BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

NORWALK — Steve Conti walked down the line of his players, shaking each of their hands, but stopped at Adam Smith to tell him what he needed to do to accentuate a CIF Southern Section Division II championship.

Conti, the Corona del Mar High boys’ volleyball coach, told Smith to accept the plaque and the senior, who had been out most of the year because of a wrist injury, took it and lifted it over his head, showing immense joy.

It’s been a long, winding road for Smith in his senior year, which has included some valuable lessons and a much-needed CIF title. That came courtesy of the Sea Kings’ 25-23, 25-22, 30-32, 27-25 victory over Santa Barbara at Cerritos College Saturday.

The lessons? Those eventually came after tears flowed in a doctor’s office in February. There was little Smith wanted to learn when a doctor told him he would not be able to play the rest of the season because of torn cartilage in his left wrist.

Volleyball means the world to Smith, and for it to be taken away in his senior year sent him into depression. Smith did not attend school for a month, sinking deeper into the supposed truth he could not help CdM win a CIF title.

He’s not afraid to talk about it now with hopes that he might inspire others who battle with the disease. According to everydayhealth.com eight out of every 100 adolescents have major depression.

Through support from his family and teammates, Smith overcame it. Corona del Mar’s CIF title, actually, was just a bonus.

“Patience is everything,” said Smith who plans to study psychology at UCLA, where he will play volleyball next year. “Just because something happened to you — a lot of adversity — doesn’t mean you should get down on yourself or life is over. Moving on is going to make you stronger.”

It was difficult for Smith to move on earlier this season. This was supposed to be his year as the starting senior outside hitter on the top-ranked team in CIF Division II. He had earned second-team All-CIF Division II honors the previous two years, the former as part of the Sea Kings’ championship team.

His older sisters, Morgan and Jordan, earned several accolades in their seniors years at CdM before moving on to UCLA. He wanted to do the same.

Instead, Adam Smith’s glory came from what he did behind the scenes. Instead of quitting the team, he came back, helped out in practice and gave advice to players, including junior Jeff Carlson, who took Smith’s spot.

“I don’t think we would have won this without him in practice,” Conti said of Smith, who made brief appearances in CdM’s final two wins. “He’s almost like another coach on our team. I just wanted him to accept that plaque because it meant a lot for me to have him be a part of this team.”

Smith was also thankful to be there for CdM’s crowning moment.

“This whole year being out and everything has been so hard. It’s been one of the hardest things in my life,” Smith said. “For my teammates to finish it off for me. It was probably the greatest thing in the world.”

— Steve Virgen