A Temple fixture in volleyball, basketball and track and field in high school, Smith spent nearly her entire senior year before deciding which sport to pursue at the college level.
She finally came to a conclusion by choosing the sport she enjoyed the most, and on Monday afternoon at Wildcat Gym, a relieved Smith made it official by signing a letter of intent to play volleyball at NCAA Division I Texas-Pan American.
“When I went down on my visit in November, it was fun and everybody was a family,” said Smith, who plans to major in accounting. “There isn’t anybody down there who is really close to their families and they just made me feel at home.”
Along with Smith, UT-Pan American’s roster will include players from Arizona, California, Colorado and a new recruit from Canada that should help the Lady Broncs improve on their 14-18 mark in 2007.
Smith said she wanted to sign after her November visit to Pan American’s campus in Edinburg but instead decided to see which other schools were interested in other sports.
Smith also was considering Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern to for volleyball and track, Colorado for track and Texas A&M Corpus Christi for volleyball before deciding to become a Lady Bronc.
“We’re very excited,” said UT-Pan American coach Angela Hubbard, who plans on using Smith as an outside hitter. “She’s got a lot of raw talent that’s waiting to be opened up and put to use. She’s unbelievably athletic. We just feel like we can unleash that.”
Smith’s talent helped her post some impressive career numbers at Temple.
She compiled 1,492 kills, 1,016 digs and 195 aces while being named a first-team All-District 13-5A selection three times, the Tem-Cats’ Most Valuable Player twice and the defensive MVP in her sophomore year.
In basketball, she totaled 1,761 points, was a first-team all-district selection four straight seasons and ranks among the school’s all-time leaders in scoring.
Smith qualified for the University Interscholastic League State Track and Field Meet in 2006 in the long jump and finished fifth. She still holds the school record in the long jump with a record of 18 feet, 10½ inches.
“She’s got such a quick approach and I think she’ll be just fine,” seventh-year Temple volleyball coach Susie Hughlett said. “Trenette is a very good hitter, but she’s still raw and still has things to improve upon. The good thing about her is she is an overall athlete. That can help in any sport as we’ve seen in her Temple career because she’s been able to do whatever she’s wanted to do.”
