Long road to recovery nears end

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This article was published 26/09/2023 (1100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Who doesn’t love a good comeback?

At the University of Manitoba, teammates Keziah Hoeppner and Simone Crevier have both scripted inspirational return-to-play storylines by suiting up for the women’s volleyball team after missing all or most of 2022-23 with major injuries.

Hoeppner, a 22-year-old right side from Niverville, made her season debut in last Friday’s pre-season opening tournament, which came a long 14 months after tearing the ACL in her right knee during an off-season workout.

Minutes into Friday’s match, Hoeppner hammered the ball down the line — the emphatic kill announcing that she was truly back.

“It feels good to know that the amount of work that I’ve put in is paying off — it’s rewarding,” said Hoeppner Tuesday afternoon. “I made myself a list of goals because I wanted to make it back. And one of my goals was to play in a pre-season game — so check. My next goal was to get my first kill in a pre-season game. The moment when I got that that it was another check mark.

“And my next goal was to get an ace in a pre-season game and I got one on Sunday. I’ve got to give myself all these incremental things because I can’t just say I want to be a starter because that never may be checked.”

Hoeppner credited strength and conditioning coach Cole Scheller and athetic therapist Mandy Los for providing a game plan for recovery.

“They have this whole nine-month ACL rehab program on an Excel document,” said Hoeppner, who plans to wear a brace on the repaired knee for at least one year. “So every week it was laid out for me exactly what I needed to do…

“And I loved it. I love working out every single day and just being in the gym. I obviously missed volleyball but I think I could just transfer that passion to working out. And then, every little thing, like doing a squat again for the first time, was like a victory.”

A very good leaper prior to the injury, the 5-9 Hoeppner believes she will soon equal or exceed her jumping touch of 10 feet before surgery.

“If anything, I think I’m jumping higher than before just because the amount of leg strength that I’ve gained because lots of the rehab process after you gained strength is to do volleyball-related things,” she said, noting the improvements aren’t only physical.

“I think sitting out for a year helped me gain a lot of volleyball IQ and knowledge,” she added. “So I feel like I see the game a little bit differently, maybe more maturely than people who haven’t had a chance to watch.”

Hoeppner, in her third year of eligibility, may well earn her way into head coach Ken Bentley’s starting lineup. Her return to form has been matched by Crevier, a close friend.

On Friday, the 6-1 middle from Portage la Prairie saw her first game action in almost a year after having surgery to repair torn labrum in both shoulders.

Her return on the weekend was almost two months ahead of schedule. Crevier is eight months out from surgery to repair the cartilage damage in her right shoulder and five months from a procedure to fix the same problem in her left.

“It’s definitely been a grind,” said Crevier, 22. “It’s been challenging and it’s tough not playing the sport you love but it’s definitely been worth it so far and I’m so glad to be back playing.

“I’m hoping in the next couple of months I can make some major gains. It feels better every week but it’s still not the same.”

Crevier’s resolve has impressed her teammates.

“One surgery I feel like is a lot but two — how do you come back from that?” said fourth-year left side Light Uchechukwu. “But I know she worked really hard. Every time I was in a gym, I saw either Simone or Kez. They were both always there.”

Hoeppner and Crevier found strength in sharing their experience, however frustrating it was at times.

“It made us closer as friends and teammates, just knowing that someone’s in the same spot that I am,” said Hoeppner. “I think that an underrated aspect of recovery is the comeback and how frustrating it can be going into practice and not being as good as you used to be. But having someone that’s right there beside you being like, ‘Hey, I’m experiencing the same thing…’ And then we can celebrate each other’s small victories.

“Seeing her play a full game on Sunday was crazy. I was just so excited. Every kill that she got was like a little small victory that I don’t think anyone else was really thinking of in the same way.”

Bentley, who guided his depleted roster to a fourth-place finish at nationals last spring, has most of his roster back in 2023-24 but with Crevier and Hoeppner added to the mix.

“They were really key pieces to our team last year and now having them available, as good as our season was, not having them hurt us because we lacked the capacity to really challenge each other six-on-six,” said Bentley. “So that part of our training, we missed a whole year and that really did affect us in the end.

“But now that we have them back, we have way more depth. Kez is a lot closer (to top form) than Simone but the fact that she’s doing what she’s doing now is fantastic.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca