Freshman Sabine Smith makes history with MIT Volleyball
Smith is the first MIT player to earn AVCA DIII Women’s Player of the Week
Photo courtesy of Greg Sabin/MIT Athletics
On Oct. 6, Sabine Smith ’30 of Park City, Utah, became the first MIT volleyball player in history to win the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Women’s Player of the Week award. She has not even been on campus for a full semester, yet her career stats at the Institute are already hard to match.
Smith chose MIT for one main reason: balance. As a high-level player, she wanted to keep excelling in volleyball while also being challenged academically. In the classroom, Smith plans to pursue Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (Course 12).
Joining a storied athletics program like the Engineers can bring a lot of pressure, especially for an outside hitter like Smith, who plays a pivotal, high-contributing role. She felt that pressure early in the season but found two ways to manage the intimidation of stepping into such a prominent role as a freshman. Smith says team chemistry helped her excel despite the pressure. Ultimately, it comes down to trust.
“The fact that people want to give you the ball, they want to put you on the court, and maybe they even want to set you on game point in a fifth set. The fact that people are wanting those things out of you means simply that they believe in you, and so allowing that to enable me and my confidence has been the biggest thing,” she said.
The team’s momentum continues to build, and as of time of publication, they now rank No. 1 in the latest NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Power Index (NPI), based on games through Oct. 14. From the outside, the pressure may seem to be mounting, but the team remains confident in its hard work and consistent results.
“Towards the end of the season, we’ll just continue to get better, and other teams will continue to get better, and we’re gonna be a team that's gonna be hard to beat,” Smith said.
The Engineers are 5–2 in conference play after falling to Springfield College and No. 25 Babson College in consecutive games on Oct. 17 and Oct. 20. The Engineers look forward to facing NEWMAC teams Wellesley, the US Coast Guard Academy, Smith College, and Clark University in regular-season games in the next few weeks before the conference tournament opens on Nov. 10.
“I am honestly just looking forward to playing some good volleyball,” Smith said.