- 2018 Highlights #2
Personal Statement
My name is Delanie DeSano-Smith and I want to be the best setter in the U.S. one day. I have had the same dream since was 10. My dream is to get as far as I can playing indoor volleyball for college, while training in beach volleyball, and continue my volleyball journey by making it to an olympic team whether it is for beach or indoor. I live with my mom, dad and one out of two sisters currently. My family has made the biggest impact on who I am today including my personality and my ambitions. Both of my sisters, who are both older and in the university system right now, played volleyball for at least 8 years and I think that is where a lot of my determination to be great came from. I look up to my older sisters immensely, they are great role models and my life has really been influenced by trying the live up to what they’ve done. One of my sisters was a serious setter and she went on to set in college and that’s exactly what I won’t stop until I achieve but better. One thing to know about me is that I am not a quitter and once my mind is set on a goal I can be flexible about how I get there but my mindset won’t ever change.
In the late part of my 14u volleyball season there ended up being an osteochondral defect found in my left knee after complaining about knee pain at the doctor. I missed in total two whole club seasons plus a school season of playing/training. I was devastated throughout my whole journey of repair and recovery. Now that I am playing again I can reflect and say that, that that “setback ” actually benefited me. I came back with more determination because I had to kind of makeup for my lost time and make sure I was still at the same level as the girls I’d been playing with. I also notice that at this point in some of my friends or old teammates— even current teammates volleyball careers, they are ready to stop playing soon or stopped this year. I see my offtime as a blessing now because I was forced into a position that made me realize how much I loved the game of volleyball. At this point I could not even fathom ending my journey involving this sport soon and not playing for as long as possible. No matter what happens considering my high school, college, etc. success, I will play volleyball until someone tells me it’s dangerous and I’ll never stop loving the game.
