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Laila Smith and Mabrey Shaffmaster grew up carpooling from their home town of New Castle, Indiana, to train for Munciana Volleyball, a club about a half hour away in Yorktown. They won three straight State Championships together for New Castle, part of a high school squad that generated seven Division I players.

But the pair never played competitively since graduation. Shaffmaster, who was the No. 1 recruit in the state of Indiana, headed to North Carolina. Smith committed to Alabama.

After two years with the Crimson Tide, Smith transferred to Syracuse. Both players knew they’d have a chance to face off when they practiced together at home during the offseason.

That moment finally came last Friday when the Tar Heels visited SU. The two hadn’t shared a court since they won the 18U AAU National Championship for Munciana in summer 2021. Before Shaffmaster registered a team-high 17 kills, willing UNC to a dominant sweeping-set victory, Smith had nothing but praise for her former teammate.

“She’s always been a rockstar,” Smith said. “So I’m expecting her to give us the show.”

Smith and Shaffmaster were part of a talented 2017 freshman class at New Castle. The Trojans were coming off an early exit in the state tournament from the year prior, but former teammate, and current Ball State senior Zoe Conway, knew the group was special.

“They came in right away and said ‘We’re going to win (states) this year,’” Conway said.

Shaffmaster led the state of Indiana in kills twice in four years. In 2017, the Trojans went 34-6 and were named the Indiana Class 3A State Champions. Shaffmaster recorded a team-best 19 kills in the clincher.

Smith missed her freshman season recovering from knee surgery, but improved immensely over the next few years. Shaffmaster begged her to join the Munciana club team upon recovery.

“I just realized how much better (Smith) had gotten and how she’d grown, and how athletic she was,” Shaffmaster said. “I remember texting her and calling her and anytime I would see her, I was like ‘Please come to Munciana and play.’”

Eventually, Smith joined in summer 2020. Shaffmaster remembered telling Smith that she’d be ready to compete at the collegiate level if she started to play club.

Shaffmaster’s promise of improvement is what got Smith to join the team. And during their senior year in 2021, they won the club national championships together with Muciana before going off to college.

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In her first season, Shaffmaster made an instant impact at North Carolina. Shaffmaster tallied 389 kills, the third-most all-time for a UNC freshman. She took home Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

It took Smith two years to land in the ACC. She suffered a concussion that sidelined her for the final part of the 2022 season. Then, she underwent her third knee surgery in six years once the year ended.

“I was just looking for a place that felt like home,” Smith said. “And Syracuse just felt right, it was more my speed.” SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said Smith was an attractive recruit because of her physicality, strength and blocking ability.

Shaffmaster described Smith as someone that “doesn’t really get frazzled.” Conway said Smith holds a unique combination of speed and size at the middle blocker position. She said Smith doesn’t talk much on the court but “once she gets going, she gets really hyped up.”

Despite being rivals in the ACC this season, Smith and Shaffmaster trained together this past summer. They’ll always catch up when they’re at home for the holidays too, attending New Castle basketball games together over Christmas break.

“It was a special couple of years,” Smith said about her high school career.

Published on October 15, 2023 at 11:02 pm

Contact Sam: sefederm@syr.edu