Women's volleyball player powers through injuries

Nikki Weaver eager to play in tournament despite knee injuries

Berry College women's volleyball player Nikki Weaver is "set" to help her team compete in the Region XIII Tournament in Mobile, Ala., on Nov. 16.

Weaver, 19, from Brooksville, Fla., is the team's defensive specialist and a sophomore environmental science major at Berry. She said that she expects her fellow players to fight hard as they face the first-ranked University of Mobile at 10 a.m. and Shorter College at 12:30 p.m. on Friday for a position at nationals.

"We've been playing well in practice," Weaver said. "That's a very good thing to have when going into a tournament like this."

Lady Vikings' Coach Brianne Smedley also expressed high hopes for the team as they leave for the tournament ranking fifth in the region.

"Although three other teams that are competing in the tournament have beaten us, I think that we have an excellent shot of going to nationals," Smedley said.

Playing through the pain
Weaver will regain her defensive position in the tournament despite her knee injury suffered spring 2007.

"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."

Weaver continued to play on her knee in spite of her injury. However, because of 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 the 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 will continue to play on her hurt knee this fall season, but said she did not regret playing on it post-operation.

"The tear was too big for it to heal even if I had gotten diagnosed earlier," Weaver said.

Teammate Grace Brannon, a junior pre-vet major said she found it difficult to play when Weaver was hurt.

"But she puts her pain aside to play, and I respect that," Brannon said.

Smedley said that Weaver has done exceptionally well in terms of her performance.

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

Last spring's torn meniscus was not Weaver's first major injury. In high school, she tore her meniscus and sprained her ankles constantly during volleyball seasons.

"It's the story of my life," Weaver said. "It was a bummer."

Despite her injuries, Weaver continued playing volleyball at Berry when she came as a freshman, and she plans to keep playing through her senior year. Weaver has played a total of 111 games at Berry wtih 273 digs and 35 receptions.

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

The stakes
According to Smedley, Berry's ranking will remain the same after the tournament. The only thing at stake is winning four matches that will either send them to nationals or leave them practicing for another year.

"I feel like after last week's conference we are in high spirits because we played really well," Brannon said, "but I think we need to work on things like blocking so we can do well."

Grace Brannon spiking against Shorter College during an Oct. 5 match. The women's volleyball team will face Shorter at 12:30 p.m. on Friday in the Region XIII tournament.

Photo by Stephen Lindley

Weaver said that her team is capable of playing the way Shorter College did when it won its conference recently. Even though Berry currently ranks fifth out of six schools in the region, Weaver said she is still hopeful for a win this weekend.

The tournament will consist of four matches among the six competing schools, which will be split into two pools. The top two teams in each pool will advance to a third match in the semifinals where the two winning teams will play in a fourth match in the finals for a position at nationals.

"We have the ability to be amazing," Smedley said, "but sometimes we let our minds get the best of us and make us mess up."

Weaver said that she will play her best despite her knee injury, and she hopes that the team will make it to the third match in the semifinals.

"I'll just go where they tell me to go, work hard and do my thing," Weaver said.

{J.E.}