She had offers to play college basketball, but decided to just go to LSU with an eye on walking on to the volleyball team.
“I was just a normal student my freshman year,” Haley Smith recalled.
LSU gave her a tryout in the spring of the that year and suffice it to say she made the team.
Fast forward to what is now the last week of her senior year, and the product of Chalmette, the one her oldest friends call “Peanut,” almost always the smallest player on the court, will leave LSU as its all-time digs leader.
“I’d call her an unsung hero,” said fellow senior Cati Leak. “She does the dirty work for us. And in the gym she’s one of the top three people you want to match intensity-wise, work ethic-wise, fight-wise. She’s one good person to look up to as a leader.”
Which is no small thing, considering Leak is 6-foot-2 and Smith 5-4.
Speaking of which, the smallest player is now the all-time LSU digs leader with 1,583 in her career.
“It’s been so cool to watch her get better and being in the gym with her every day,” fellow senior Katie Lindelow said. “You really appreciate her work ethic and why she’s as good as she is.”
1,500-plus digs means a lot of time crashing to the floor.
I’m definitely very proud,” Smith said. “My name goes on it, but I’ve had some great teams and the coaching staff has taught me a lot. I’m fortunate to have has the opportunity to have played so many sets to get the opportunities to dig the ball.”
To do so, Smith gives up her body with abandon. It would be hard to imagine a football player with more bruises.
Smith was a four-sport athlete in high school, playing point guard, shortstop and center field in softball, and in track ran the 400 and did the long jump.
Lindelow said her first memory of Smith was the LHSAA state volleyball tournament her freshman year at Mandeville. Lindelow, regarded as one of the better players in Louisiana prep history, was a year behind Smith in high school.
“We lost to Chalmette and Haley knocked us out of the tournament. That’s my first memory of her, losing to her. And not much has changed. She’s such a a winner.”
And a character. Leak just laughed when thinking about it.
“Everything. Her mannerisms. She’s just funny. She’s the best dancer. She goes for it. She knows every rap song.”
Smith, who weighs just 112 pounds, got the Peanut monicker from her dad. She said it stuck when there were two Haley’s on an 8-year-old softball team. She wasn’t copping to the rap, but admitted she loves to dance.
“I can dance a little bit,” she said with a laugh. “They like to see me dance.”
Unfortunately LSU won’t go NCAA dancing this year. Certainly things haven’t gone as planned this year for any of the four seniors, Smith, Lindelow, Leak and Emily Ehrle, who came to LSU after a year at Texas Tech.
“I couldn’t be more proud going out with them,” Smith said.
Injuries have decimated the Tigers, including losing Leak for the season earlier this month, as they stand 9-19 overall, 5-12 in the Southeastern Conference.
“We went into this year thinking it would be very successful,” Smith said. “Obviously we wanted to get back to the NCAA Tournament like we had the past two years, but I think when we had those key injuries, it made things tough. The young players were able to build for the future.
“But we are still playing for LSU and we want to grow the program.”
The team ends the year on the road this week, with the team’s final match at Alabama today.
“It’s been a great ride with ups and downs and I’ve learned a lot as a person. I’ve met some really cool people,” Smith said. “I’ve grown a lot closer to my family.”
She paused.
“I don’t know, I’m going to be really overwhelmed on Friday at Alabama when it’s all over with.”