Volleyball player fights through injury

Weaver's battle on the road to Nationals

Berry College women’s volleyball player Nikki Weaver is “set” to help her team compete in the Regional XIII Tournament in Mobile, Ala. on Friday, Nov. 16, despite a knee injury she suffered last spring.

Nikki Weaver
Photo courtesy Berry College Athletic Department

Weaver, a 19-year-old environmental science major from Brooksville, Fla., will return to her position as defensive specialist in time for the tournament. She said that she expects to compete without negative effects from her injury as the team faces schools like Shorter College and the first ranked University of Mobile for a position at nationals.

"I didn’t have any big injuries last year, but last spring I tore my meniscus in two places and had it repaired at the end of school,” Weaver said. “I was pretty much confined to crutches for two months during the summer.”

In spite of her injury, the sophomore continued to play on her knee this season after hurting it in the spring. However, due to her slow recovery from surgery, the fall practices and games prevented her knee from healing properly.

“When I got back, I wanted to prove that I could play through pain and that it couldn’t affect me,” Weaver said. “But as the season went on, I realized I couldn’t play on that side . . . I had to learn how to read the hitter because I couldn’t move well.”

She plans to play on her hurt knee for the tournament, and when asked if she regretted playing on her knee this fall season, she said she did not.

Teammate Grace Brannon, a junior pre-veterinarian science major, expressed her own opinions about Weaver’s condition on the volleyball court and how her injury affects the team.

“It’s hard for me to play when she’s hurting,” Brannon said, “but she puts her pain aside to play, and I respect that.”

Weaver and teammate Grace Brannon practice for Regional Tournament.
Photo courtesy of Berry College Athletic Department

Lady Vikings’ coach Brianne Smedley said that Weaver has performed well in spite of her injury, but she did acknowledge that Weaver's injury resulted in some limitations on the court.

“I wouldn’t say that Nikki’s injury ever affects the team,” said Smedley, “but I know at times it limits her movement so she isn’t able to perform certain skills at certain times the way she wishes she could.”

Previous Injuries

Last spring wasn’t the first time Weaver seriously injured her knee. During her high school volleyball career, she tore the meniscus in her knee and frequently sprained her ankles.

“It’s the story of my life,” Weaver said, as she rolled her eyes recalling the many injuries suffered in her high school volleyball career. “It was a bummer.”

Regardless of her previous injuries, Weaver chose to play volleyball at Berry when she entered as a freshman, and she plans to keep playing through her senior year. Weaver has played a total of 111 games at Berry with 273 digs and 35 receptions.

“I would describe Nikki as a very determined player,” said Smedley. “She hates to make a mistake and let her team down, so she’s constantly fighting hard to do her best on the court.”

Weaver a leader of the Berry women's volleyball team.
Photo courtesy Berry College Athletic Department

Weaver said that she will play her best during the tournament despite her knee, and she hopes that the team will make it to Nationals.

“I’ll just go where they tell me to go, work hard and do my thing,” said Weaver.

{A. F.}