A tale of two sisters

When redshirt sophomore Alex Smith suffered a season ending injury in 2010, one of the first things she thought about was the chance to play with her younger sister, Aubree, for an additional season at Xavier.

Alex and Aubree Smith, sisters two years apart and teammates on the Xavier volleyball team, would have played two collegiate seasons together but now can play three years together thanks to the medical redshirt that Alex was able to use for the 2010 season.

Aubree was still a senior at Cor Jesu High School in St. Louis when Alex suffered the injury in what would have been her sophomore season.

NCCA medical redshirt rules state that an athlete seeking an extra year of eligibility due to an injury must not have participated in more than 20 percent of the season in which they were injured.

Alex started 12 matches and saw action in 42 sets for Xavier in 2010.

As it turned out, if she had played 43 sets, she would not have been eligible for the medical redshirt and the extra season of eligibility.

"If I had been in [the match] for just one more point, I would not have been able to redshirt," Alex said.

Aubree was already committed to Xavier, so naturally one of Alex's thoughts was the chance of playing an extra season with her younger sister.

"I always knew that she was coming to Xavier with me," Alex said.

Alex committed to play at Xavier as a high school junior in 2007, and Aubree subsequently followed with her commitment to XU as a high school sophomore in 2008.

The sisters shared a room, rode to school together, and had many of the same friends in high school.

About the only thing that has changed between them is that they now live in separate dorms.

From an early age, Alex and Aubree played with the same volleyball club in St. Louis but on different teams due to their two-year age difference. They did, however, play against each other.

"Aubree's team usually won," Alex said.

It wasn't until the 2006 volleyball season that Alex and Aubree were able to play together on the same team, which was Alex's junior season and Aubree's freshman season of high school.

"Because we play different positions, we're not that competitive with each other. I'm more competitive with other people [than with Aubree]," Alex said.

Aubree says that she's more competitive than Alex.

"In some situations, I act like the older sister," Aubree said.

The two sisters have already received honors playing together in the early 2011 season. Alex, a middle blocker, was named to the All-Tournament Team after her strong season-opening weekend in Houston.

Aubree, a setter, was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after her performance in Houston as well. So far this season, Alex has recorded 33 kills and Aubree leads the team with 179 assists, averaging just fewer than 10 assists per set.

After six matches, the Musketeers stand at a 4-2 record and will travel down to Bowling Green, Ky. for the Western Kentucky Invitational this weekend.

The Muskies will open the tournament against host school WKU and will also face LSU and Wake Forest over the weekend.

For a team update on last weekend's tournament in Maryland, visit our sports page at www.thexunewswire.com.