From being recruited by powerhouse basketball schools to being selected for the Under Armour volleyball All American game, Chapel Hill volleyball (and basketball) phenom Laynie Smith is the definition of a star athlete.
However, the path that Smith took to this point wasn’t a traditional one.
Smith’s primary sport—and first love—was always basketball growing up. However, in sixth grade, she decided to add a new sport to her arsenal, and that sport was volleyball.
“I’d say the biggest challenge of me switching sports was trying to play both at the same time and managing my time and then ultimately choosing one over another, even though you love both sports,” Smith said.
Throughout middle school, her volleyball skills progressed and one thing led to another. By the end of eighth grade, she was trying out for the most competitive travel volleyball teams in the area.
Despite not making the top travel team her freshman year, Smith kept working hard, and, before she knew it, she had made the top team the following year.
During her second year, Division I volleyball programs from all around the country started to gain notice: schools such as UNC, Illinois, Michigan, UCF, and LSU all had an eye on Smith.
One school in particular that Smith had fallen in love with—from the coaching staff to its conference affiliation, the Big 10—was the University of Illinois.
It was always Smith’s dream to play for a Big 10 school. “When I was younger, I used to watch Big 10 volleyball games on TV. I was like, I want to be there; I want to play there,” Smith said.
In the summer between her sophomore and junior years, Smith verbally committed to playing Division I volleyball at Illinois.
Her high school career was on a tear, to say the least, but the greatness didn’t stop there. In fact, she was only halfway through her high school career and had much more to achieve.
After her sophomore year, Laynie transferred from East Chapel Hill High School to Chapel Hill High School, and that’s when all the pieces started to fall into place.
In her junior year volleyball season as a Tiger, Smith recorded a tremendous 309 kills and a hitting percentage of a whopping 0.434%. She finished ranked second in the DAC-VII 4A conference in both of these categories.
It was around this time when volleyball started to take priority over basketball. As a junior, she was also playing travel basketball and receiving interest from Division I programs.
Smith had the option to play both volleyball and basketball at Illinois. It was a tough decision to make at such a young age.
She ended up sticking with volleyball. “Ultimately, I’m happy with what I decided on,” Smith said.
There were many reasons for this, but the main one was that volleyball focused more on unity and teamwork.
“I feel like in volleyball, you’re more together with your team; you have to win as a team,” Smith said.
In the summer before her senior year, Laynie got invited to the Under Armour All-American camp through her club team and was later selected for the All American game in December.
To put this into context, there are hundreds of thousands of high school athletes who play women’s volleyball. Only a small portion of these athletes play for their local clubs, and even fewer are chosen for this prestigious camp. Smith was one of only two dozen girls from the camp to be chosen to play in the Under Armour All-American game.
“There’s so many great athletes in the United States; being one out of 24 was such a big deal for me,” Smith said.
The Under Armour Volleyball All-American game will happen on January 2, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.
Smith finished her senior-year volleyball season in October, helping the Tigers advance to the third round of the state playoffs, while recording 352 kills—43 more than the previous season—and improving her hitting percentage to 0.499%. Smith finished atop the DAC-VII 4A conference in both of these categories.
Teammates of Smith enjoyed her presence on the court greatly.
“We are so lucky that Laynie transferred to Chapel Hill last year. She truly brought an important strength to the volleyball program. I am super excited to see her play at Illinois,” junior volleyball captain Kira DeVrieze said.
Senior volleyball co-captain Alexia Smollen agreed.
“The drive, skill and passion that helped her achieve the status of a top athlete in the country, made her an incredible team leader throughout the two years she was a part of the program,” Smollen said.
Smith finished her high school career, reaching a milestone that very few athletes achieve: 1,000 career kills.
“When I saw I had reached 1,000 career kills, I was really satisfied, happy and proud of myself,” Smith said.
The future is bright for this star athlete, and, without a doubt, Laynie Smith is killing it.
