Carroll College volleyball player Christina Smetana, a junior middle hitter, was recently selected to the 2008 All-Frontier Conference first team.

Smetana finished in the top six in four categories in the conference. She was second in the league in blocks, with 110 stops, and tied for fourth in both hitting efficiency and service aces.

The 5-foot-10 Smetana posted a .211 hitting percentage, while producing 28 aces. She was also sixth in kills, with a 2.7 average.

She helped the young Saints — who had five freshmen and only one senior on the roster this year — to an 18-10 overall record, 7-3 in the conference.

Carroll teammates joining Smetana on the all-conference squads were sophomores Sammy Priddy and Haylee Otteson, who both earned second team honors. Maureen Frauenholz made the Frontier’s all-freshman squad.

Otteson was the league leader with 122 blocks, while Priddy was ninth in hitting percentage. Frauenholz led the Saints with 53 aces and 412 digs. Pacing the club in assists was Katie St. John, who bumped 563 assists.

An all-around athlete for Capital High, Smetana tied the school record by earning 12 varsity letters. She was the first girl in Bruins’ history to be named first team all-state in three sports (volleyball, basketball and softball) in the same year. She finished her prep career with a total of five all-state selections.

Christina left Capital with six volleyball records, including the game, season and career marks for kills and blocks.

As a sophomore for Carroll last year, Smetana was awarded an All-Frontier honorable mention selection. She paced the 2007 Saints in four categories: kills, kills average, total blocks and assisted blocks.

Smetana’s off-season training regimen consists of weight training and conditioning. She said her favorite exercise in the weight room are clean lifts. She does four sets of descending reps (12-9-7-5), starting with 80 pounds and finishing with 110 pounds. The teams running program consists of 10 miles per week.

An intermediate accounting major, she sports a cumulative 3.26 GPA. Christina is the daughter of Paul and Shelly Smetana.

Q What is the major difference between high school and college volleyball?

A The pace of the game, the size of the girls and the intelligence of the players. The sets are a lot quicker, and there’s quite a bit more finesse on the court. The competition is much more even up here, because all the players in college were their top players in high school.

Q Which older Saints teammates had the most influence on your volleyball?

A Tiffany Rochelle and Valissa Sneck. Tiffany was a middle blocker, so I learned a lot about the position from her. Valissa was a libero and a great leader. She was always encouraging me, helping me to believe in myself. Valissa gave me the confidence I needed to know that I belonged here.

Q What was this year’s highlight?

A Beating Tech in Butte. It took all five sets, and every one was real close. It’s such a huge rivalry, there’s so much emotion involved. And Tech is just really a hard place to play — the fans are brutal there. But we had a busload of Carroll fans come down for support, and that helped.

Q What was your most fun experience off the court?

A The trip to Concordia, Calif. We went to Laguna Beach and rented some boogie boards. It was a blast getting beat up in the ocean surf, and it was fun watching how some of the freshman reacted to their first time seeing the ocean. They were the first ones in the water.

Q Since your team was so young this year and still did well, what’s your prediction for next year?

A I think we’re going to be really good next year. The chemistry on this team is great, we’re all really close and had a lot of fun this year. We are only going to get better.

Reporter Curt Synness: 449-2150 or curt52s@bresnan.net