In their most important huddle of the season, it was the player Smyrna volleyball had leaned on all year who took charge.

The Eagles had just dropped the third set of the state championship match against Ursuline, a back-and-forth affair the Raiders clinched 30-28 after warding off three match points. Smyrna head coach Danny Wandless was nervous. The Eagles still led two sets to one, but momentum flows like the breeze in volleyball.

Anna Richardson, however, was unphased. Her calming effect in the huddle kept the team relaxed. They focused on having fun and turned in their most dominant set of the match to become state champions.

Delaware has crowned a girls volleyball state champion every year since 1975. Smyrna is the first team from below the canal to win.

For that achievement, the Smyrna girls volleyball team has been named the team of the year by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association. They are the first volleyball team to earn the honor, which has been awarded every year since 1999. The Eagles will be honored at the annual DSBA banquet on Feb. 19 at Riverfront Events at the Hyatt Hotel on the Wilmington Riverfront.

Reflecting on the championship win two months later, Wandless credited the school district and the Smyrna community who rallied around the team. Local firehouses blew their horns as the Eagles left town for the University of Delaware's Bob Carpenter Center, the site of the tournament finals. Police escorted them the entire way. Inside the Carpenter Center, Smyrna had the largest and most vocal fan base of the semifinalist schools.

"Doing something that we had never done before, our community just surrounded us," Wandless said. "We felt like we were not alone."

In 2022, Smyrna lost in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion Tower Hill in a 3-0 match Wandless felt was closer than the score indicated. With most of the team returning, the goal was to go at least one round further in the state tournament.

Everything Smyrna did on the court started with Richardson, who entered the season as Delaware Online/The News Journal's no. 1 ranked player and ended it as the state coach's association Player of the Year and the Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year.

"That's a lot of weight to be on somebody's shoulders," Wandless said of the preseason ranking. "Her talent and ability on the court was huge for us, but she also made people around her better. There's no letting down. She's focused. She's going to bring it every time."

MaryPat Kwoka, Charter of Wilmington's head coach and a fixture in Delaware volleyball over the past three decades as the leader of several schools and programs, previously coached Richardson and most of the Smyrna rotation on Premier Volleyball club teams.

"She kept everything in control," Kwoka said of Richardson and her 20-kill state final performance. "She took over the game."

Eliza Schneider, a second-team All-State selection as a junior at Red Lion Christian, transferred to Smyrna for her senior year, which gave Smyrna "dual weapons" and strong "A and B" lines, Wandless said. Senior Elise Carter joined Schneider and Richardson on the 2023 All-State teams. Opposing coaches also credited setter Abigayle Osborne and libero Carly Timblin.

When Smyrna met Caesar Rodney in the state tournament semifinals, Delaware was assured of having its first-ever finalist from downstate. The sport has been traditionally dominated by northern New Castle County private schools. Saint Mark's and Ursuline had won 15 of the 22 state championships since the turn of the century. Only Tower Hill, Padua, Charter of Wilmington and Delaware Military Academy had broken their collective string of victories.

After the match, Wandless and Caesar Rodney head coach Jake Bluhm, who earned the distinction of Coach of the Year from the coach's association, credited the growth of the game downstate to the increased number of out-of-season club team opportunities.

The group of Richardson, Schneider, Carter, Osborne and Timblin have played together throughout their childhoods.

"There's definitely been more competition and it's gotten harder, but so has our team — we've gotten better as the years have gone on," Richardson said after the Caesar Rodney match.

Wandless said he is honored Smyrna is the team that "opened the door" for downstate schools. He praised the comraderie between coaches across the state, saying their rarely shy from sharing tidbits on how to improve their programs.

Premier Volleyball, the club Kwoka leads, has twice as many teams as it did a decade ago. The club instructs kindergarten-aged kids to high school seniors at a variety of skill levels. It's one of several programs that has experienced recent growth and has helped improve the level of competition across the state.

"It's grown the sport tremendously," Kwoka said.

Added Kwoka, "I think it's well deserved. They've definitely blown everybody's mind. ... I think Smyrna is going to start to be known as a volleyball school."

Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on X and Instagram @holveck_brandon. Follow him on TikTok @bholveck.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Smyrna volleyball state champs are team of the year in Delaware