2023 Michigan Miss Volleyball: Pewamo-Westphalia's Taylor Smith
PEWAMO — Winning the Michigan Miss Volleyball award presented by the Detroit Free Press is generally considered an individual award — but for 2023 winner Taylor Smith of Pewamo-Westphalia, it’s more about a huge celebration with the entire school and community.
“When one person here does something, it feels like everyone accomplishes it,” Smith said Monday during special school assembly called on short notice. “I feel like everyone is behind me and for everyone that supports me it just feels good to do this for them.
“My team is everything. We’re all best friends and we get along really well, on and off the court. I couldn’t do this without them, both skill wise and emotionally. We’re just all there for each other.”
Smith and her Pewamo-Westphalia teammates, the defending Division 3 state champs, are preparing for Tuesday’s state quarterfinal against Kalamazoo Christian. Smith’s next stop is Eastern Michigan to begin her college career.
“She is the perfect fit for us,” EMU’s first-year coach Kevin Foeman said about his first recruit into the Eagles’ program. “She plays hard, she’s a kid with a big heart. She has good size, she’s a good blocker, she can set. But most importantly she’s a good kid, with a good family. She’s a good, blue-collar worker. She just fits right into the system for us, for the coaches, for what we’re trying to build. She’s a perfect cornerstone type to help build this program.”
Ten high school seniors were finalists for Miss Volleyball in this 20th anniversary year. It is a Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association award, voted on by coaches statewide. Smith won with 165 points in voting, followed by Grandville's Zoey Dood (153 points), North Branch's Hailey Green (128), Clarkston's Cayla Cogan (123) and Hudsonville's Isabelle Swiercz (120).
“This is a very prestigious award that little schools don’t win,” said P-W coach Jon Thelen. “Taylor is a phenomenal leader. She has skills of course, she’s very talented. And at 6-foot-1 she’s a ready good blocker. A big, tall setter that is really a dream for any volleyball coach. Her knowledge of the game, her ability to make her hitters better because of how she sets the ball, and who she sets, really sets her apart from a lot of setters in the state.”
Thelen praised his twin towers, Smith and fellow senior Sage Martin.
“They have to be one of the best tandems in the state of Michigan,” Thelen added. “Those two are basically joined at the hip. It’s a big part of why we’re successful. (Sage) knows how she’ll get a ball, every hitter around Taylor knows what kind of ball they’re going to get and it will be darn good, so it’s consistent. It makes a hitter’s life great.”
Both Thelen and Foeman shared similar characteristics of the great advantages a team gets out of tall setters.
“One advantage is that if there is a pass that’s close to the net, she’s going to win (the point),” Thelen said. “She is an exceptional attacker at the net, placing and tipping the ball at angles people aren’t used to seeing and defending.
“She attacks at high percentage. It’s effective, and it changes the sequencing of the defense, so they know she is always a threat. By doing what she does, it opens up the floor for the rest of my hitters.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2023 Michigan Miss Volleyball: Pewamo-Westphalia's Taylor Smith
