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sports
Phillips reinvents
herself following injury
By Marten Lewerth
Online Forty-Niner
Lurking in the
backrow of the top-ranked Long Beach State women's volleyball
team is a powerful weapon. Her name is Lindsay Phillips, and
if not for a mending knee injury, she would be up front every
night slamming home kills.
"She definitely
packs a punch," said Phillips' teammate and friend Brittany
Hochevar. "She's got a gun and it's always loaded."
For now, however,
Phillips' gun is quiet, as the coaching staff is taking no
risks in rushing her left knee's rehabilitation after a season-ending
ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injury occurred during a
match last September.
"It's been
difficult for her," said 49er Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro.
"But she can still be effective without risking injury."
An outside hitter
since her freshman year at Marina High School, the 5-foot-11
junior from Huntington Beach has had to make do playing defense
this season - digging balls instead of hitting them.
"It's weird,"
Phillips said. "I'm not used to subbing out and I forget
sometimes."
But the most important
thing, Hochevar said, is that Phillips is out on the court
again after sitting on the bench for all but three matches
last year.
"It was hard
as hell for her," Hochevar said. "Having to sit
and watch just killed her. It ate her up inside. You always
question whether you can come back, but I think she proved
to herself she can endure a career-ending injury."
Phillips agreed
that being reduced to spectator status was difficult.
"It was tough
only because I knew I could help the team out," she said.
A highly touted
athlete that led Marina to the Division-I state championship
in 1997 while simultaneously playing for the Orange County
Volleyball Club, Phillips was born in Fountain Valley but
grew up in Huntington Beach. A very athletic child, she began
playing volleyball in seventh grade.
"My parents
just had me try different sports growing up, but when I started
volleyball I quit all the others," she said.
Coming out of high
school Phillips was recruited by LBSU, Pepperdine and USC.
She chose Pepperdine because two of her close friends were
on the team and the university's location overlooking the
Pacific Ocean.
"It wasn't really a matter of how the team was ranked,"
Phillips said. "I think I was persuaded by my friends."
Even though she
was unanimously voted the West Coast Conference Freshman of
the Year in 1998 after averaging 4.74 kills and 3.59 digs
per game, Phillips left Pepperdine after one year for personal
reasons.
"I remember calling my mother in December and saying,
'I hate it here,'" she said.
Phillips also told
her mother she wanted to transfer to LBSU.
"I knew by
the time I left here I would have a national championship,"
she said.
From there, all
it took was a chat with Gimmillaro and Phillips joined the
49ers as a redshirt freshman in 1999.
"Lindsay was no surprise to us or any other college,"
Gimmillaro said. "She wanted to come here and we had
a place for her."
Coming to The Beach
was no cakewalk for Phillips.
"It was tough," she said. "I was learning a
whole new system of volleyball. Everything I had been taught
in club was completely different, completely opposite."
After watching
her teammates fall to Stanford in the NCAA Final Four after
going 31-4 in 1999, Phillips spent the next summer playing
beach volleyball with Hochevar in preparation for the 2000
campaign.
"That was
probably one of the most fun summers I've ever had,"
said Hochevar, who is also Phillips' roommate. "Lindsay
definitely marches to her own drummer. She's kind of off the
wall and a little bit of a punk, but we had and still have
a great time together."
As the season opened, it was evident that Phillips' work over
the summer had paid off.
"It was unreal,
she was playing great," Hochevar said. "She just
didn't make mistakes."
Phillips tallied
20 kills and nine digs in the season opener against Saint
Mary's and seven kills and six digs the next day against Navy.
"Before the
matches, standing on the endline, I was like, 'Wow, I've come
a long way,'" she said.
But just two days
later on Sept. 4, her year ended during a match against American.
"I landed
on my knee and it locked," Phillips said. "All I
remember was falling to the ground in pain. I felt like my
knee was on fire, like my kneecap popped out."
Hochevar, who had
just set Phillips for a kill, was right next to her when it
happened.
"At first
I thought she was OK," Hochevar said. "But then
I saw her knee and knew she was done for the season."
After undergoing surgery a month later, Phillips began the
long and arduous task of rehabilitation, and was medically
cleared to begin playing again in late March.
"I was still really weak," she said, "and I
didn't have full range, so no jumping."
Since the beginning
of the 2001 season Phillips has been a stable component of
the 49er rotation. She is currently fourth on the team in
digs (140) and second on the serve with 29 aces after 65 games.
Although she has primarily played in the backcourt for the
undefeated 49ers, Phillips has made sporadic appearances at
the front of the net.
"Even if she's
not ready yet to do it full-time, Lindsay has a knack for
balancing out the emotions of the team," Gimmillaro said.
"She doesn't make many mistakes and brings a certain
level of comfort on the court."
Her biggest offensive
contribution came in a match against UC Santa Barbara on Sept.
21, when she posted seven kills and 11 digs in the only five-game
contest of the season for the 49ers.
"Right after
she got her first kill, I walked up to her and said, 'Welcome
back,'" Hochevar said.
Phillips said it
felt great to be on the frontlines again, but added she is
happy enough contributing in any way she can for the No. 1
team in the nation.
"In some aspects
you feel like a star," she said. "But on the other
hand there's a lot of pressure to keep up with the standards
set here by others in the past. It's an honor to be on this
team."
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