Russ Rose Then (2000): “Cara was the top middle hitter in the midwest last season. We like how athletic she is and that she has gained some solid playing experience during her involvement with the USA Youth program.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Cara was an exceptional volleyball and basketball player at Harrison High School in Indiana, and certainly was one of the most competitive players that we had in the program. She never backed down from competition and she wanted the ball. Cara was very mature as an athlete and as a person. One can assume that all teams are filled with Alphas who are really competitive human beings, who hate to lose more than anything, and Cara was all that as a freshman. But she didn’t play like a freshman. She competed in practice, and she competed in matches, and she was somebody that we knew we wanted to get the ball to in key times. She was skilled at all facets of her game. At the net, with her basketball background, she was especially good off of one foot. She was one of our top attackers because she was so good off of one foot. She did this ‘take off and go,’ and we had good setting — first with Jessica Hayden and Shannon Bortner, and then with Sam Tortorello — and she would be able to score and do things to give us a chance to win. She was running slides like Teri Zemaitis had for us a few seasons earlier, and like players like Ari Wilson, who led the nation in hitting, and Christa Harmotto, who did some amazing things, did a bit later, but Cara was every bit as terminal an attacker as those players. Like all those players, Cara was quick, and she was strong in the air, and her hitting the slide was money for us a lot of times. She was terrific. She married a middle blocker from the men’s team and they have two daughters. She’s involved in coaching and they live up in New York.”
2000 Season (Freshman) Highlights and Awards: Big Ten All-Freshman.
Season Recap: Enjoyed a tremendous freshman season in which she developed into both an offensive and defensive presence at the net … played in 34 of 36 matches and 105 of 128 sets … averaged 1.94 kills/set on .289 hitting … averaged 1.27 blocks/set, ranking 2nd on the team … averaged 0.84 digs/set … totaled 8 service aces for the season … recorded 10 kills and 7 blocks while hitting .422 in loss vs. Minnesota (9/29) … posted a triple-double with 16 kills, 11 digs, and 13 blocks at Minnesota (11/4).
NCAA Tournament: Recorded 7 kills and 2 blocks in win over James Madison (12/1) in 1st round of NCAA Tournament … was a key factor in 3-1 2nd round win over Washington State (12/2), as she posted 16 kills and hit .467, with 2 digs and 2 blocks … totaled 7 kills and 3 blocks in Pacific Regional semifinal win over Colorado State (12/7) … recorded 3 kills and 2 digs in Pacific Regional final at Southern California (12/8).
Before Penn State: A four-year starter at middle hitter and three-time captain at Harrison High School; was a member of the Junior National team in the summer of 1999; in 1998, led high school team to a school-record 31 wins and a state final four appearance; played in the 2000 Indiana State All Games in both volleyball and basketball; also lettered four years in basketball and one year in track.
“Smith eclipses 1000-kill milestone in Lions’ weekend win,” The Daily Collegian, Sept. 22, 2003