By: Curran Middleton

The freshman volleyball team had a game at home against Waterford Kettering High School on September 14. Although the girls did win the game, there was a loss for the team.

Freshman Gabrielle Ayiar unfortunately broke her growth plate in her right ankle. A growth plate determines the future length and shape of the mature bone. Besides for not being able to play volleyball, she “was not able to walk, run, kick, or play outside for three and half weeks,” Ayiar said.

The injury occurred when Ayiar and one of her teammates both went for the ball. Ayiar tripped and when her teammate fell on her ankle, it snapped. “My first thought was that it was a rolled or sprained ankle.I was very concerned when I was notified that she had broke her growth plate,” said Coach Scott Smolinski. “I wanted her to be able to enjoy life, and not have an injury at 14 years old limit her in any way.” Ayiar was his “most consistent server” and she ended up sidelined for three weeks.  “I was nervous about letting her back on the court, as I didn’t want to complicate it.”

Freshman Jenna Fox who was not on the court at the time of the injury said, “We were getting flustered because we were down and not communicating, we had a lot of collisions happening” since Ayiar was out for the rest of the game the rest of the team decided that they would “win the game for Ayiar, and we did!”