Stevenson University’s men’s volleyball team member hits a major milestone in the Mid Atlantic Conference semifinals game.
Senior Logan Smiley, an outside hitter for the Mustangs, banked his 1,000th career kill against Stevens Tech on April 7. Smiley was the second member of the men’s volleyball team to hit this milestone in the past five years, the first being Landon Shorts who graduated in 2020.
The men’s volleyball team beat Stevens Tech 3-1 in the MAC semifinals and went on to play Messiah for the finals, losing 3-2.
Not only does this milestone positively reflect on Smiley’s athletic ability, but it also reflects positively on the whole team. Aldis Berzins, head coach of the men’s volleyball team, said “it reflects on our teamwork to get kills,” explaining that each teammate needs to do their job well to give hitters the best opportunity to kill the ball against the opponent. Berzins said it is also a reflection of Logan’s individual ability to kill the ball when the situation was not ideal and when the team was out of system.
Smiley echoed that sentiment and said he had his teammates and setters to help him hit this milestone, by pushing him to be better during practices. Smiley added that getting his 1,000th career kill will be something that he will always look back on with pride and he is happy to be among other great players.
Although the men’s volleyball season ended sooner than expected, Berzins said that they were lucky to have a season and make it to the MAC finals. He added that many schools and conferences opted out of playing altogether, so they were fortunate that the MAC conference had a plan against COVID-19 and executed it, so their guys could play.
To view the final stats for the season, visit Stevenson’s website at https://www.gomustangsports.com/sports/mvball/composite.
