BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The fall high school sports season began in earnest this week and among those excited for a new year is Ali Smith.
Smith took over as head coach for the Clarkston Varsity Volleyball team after Kelly (Avenall) Pinner retired at the end of January after 18 seasons at the helm.
“Kelly has done such a good job of putting Clarkston on the map,” Smith said. “She’s put her blood, sweat and tears into the program since she started. It’s a really special thing. There’s such great tradition.
“I feel fortunate to have had a year with her to learn about some of the traditions, meet the families and meet the kids. This is something I wanted to be a part of.”

Smith joined the Clarkston Volleyball program as JV coach last year.
“It’s hard to come in as a new coach after the team makes it to the state finals the previous year,” Smith said.
“Our goal overall is we want to win a state championship. Our goals currently are to continue a lot of the traditions that have been created. Continue to push ourselves mentally and physically to make sure we stay in a place, and we are in a place to be able to compete at the highest level in the state and win a state championship.”
Smith was the varsity volleyball coach at Mount Pleasant High School for seven seasons and left after the 2019 fall season.
“I was really proud of a lot of things we did at Mount Pleasant,” she said, adding the program had not won a district title since the 1970s. “They won back-to-back district titles. My last year we won our region. Then, we lost in the quarterfinals to Lake Orion.”
She added she is ready for the crosstown rivalry Clarkston has with the Dragons since she went up against the team in her last match with Mount Pleasant.
“It was easy to be a part of. I felt it already,” Smith said.
Before coaching Mount Pleasant, she also coached club volleyball at several different clubs. When she first graduated college, she was an assistant coach for three seasons at Oakland University.
Smith, her husband, Jeff, and their two daughters live in Clarkston. One daughter is going into seventh grade and the other is going into fifth grade when school begins.
It was Jeff’s job which brought them to the area. He was an assistant coach for men’s basketball at Central Michigan University for seven season before taking the associate head coach position in men’s basketball at Oakland University.
“When we were looking for a place to live, we loved the community of Clarkston,” Ali said. “We loved how the entire community supported the schools and the athletics. A lot of coaches drive to different communities to coach their teams. I love that I can be a part of a program that is right here in our own community where my kids go to school and we can all support the teams, the academics and the kids in our community.
“Giving back to who is around us and supporting the people who live near us was really important to me coming into this.”
The varsity team opens the season in the Mercy Tri Match at Mercy High School on Saturday, August 21. The junior varsity team goes to a tournament at Oxford High School the same day.
The first home event for the teams is against Troy Athens on Tuesday, September 21.