David Smith (born May 15, 1985) is an American professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player who plays as a middle blocker for

ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, officially known for sponsorship reasons as Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, is a professional men's volleyball club based in Kędzierzyn-Koźle in southern Poland, founded in 1994. They compete in the Polish PlusL ...

and the U.S. national team. Smith was a bronze medalist at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and the 2018 World Championship; the 2015 World Cup winner and a three–time Champions League winner (

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2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

) with ZAKSA.

Personal life

Smith was born in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

district of

Panorama City Panorama City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. It has a generally young age range as well as the highest population density in the Valley. Ethnically, more than half of its population was born a ...

on May 15, 1985. Born nearly deaf, he wears hearing aids and reads lips to understand his teammates. He grew up in

Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...

, where he attended Saugus High School. Smith is 6 feet, 7 inches (200 cm) tall. He married his wife Kelli in 2008, and has a son, Cohen, born in 2012, and a daughter, Amelie, born in 2018.

Career

College

Smith played for the UC Irvine volleyball team from 2004 to 2007. In 2004, his .369 hitting percentage was the highest on the team. He also had a 1.03 blocking average and 102 block assists. The following season, he had a .401 hitting percentage and a 0.86 blocking average. Smith then had a .412 hitting percentage, 1.27 blocking average, 129 block assists, and 143 total blocks in 2006. In 2007, Smith helped

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

win the NCAA National Champions title. His .559 hitting percentage led the nation and was a new school record. He also broke the UCI single-season block assists record, with 160. Smith was named to the All-American first team and the NCAA All-Tournament team. He finished his UCI career as the school's all-time leader in block assists (471) and total blocks (520).

National team

Smith joined the U.S. national team in 2009. That year, he was named the Best Blocker at the World Championship Qualifier and played in the FIVB World League. In 2010, he helped the U.S. win the Pan American Cup. Smith tied as the team's second-leading scorer at the 2011 Pan American Cup, as the U.S. finished second. He then played in the 2012 FIVB World League, where the U.S. finished second. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was a substitute and had eight points.

Honors

Club

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

– with

2021–22 – with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ** Gold medal europe

2022–23 – with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle * Domestic ** 2010–11 Simple gold cup

Spanish SuperCup, with

CV Almería Club Voleibol Almería, also known for sponsorship reasons as Unicaja Almería, is a professional volleyball team based in Almeria, Spain. It plays in the top flight of Spanish volleyball, Superliga. Honors *'' Superliga'' : 11 **1997, 1998, 20 ...

** 2010–11 Gold medal with cup

Spanish Championship, with CV Almería ** 2011–12 Simple gold cup

French SuperCup, with

Tours VB Tours VB is a professional men's volleyball club which is playing their home matches at the Salle Robert Grenon in Tours, France. Tours VB plays in LNV Ligue A, top volleyball league in France. According to Media Guide book, the annual budget o ...

** 2011–12 Gold medal with cup

French Championship, with Tours VB ** 2012–13 Simple gold cup

French Cup, with Tours VB ** 2012–13 Gold medal with cup

French Championship, with Tours VB ** 2013–14 Simple gold cup

French SuperCup, with Tours VB ** 2013–14 Simple gold cup

French Cup, with Tours VB ** 2013–14 Gold medal with cup

French Championship, with Tours VB ** 2014–15 Simple gold cup

French SuperCup, with Tours VB ** 2014–15 Simple gold cup

French Cup, with Tours VB ** 2014–15 Gold medal with cup

French Championship, with Tours VB ** 2019–20 Simple gold cup

Polish SuperCup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

, with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ** 2020–21 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

, with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ** 2021–22 Simple gold cup

, with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ** 2021–22 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ** 2022–23 Simple gold cup

, with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle

Youth national team

* 2004

NORCECA U21 Championship

Individual awards

* 2012: French Championship – Best middle blocker * 2015: French Championship – Best middle blocker * 2016: French Championship – Best middle blocker * 2022: FIVB Nations League – Best middle blocker * 2023:

– Most valuable player * 2023: FIVB Nations League – Best middle blocker

References

External links