Katie Schuette returns to court after injury plagued 2012
Coming off a Mid-American Conference championship in 2011, Katie Schuette’s senior season as an outside hitter for the volleyball team looked promising.
That is, until she suffered a stress fracture in a vertebra during the summer of 2012, which threatened to end her volleyball career.
After being red-shirted and watching the entire 2012 season from the sidelines, the versatile outside hitter/middle blocker had a decision to make about her future at CMU.
She decided to come back as a graduate student for her final year of eligibility and help her team in any way possible.
“Katie sat out for a good seven, eight months of doing nothing physical other than rehab,” said head coach Erik Olson. “We offered her the ability to graduate and be done. She wants to be here.”
Even though the Grand Blanc native wasn’t able to participate in drills or matches last year, she did what she could to help the team.
“Last year I was still a big part of the team, just helping out with drills,” Schuette said. “We had a pretty good system where I was still helping the players even though I wasn’t physically involved.”
The recovery process was not an easy one for Schuette, but she hasn’t needed her back brace for four months, and has been playing with the team all spring. While she still experiences tightness in her back, she hasn’t had many other problems playing.
Her dedication hasn't gone unnoticed.
“She felt like whether she earned a starting job or not, she had something to contribute to this program and help the young ones get better,” Olson said. “If she’s physically able, she’s obviously able to help us out in that way as well, so it’s working out really well.”
Schuette watched her team struggle in the middle of the season, including a stretch where the team lost six matches in a row during MAC play.
“It was difficult, but we were all just trying to stick together as a team until we could iron out the kinks,” Schuette said. “I think by the end of the season we were back on track.”
It was unknown whether Schuette could return to her old form after her injury, but she and her coach both believe she has bounced back even stronger than before.
“Thus far, she’s been in the top two at her position throughout preseason, so it’s been great to see,” Olson said. “I would say she’s playing the best volleyball of her career.”
