Alex Smits Van Oyen Brings Global Experience to Men’s Volleyball

When redshirt first-year setter Alex Smits Van Oyen made his first career start for Loyola against Saint Francis University Jan. 17., he’d only been on campus for two weeks. 

Smits Van Oyen previously attended the University of California at Santa Barbara before coming to Chicago. When Van Oyen first looked at colleges, he said Loyola was originally one of his top choices, and so he took the second-chance opportunity to join the team.

Head coach Shane Davis said Smits Van Oyen’s transfer has brought new energy to the team. 

“From a maturity standpoint, Alex has done a great job of filling in a need in terms of depth within the setter position, and he doesn’t play like a freshman,” Davis said. “He has different experiences because of his background which makes him different from everyone else on the team which is great.” 

The transfer was quick, according to Van Oyen, who said his new coaches and teammates made it a seamless transition.

“Coaches are really good and energetic, and the team is really close,” Smits Van Oyen said. “They’ve been super helpful to me from just coming in here and being super supportive, going to get food with them. It’s a good environment.” 

Redshirt third-year Bryce Robbins said Smits Van Oyen has meshed well with the team since his transfer. Robbins hosted Smits Van Oyen when he originally visited Loyola, and he said he feels they’ve really connected. He said Smits Van Oyen is a great leader who’ll be good for Loyola’s future. 

Originally from Las Vegas, Smits Van Oyen spent a year in Budapest, where he played professionally with League 2 — a dream his dad had for him. Not only was Smits Van Oyen a few years younger than most of his teammates, but he said he also had to deal with a major language barrier.

Playing abroad runs in the family. Smits Van Oyen’s sister, Cassie, played abroad during a gap year before playing beach volleyball at Vanguard University, which is how he was connected to the Hungarian head coach. 

He and his sister’s volleyball backgrounds are shared with their parents, as Smits Van Oyen’s dad played with Loyola Marymount’s — now defunct — men’s volleyball team, and their mom played at St. Bonaventure.

Beyond playing volleyball abroad, Smits Van Oyen said he’s been traveling his entire life. He has family on his dad’s side in the Netherlands, and his uncle lives in Spain. 

Despite his intensive volleyball background, Smits Van Oyen grew up as a multi-sport athlete, also playing soccer. When college came closer, he had an option to pursue either a soccer or volleyball career. He said he went down the volleyball path because he felt he could go further in the sport.

He said the endless support he had in Las Vegas helped further his career.

“I had great support in Vegas, where I grew up,” Smits Van Oyen said. “At Vegas United with Coach Rios, I’ve known him since I was 11 or 12, and we still talk to this day. It was just a really good environment around me to help me grow and do something I love.”

When Smit Van Oyen came to UCSB, he didn’t plan on redshirting. He suffered a wrist injury — causing him to miss out on summer training — and then suffered an ankle injury shortly after. 

Even though his decision to redshirt revolved around his injury history, he said he’d recommend redshirting to any incoming athletes to help deal with learning curves.

“I’d say that even if you’re not injured it’s better to [redshirt],” Smits Van Oyen said. “ I recommend it. It’s better to take a redshirt year than play one match. It’s realizing what you need to get better at, and then how you can go into practice and just be supportive of your teammates every day and be happy going through a process that you might not be used to.” 

Now in Chicago, Smits Van Oyen said he’s been able to explore downtown a few times and enjoys Chicago’s variety of food and restaurant options. 

Smits Van Oyen and the Ramblers will take on Pepperdine University Jan. 30 at 9 p.m. in Malibu, Calif. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.