ANDERSON — Both Jess Berlin and Kate McCollum, two seniors on the Anderson University volleyball team, can still tell you about the first time they met. It was move-in day for the incoming volleyball freshmen in the fall of 2006, and the two were introduced by their new head coach, Tami Miller.
“I remember being really intimidated by Jess,” said McCollum. “She looked like she was really good and really confident.” “I remember thinking that she was really ditsy,” Berlin said with a laugh. “It’s rubbed off on me, too.”
From that initial meeting over three years ago, a friendship evolved that has carried both athletes through a series of up-and-down moments over their college careers.
Berlin and McCollum arrived with a large freshman class that made a quick impact on the court.
“It was early during our freshman year when I realized that we’d had a lot of talent,” said Berlin.
“There were so many of us in the starting lineup that year,” McCollum added.
Berlin especially established herself on the court, earning the HCAC’s Freshman of the Year and First Team All-HCAC nominations that year, as the team went 24-9.
Then in their sophomore year, a rash of injuries hit the team, including Berlin and McCollum. Berlin missed a small amount of time with a sprained ankle. As soon as she returned to the lineup, McCollum had her season ended by a torn ACL.
“It was frustrating. I’m usually a high-energy, spirited person,” said McCollum. “I had to step back, take things slower and really watch what I was doing.”
“That year was bad,” recalled Berlin, who received another First Team All-HCAC selection that year. “Every time someone would get back from injury, another person would get hurt. It was just a mess.”
While knee injuries can ruin multiple seasons for athletes, McCollum rebounded nicely with what she called her best year in 2008, winning an All-HCAC Honorable Mention award. Berlin made her third appearance in the HCAC’s First Team that year.
With an injury-free 2008 season behind them, the Ravens prepared for the 2009 season, the senior campaign for the class that featured McCollum and Berlin.
The talent that was evident during their freshman year helped carry AU to a 9-4 record one month into the season.
But at a weekend tournament at Millikin University, that same knee injury that ended McCollum’s sophomore season found another victim.
“I started to get up and there was just no way that I could walk,” said Berlin. “By Sunday, I realized it was probably my ACL. Then on Monday the doctor ran a bunch of tests and confirmed it.”
The injury ended Berlin’s season and her career at AU.
“It was devastating,” said Berlin. “I was struggling with the fact that I was going to give up volleyball in November [once the season ended], not even thinking that I’d do it in September. I had a lot of thoughts of, ‘Why did this happen?’”
Her teammate and close friend was just as hurt by the news.
“It was horrible,” said McCollum. “I was already upset for her because I know how that injury felt for me. But it was even worse because this was her senior year.”
Needing someone to fill the hole left by Berlin’s injury, Miller looked to McCollum.
“Once Jess got hurt, that put Kate in a new role, and she’s stepped up in a huge way,” said Miller. “She plays the frontcourt and the backcourt now. She’s coming up huge in those situations for us.”
Berlin is scheduled for surgery in the middle of November to repair the knee, before rehabilitation can begin. She said McCollum has already been letting her know what the next few months will bring.
“I’ve prepared her for the rehab,” said McCollum. “With me, people were beating around the bush, saying ‘Oh, it’s going to be OK.’ I’ve already told Jess that it’s really going to hurt. I wish someone would’ve been that straightforward with me.”
While Berlin prepares for rehab, McCollum and the rest of the Ravens have one more regular season match on the schedule. They face Manchester tonight, then they’ll turn their attention toward the HCAC Tournament set for this weekend.
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