BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
MISSION — Her dad and older brother both played college football. Her oldest sister rode on Texas A&M’s equestrian team, and her middle sister played volleyball and ran track at Sharyland High. Eventually, Audrey Smith would find a sport and call it her own.
Smith, now a setter for the Sharyland Pioneer volleyball team, first followed in her eldest sister’s footsteps and began riding horses.
“When I was about 10 years old, I began to slowly transition into playing volleyball,” Smith said. “I started out at the Boys & Girls Club, and then I began to travel and play. Ever since then, I fell in love with the game.”
One of the coaches who was front and center to Smith’s growth as a young player was, coincidentally, Sharyland Pioneer coach Laura Cavazos. When Cavazos was the head coach at Donna High, she coached Smith’s club team, Rio Grande Valley Juniors Volleyball Club.
“For one, she’s always had the love and desire for volleyball. She’s always beamed with it, even when she was a 10 or 11-year-old,” Cavazos said. “Coaching her now in her senior year, I’ve definitely seen a big difference with her leadership style. She’s been with the program for four years, so she obviously knows how I work. But I think her seeing different teams over those four years — with some big senior classes leaving her freshman and sophomore years — she’s learned how to work with different people and personalities. She continues to get better in the gym every single day.”
Smith has other interests outside of volleyball. She spends a lot of her time at the family ranch and is an officer at Sharyland Pioneer’s Future Farmers of America club. Agriculture has been as big a part of her life as volleyball is, and it will likely continue to be long after she steps off the hardwood for the final time.
“I really love the agriculture world, and I want to do something in it eventually,” Smith said. “Hopefully something in hunting, ranch or cattle management.”
Smith tallied 420 kills, 537 digs and 1,176 assists through the first three years of her career at Pioneer. Through constantly contacting college coaches and her play, Smith grabbed a few coaches’ attention.
Smith carefully weighed her options, and it looked like she was getting ready to be a University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunner in 2018.
“I highly considered going to UTSA,” Smith said. “On my way back from my visit to UTSA, I got the call from Texas Tech. I was close to committing to UTSA. Loved the school, loved the girls and loved the coach. But when it came down to it, I thought about putting my education first. If worst comes to worst, and volleyball was not in the picture, where would I end up being happy just going to school? And Tech was definitely that choice for me.”
Texas Tech’s phone call offering Smith a preferred walk-on role came at the perfect time.
“I couldn’t believe it. There were a lot of emotions, a lot of tears,” Smith said. “UTSA is a Conference USA school, and I was heading over there. I was already excited. And then you get a call from a Big 12 school. It’s unbelievable even to this day.”
Smith will also get the agriculture education she desires by becoming a Red Raider.
“Texas Tech is one of the biggest agricultural schools in the state,” Smith said. “Now I can get the best of both worlds.”