal, just to push myself to keep staying positive and staying myself,” Smith said. “Sometimes it can be hard in a sport, but I have the team to surround me, and that’s what’s most important.”

While the season is just beginning, Smith hopes the team can make a run to the NCAA championships and is eager to contribute with everything she has.

“It would be an amazing goal for us as a team, and to make a run down there and even get to the championships would be awesome. And I really have strong hopes for us,” Smith said. “We have a really great group here.… I think there’s a lot of talent to go around and a lot of just supportive, amazing humans.”