DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

In the Sage Hill School gym, music began to play, the kind you hear before a high school boys’ volleyball match.

Don’t worry, Bayle Smith wasn’t preparing for another match. It sure seems like he has been competing every other day.

Try four times last week.

Smith returned to the court Wednesday for a practice. Downtime compared to last week’s workload, 99 kills in four Academy League victories.

The outside hitter feels a lot different than a year ago around this time. Age does that to you. Smith can’t use that as an excuse. As a senior, he’s young, springy.

He still complains about his right shoulder because it hurts. He would use his left shoulder if he could.

Too bad he’s right-handed.

The left knee locks up sometimes when Smith lands on the leg after hammering a ball. He would land on his right leg if he could.

Too bad he’s right-handed.

Smith has done everything right at Sage Hill. The Lightning continue to win because of Smith, their main man.

“Sometimes we can be a one-man band,” Sage Hill Coach Dan Thomassen said.

The Smith highlight show rolls on after the Lightning wrapped up league play Thursday, finishing in second place.

Next is the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs. Sage Hill (15-12, 7-3 in league) learns of its first-round opponent Monday, when everyone finds out who plays who, where and what time.

Whatever is on the day’s itinerary, Smith will show up and perform. He’s had to in order for Sage Hill to stay competitive and be ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section Division V coaches’ poll.

Before the start of the season, the Lightning suffered two losses.

A month before the school year, Smith said he learned last year’s No. 2 kill leader, Joey Booth, transferred to Corona del Mar. Another starter, libero Mattias Russo-Larson, Smith said he took the year off and went to Sweden.

Smith had no such option.

“I knew I had to take on some extra weight,” said Smith, who shared the Academy League MVP award and earned first-team All-CIF Southern Section Division V honors as a junior.

“I was expecting league to be a lot tougher this year.”

League turned out rocky right away. The Lightning dropped their league opener, a humbling experience at home for Smith.

You have to remember the Lightning went 10-0 last year in league, claiming their first undefeated league championship campaign. Only once did Sage Hill lose a game during a league match.

Rather than make excuses, Smith raised his play, averaging 6.5 kills per game this season.

Smith has turned in his finest season during his four-year career at Sage Hill. Two Ivy League schools, Princeton and Harvard, he said are interested in him for volleyball.

If those two schools don’t pan out, Smith said he has already committed to USC, not for volleyball, for academics.

Smith excels in the classroom as well. He said he has a 4.2 grade-point average, and scored a 2260 on the SAT and a 35 on the ACT.

The Lightning are a smart bunch, a major reason why Thomassen said they’ve been successful despite losing two juniors off last year’s team.

“[Last week] was a test for us,” Thomassen said. “We’ve never actually had four matches during the week and three of them were on the road. These guys and their [demanding] academic schedules, it was definitely a full week.

“Bayle has had more pressure [this season]. He knows he’s the one that’s going to get set.

“When we absolutely need him, he comes through.”