Volleyball player hits bump in road

Senior Ramya Swami, a varsity middle blocker, was in a state of total concentration in the game against King’s Academy on Sept. 7 when crisis struck. 

An opposing team member had foot-faulted, or put her foot over the centerline into Swami’s side of the court, resulting in Swami losing her balance and spraining her ankle.

“[The fall was] not one of my most elegant moments,” Swami admitted. 

Regardless, Swami refuses to let the ankle injury inhibit her performance on the team. She is playing on the ankle, though she has to spend time with the team’s trainer, Liz Alves, to undergo rehab and do some special ankle exercises. Alves has also taped the ankle so that it won't move before Swami plays. 

“[The ankle] will recover when it recovers; the important thing is that it’s not broken,” Swami said, “I’m not too concerned about it. When you play sports, you tend to get beat up. There's no point in whining about it.”

Swami is placing more of her thoughts on the team’s performance than her injury. 

“I really, really, really want us to win league this year, “ Swami said. “We have the skill level, we have the determination; we can totally do it.”

Swami’s injury has affected the morale of the team, says junior team captain Tivoli Sisco. 

“Ramya’s injury is definitely affecting us in a bad way because we need her to hit and play middle because we don’t have very many middles,” Sisco said. “She’s a good team leader so when she’s not on the court it definitely also affects us mentally.” 

Swami has played volleyball since the third grade, following her sister’s footsteps. She was a member of Jumpstart Volleyball, a club that teaches new and beginning volleyball players fundamental skills and prepares them for high school volleyball.  

Though Swami is not on a club volleyball team now because of time conflicts, she played for Jumpstart Volleyball until her freshman year. From freshman year to junior year, she played for Point Break Volleyball Club. 

She plans to continue playing volleyball through college, either on an intramural team or a club team. 

“[Volleyball] is just such a fun sport and there are moments in which things with the team just click and everyone is perfectly in sync with each other,” Swami said. “This is why I play volleyball. I live for those moments.”