By Andy Walter

SMYRNA — Karalyn Osborne’s family lives so close to Smyrna High she could have walked to the gym for the match.

But she couldn’t.

The sophomore volleyball player was at home, quarantined because of COVID-19, when her Eagles’ teammates fell to Caravel in the second round of the DIAA state tournament last December.

“I was just watching it from home (online),” said Osborne. “It was definitely hard.”

Indeed, Smyrna’s group of volleyball players probably understand the realities of playing during a pandemic as much as any high school team.

After being shut down by COVID for almost two weeks late in the season, the Eagles got in only one practice before losing to Caravel in the state tourney. It didn’t make any difference that Smyrna was the No. 2 seed.

The idea that COVID is still a threat isn’t lost on the Eagles. So they say they’re just trying to take wearing masks again in stride.

As the only high school fall sport played inside in Delaware, volleyball is also the only sport in the state where players still have to wear masks during competition. The state has mandated mask-wearing in schools in general for now.

Smyrna’s players, who opened preseason practice on Monday, know that every other volleyball team in the state is in the same situation.

“I kind of figured that they were going to do it for safety precautions,” senior Gianna Romano said about the restriction. “It doesn’t really bother me, though. I’m used to it by now.

“I don’t really think there is a tough part. I think it’s kind of easy to wear the mask. If it’s hot and you’ve been playing for a little bit, it gets a little hard.”

The Eagles had taken part in open gym sessions all summer without having to wear masks. The new mask guidelines were brought about because of the new COVID Delta variant and a rise in the number of cases.

“We’re happy to be in the gym,” said coach Danny Wandless. “As long as we’re in the gym, we’re good.

“This year, I’ve got to give more frequent breaks. Sometimes you get coaching and you don’t realize — with all the energy on the court — that you’ve got to stop every now and then to get some clean air in there. We played last year with it so we’re familiar.”

Probably of more immediate concern to Smyrna is replacing four graduated senior starters from last year’s 9-2 squad. The Eagles’ only losses in the shortened season were to Delaware Military and Caravel.

On the other hand, sophomore Anna Richardson was a second-team All-Henlopen North pick as a freshman while Romano made honorable mention.

Wandless said he has confidence in the program’s ability to keep producing good new players. Smyrna, which opens the season on Sept. 9 with a tough non-conference match at Archmere, has made the DIAA state tourney every season since 2013.

“I feel as good as I have in any year that we’ve been right there,” said Wandless. “The girls are hungry, the girls are talented. They’re ready to fill those holes that were left last year and we’ll try to go further than what we did last year.”

“It makes us want to work harder so we can get past that point,” Richardson said about losing in the state tournament. “We have a good team this year.”

Richardson, personally, hasn’t been a big fan of wearing a mask on the court.

“They make it a lot harder to do everything,” she said. “It’s hard to work and run back and forth. I was disappointed but as long we can play and get our season back, we had to do what we had to do.”

Considering how last season finished, though, the Eagles know that being able to actually play is far better than waiting and watching.

“Even through preseason, we’ve seen how much we can grow,” said Romano. “We’re all just trying to be supportive of one another and bring all our energy together.”

“It’s always hard (to lose seniors),” said Osborne. “But there’s also a new team dynamic that we can create — brand new this year — so that’s exciting.”