Abby Ernst was once a promising middle hitter with a full scholarship on the GW volleyball team. A chronic back injury has sidelined Ernst this season and could possibly end her college career. For now, Ernst is working as the team’s student assistant coach, which allows her to maintain her scholarship.

Ernst excelled at a number of sports in her Muskego, Wis., high school. During her junior year, which is the primary time for collegiate recruiting, Ernst began to concentrate on volleyball.

Coaches from nearly all Big 10 and Big 12 conference universities showed interest in Ernst’s volleyball game, and when former GW coach Yvette Moorehead offered Ernst a four-year scholarship to a school in a city outside the Midwest, Ernst’s decision was made. She was set to go.

She excelled her freshman season but came upon a major test the following summer. On Aug 16, 2000, the summer before her collegiate sophomore year, Moorehead was found dead in her Arlington, Va., home. It was a suicide, police said. Ernst said family, friends and teammates never saw it coming. Devastated by the loss, the team pulled together and won the Atlantic 10 Championship.

“This was the kind of tragedy that helps you put everything in perspective,” Ernst said. “It helped me realize that in the scheme of life, there are certain trivial things that don’t matter.”

That lesson made Ernst a stronger person, she said, and helped her deal with the next obstacle she was about to face.

With a year of experience behind her, Ernst refined her skills and began
to hold her own on a team comprised of mostly seniors. Ernst started and played in the majority of games last season, finishing the 2000 season second on the team with 84 blocks. The team was steam rolling through the conference schedule and headed for the A-10s.

But by October of that year, Ernst’s path took an unfavorable turn. A chronic back injury suddenly started to trouble her, and it affected every aspect of her life. Playing through a shoulder injury sustained her freshman year, Ernst was accustomed to playing through pain. But this was different.

“I just had pain so horrible down my legs,” Ernst said. “I couldn’t sit or do anything at all. There wasn’t any specific incident, it just started.”

Ernst said nobody knows exactly what brought about the pain and nobody knows what is wrong with her back. Ernst suggested it is a hereditary injury that became noticeable when she stopped growing and started playing more arduous sports like volleyball.

Ernst has taken every measure to expedite a recovery, including intensive rehabilitation programs and rest. But nothing seems to work.

Surgery is an option but a last resort because doctors are not sure exactly how much it would accomplish.

Ernst’s athletic scholarship, which is supposed to be renewed each year,
is in question. According to Division I NCAA regulations, an athlete has to pass his or her physical fitness test to remain eligible for a scholarship.

But Ernst’s coach said he will not let that happen. “It would be our prerogative to take away her scholarship because she can’t pass the physical fitness test,” head coach Jojit Coronel said. “I’ll never take it away. She came to GW to play volleyball and to enjoy the experience here, and that is exactly what she is doing right now.”

Ernst is physically unable to take part in practices, but she attends every one of them. Sometimes she tries to participate, but the pain is too great for her to handle.

To keep the scholarship, she works with the team as a student-assistant coach. She travels with the team and maintains statistics. With her extensive knowledge of volleyball, she helps her young team with its skills. Ernst also works ten hours a week behind-the-scenes at the Sports Communications department.

From an outsider’s perspective, it seems as though everything has worked out for her in an unusually positive way. She maintains her scholarship, has a career-oriented job and remains an active teammate.

But for Ernst, all she wants is to play again.

“It’s frustrating sitting on the sidelines, and it’s not much fun at all,” Ernst said. “I live with the team, which is great. They all treat me like I’m on it, but I hate not being able to play.”

Though she suffers through most of her day, you can’t tell.

“I’ll keep trying therapy, and I’ll do anything I can to recover,” she said. “My goal is to come back and play my senior year.”