In Focus: After Season-Ending Injury, Beals Is Back
September 03, 2015 | General, Volleyball
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
It was the last couple of points of the final set of Washington's regular-season finale at Washington State.
The fifth-ranked Huskies were finishing off a three-set sweep of the Cougars. Players were getting that “giddy” feeling that comes with knowing the next step is the NCAA tournament.
Then it happened. For setter Katy Beals, that giddy feeling was gone, replaced by the dull blur that comes with the shock of a season-ending knee injury.
“I knew something was wrong,” Beals said. “It didn't hurt. I knew something was not right with my knee, so I went down to the floor.”
As a trainer approached, she could feel her kneecap “slipping out of place.” After Washington finished off the win, she met with a Washington State doctor.
“From the look on his face, I knew I wasn't coming back,” she said. “That was pretty devastating.”
But for Beals, the initial feeling of loss was replaced by a simple question: What's next?
After having surgery, doctors told her to expect the recovery process to take between six and eight months.
She told herself at that moment, “I'm aiming for six months.”
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she did whatever she could to help teammate Jade Finau, who filled Beals' role during the Huskies' NCAA tournament run.
“It was pretty tough, because that's the reason you train so hard the whole season is to get to the tournament,” Beals said. “I was really happy with the way our team played. I think Jade did a really good job of stepping in. That was probably the hardest thing you can ask someone to do after not really play at any point in the season. And then, the most important part, coming in and doing that kind of a job, she did a really great job. I was proud of her for that.”
After the season, Beals shifted her attention to her recovery. Looking back, she said the process was eased by the support of those around her.
Sometimes all it took was a simple, “How is your knee doing?” from a teammate, coach, friend or trainers Mike Dillon and Jennifer Stueckle to help the setter push through the process of working her way back.
“It made a huge difference to me,” said Beals, who added that Dillon and Stueckle were instrumental in her recovery. “It's the biggest reason I was able to come back. Those rehab months were long. It felt longer than I thought I would. I think I was kind of in denial. It was definitely a long process. I'm glad it's over.”
When Washington started practicing, Beals was back. On the first day, she admitted she was “super anxious.”
“The whole day my blood pressure was crazy,” she said.
Before she stepped onto the floor, she couldn't help but think, “What if something goes wrong the first day?”
She considered talking to a sports psychologist to work through her feelings, but once she was able to play, test her knee and realize everything was going to be OK, any initial fear about her knee was replaced by the excitement of a new season, one final year to compete with her teammates.
Now, instead of worrying about her knee, she is working to become a more vocal senior leader.
“In the past I've kind of held back,” Beals said. “I really want to try and communicate the whole rally, not just before the play, not just after the play.”
As Beals prepares for the season, she is also in the process of shifting the direction of her studies. The business major started at Washington wanting to be an orthopedic surgeon. Then she wanted to be an anesthesiologist.
She ended up in the business school, but her injury brought her back to medicine. Her goal is to get into Washington's nursing program.
“When I had my surgery and interacted with a bunch of doctors and nurses, it really brought me back,” she said. “Being in contact with those nurses made me think, 'Why am I doing business?'”
When Beals fell to the floor at Washington State last November, she was devastated. The blur of that moment has been replaced by the clarity that comes with taking a step back, refocusing and pushing forward.
“We picked up right where we left off with Katy, which was making her lead her team,” Washington coach Keegan Cook said. “I have big expectations in terms of her leadership and making sure her team is playing the way they are supposed to be playing. We have been increasing her volume every day in terms of how much she is jumping but she is a full participant in practice and doing a nice job competing with the other setters. She looks like the same Katy I know and even a little better in some areas.”
After everything she has been through, one thing is clear: Beals is back.
