Deacon Sports Xtra: 2023 Wake Forest Volleyball Season Outlook
8/21/2023 9:03:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Head volleyball coach Randi Smart and the Demon Deacons have some big plans heading into another fall.
Ever play Rummy with someone holding a fistful of cards, then suddenly play them all in one fell swoop to leave you dumbfoundedly hanging in the lurch?
That's Wake Forest Volleyball head coach Randi Smart.
"I don't want anybody to know what I have or play off of them," she noted.
Coming off a 17-win season in which the Demon Deacons earned a postseason bid in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), Smart is excited to continue implementing the vision she initially had for the program when she took over nearly four years ago.
"We're really excited to build on last year and the years prior," Smart said. "It's been fun to watch the upperclassmen grow and want to thrive. It's been fun bringing the young players into that and watching them turn Wake Forest Volleyball into the vision that Becky (assistant coach Rebecca Rudnick-Hong), Jake (assistant coach Jake Hong) and I had in 2019. It feels like it's been a long time, but last year's freshmen were our first recruiting group. It was during COVID and such a crazy time. It's been a lot of fun seeing us work toward our vision.
"This is exactly what we wanted. When you build it, it's not like putting together a puzzle, it's more like building a house. We started with the foundation, and we were disciplined as a staff about what we wanted, and we got it. The design is coming to fruition."
The Demon Deacons were able to play host in the NIVC, downing Coppin State 3-2 before bowing out with a 3-2 loss to Davidson.
"We had a lot of talks with our team about making the postseason," Smart said. "Competing in the NIVC was fantastic because it made them hungry to do more. They realized we were just a few points away from being in consideration for the NCAA Tournament. They looked at ways we could be better. The postseason brings an entirely different mindset. Then, the standard becomes a postseason – it's not an unrealistic goal."
While still an overall young team, there's a lot of talented experience returning for Smart and the Demon Deacons.
"We return both of our middles in Olivia Franke and Emmy Ogogor," Smart pointed out. "The exciting thing for those two is they really set the tone in terms of what we are as a team — controlling what we can control and working hard. They get to be the pace car, if you will. They're going to be seniors, so it's their chance to finish what they wanted when they started here.
"We are senior heavy with this team. There are nine seniors with this group. They've been doing this for some time, some having started here and some who transferred here."
Part of finishing what they started will boil down to setting the tone for the underclassmen.
"Even with having that many seniors, we're still young," Smart said. "More than half of our team are freshmen and sophomores. It's up to the seniors to set the standard efficiently. We need to train and think like elite athletes. How do you fuel? How do you eat? How do you study? To have that many seniors for our freshmen to look toward in terms of what we do to become elite."
Emma Farrell, returns as the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year after leading the conference in a digs-per-set average (4.41).
"When you add in Paige Crawford, 80 percent of our first contacts last year were from freshmen," Smart said. "Paige has been through the fire last year, in terms of serving, receiving and attacking for us. Now she can pave the way and show the younger ones. Having those two as sophomores, they've had enough touches to be juniors or seniors at this point."
While many of the players were on campus for the summer sessions, no official team activities in the gym were allowed, per NCAA regulations. They began practice on Aug. 8 and the season begins at home against Toledo at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 25.
"We've had lunch and dinner with a few of them, and coffee with some others," Smart said. "It's good to see them and it seems like they are setting the tone. We just have a great group of student-athletes right now.
"I am cautiously optimistic. I'm excited to keep building on what we've done. I can't wait to get started. I'm excited for this group to be another year older and more experienced, and to see the results from their work in the offseason. I have zero predictions on how we're going to do or how we're going to end up. But I'm excited to see that this team will be more physical and mature, more equipped to handle situations than ever before."
There are several key indicators Smart will be looking for during the season to determine if her squad is making progress, most importantly not allowing big scoring runs to their opponents.
"Are we earning points from start to finish?" Smart asked. "Are we giving up less point runs? We had several games last year where we would jump ahead, and then not be able to finish. We had some life lessons learned last year, but that will pay dividends moving forward. It'll be a milestone when we finish off a match by earning points and not because other teams made mistakes."
Wake Forest was 10-5 at home a season ago, including notable wins over Big Four in-state rivals North Carolina and NC State in one early October weekend — with the stands packed with Demon Deacon fans.
"It's worth a million dollars," Smart said of having a big home crowd. "The gym when we hosted UNC and NC State that weekend was standing room only. It was so exciting and the fans definitely acted as that seventh player. It felt like we had hundreds of people on that court with us. There's so much energy in this game, and the energy can change. The fans help you produce that energy and having those fans there is incredible.
"We'd love to have fans in the gym for our matches all the time. We're recruiting kids and training them, and all of that is great. Now, let's get people in the stands and keep them there. It's such a fun sport. When the fans come and enjoy it, they stay loyal. We just need to get people in here."
As Wake Forest Athletics finds success on the field all across the campus, it positively impacts recruiting for every program.
"Our recruiting classes are on quite an uptick," Smart said. "All the sports here doing so well shows you can do it at Wake Forest. We are absolutely somebody who can do things on the field as well as in the classroom. Yes, we have a beautiful campus and we have incredible academics, but we're also doing great things on the field and on the court."
In late April, Wake Forest announced a long-term contract extension for Smart.
"I hung pictures in my house for the first time," she said with a laugh. "We're going to be here for a while. It's awesome. When you get an extension from your athletic department, that shows they're on board and appreciate what you're doing. It's how (Wake Forest athletic director) John (Currie) shows he believes in what you're doing.
"I want to get this team into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the history of the program."
Now that's laying all your cards on the table.
