By Andy Walter

SMYRNA — Brooke Berge said she looks up at the banner every time she’s at practice.

The fact that she and her Smyrna High girls’ volleyball teammates won the program’s first DIAA state title last fall is a pretty nice memory.

“It’s the legacy that we left,” said Berge. “To be the first team from below the canal to win the championship is pretty crazy.”

But now comes the difficult part.

The Eagles will have to try to win a second-straight state crown after graduating seven seniors, including five of their six starters.

And three of those five seniors were All-State selections.

Of course, veteran coach Danny Wandless says this year’s squad doesn’t have anything to prove. Like in any season, Smyrna is simply going to see how much it can get better from the start of the season to the end.

Wandless said his goals for the team are always to compete for a Henlopen Conference title and to make the state tournament.

“That’s the way my message started out this year and that was the same message last year,” he said. “These girls, they did a lot of work.

“If we were to say, ‘It’s a rebuilding year,’ I think it’s an insult to these girls who played volleyball the last five, six years of their lives.”

Danny Wandless begins his 20th season as Smyrna’s girls’ volleyball coach with a young squad. SPECIAL TO THE DAILY STATE NEWS/GARY EMEIGH

Smyrna starts the season with a 10-match winning streak after finishing 19-1 a year ago. The Eagles have also won 15 straight Henlopen North matches since 2021.

The returning players from last year’s roster tried to learn as much as they could from the veterans.

“It was definitely amazing just to practice with that group,” said junior setter Adison Weisenberger. “As a team, I think we learned to work hard every practice. That’s what’s going to correlate to games.

“But we also had really good team chemistry. We’re already planning some of the team-bonding stuff we’re going to do this year to get closer with the new girls.”

“I was as focused as I could be last year for this year because I knew we were losing most of our seniors,” said senior Ella Pleasanton. “I knew I really had to bring out my best for this year. I was really paying attention to everything that was going on.

“I was also trying to think about how the other teams were going to be this coming year, too — not just our team but what our competition will be. I feel really prepared for our season. I’m very excited.”

Smyrna’s recent success means that every team it faces this season will be trying to knock it off.

The Eagles are still playing a tough non-conference schedule, beginning with a home match against Archmere on Sept. 5. The players know nothing will come easy.

“Everyone’s probably thinking of us as underdogs because we lost all of our players,” said Weisenberger. “But I think that target on our backs is really just to prove that we’re just as good as any other team in the state still.”

Wandless is beginning his 20th season as the only head coach the program has had.

Last year was great but that doesn’t mean all the other seasons have been any less satisfying, he said.

“Every season, it’s a journey,” said Wandless. “I’ve had seasons a little bit more than .500 but the girls had fun.

“It’s the whole high school experience, right?. Volleyball is just a slice of the pie. And if I can make sure that these girls walk out of the season a better person, learning more about the game and themselves, being part of a team, that’s the bigger goal.”

Berge is the lone returning starter from last season. The senior said, while Smyrna’s lineup has changed its approach to playing volleyball hasn’t.

“Our goal for this year is just to go out there and have fun,” said Berge, who made honorable mention Henlopen North last year. “We have a really young team so it’s a lot to build off of.

“It feels like just yesterday I was a freshman and now I’m a senior. I take on that responsibility of being that example for the younger girls to follow. We’re going to go out and try our best no matter what.”

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