On Oct. 14, Michelle Kauffman's volleyball career appeared to be over as she lay on the floor of Columbia's Levien Gym with a torn ACL -- an injury that usually ends an athlete's season, at best.
But just 21 days later, she was back on the court to take on Brown.
In Penn's second game against Columbia, the senior-captain landed on a teammate's foot. As she tried to push off, her knee gave out. She curled up into a fetal position below the net in reaction to the pain.
The Columbia trainer originally diagnosed the injury as a damaged MCL -- a related, but generally much less damaging, injury.
"At that time I didn't think it was a serious injury," Kauffman said.
When she got back to campus the Penn trainer informed Kauffman that she had actually torn her ACL. During a consultation with the chief of Penn Sports Medicine, Brian Sennet, Kauffman was told that she had a one-in-five chance of playing again this season.
"He said right from the start if there is minimal damage to the meniscus of the knee, she could play without an ACL," coach Kerry Carr said. "I've never heard of that before, but I trust him."
With that knowledge, Kauffman immediately hit the gym in order to get her knee as close to playing shape as humanly possible without an ACL repair. She spends an hour or two in the gym every day.
"The first thing in rehab we focused on was regaining flexibility. Then we focused on strength," Kauffman said.
Kauffman played for a couple of points this past weekend against both Brown and Yale. She has been forced to change positions due to her limited lateral mobility, moving her from middle to outside hitter. However, her teammates are just happy to have their captain and emotional leader back on the court.
"All the girls are really supportive, they are there to cover me and help me out," Kauffman said.
"They were so energized, she is an inspiration to everyone on the team," Carr said. "They look up to her already, when she wasn't there, it was a huge loss to us."
Kauffman appreciates the opportunity to finish out her Penn career on a positive note.
"It is amazing to have to work to run around, much less play volleyball," she said.
