BRODHEAD - No one would blame Brodhead High School senior middle hitter Amber Pickel for crying after suffering a fluky injury when she tore ligaments in her ankle last year.
Pickel jumped up for a block attempt at the net in a tournament last October just like she had done hundreds of times before. However this time, Pickel landed awkwardly and felt a pull in her ankle.
As a basketball and softball player, she has played with injuries before, but a bag of ice and a high-pain tolerance weren't going to make the pain go away this time.
Pickel was sidelined seven weeks with the ankle injury and missed the final seven volleyball matches and first two basketball games last year.
"It was so hard," Pickel said of trying to cope with the injury setback. "From the beginning of the season, I wanted to play Cuba City. I looked forward to playing Cuba City because they were in our regional. It was just devastating."
Cuba City swept Brodhead in three sets in a WIAA Division 3 regional championship last year. Pickel went through two and a half months of physical therapy and stretching.
"I still don't have full mobility, and I probably never will," she said.
Fast forward one year and Pickel is healthy again.
Pickel is back to being an integral cog for Brodhead leading into the Cardinals' showdown with Walworth Big Foot tonight.
With a win, Brodhead (15-9, 6-1 Rock Valley South) can force a tie atop the conference. It was Pickel and the Cardinals who beat Big Foot last year to snap the Chiefs' 56-match conference winning streak. The Cardinals were conference co-champions with the Chiefs last year. Big Foot has won the Rock Valley South Conference seven straight years.
The Chiefs edged the Cardinals in a four-set match earlier this season.
"It's my senior year, and I want to go out on top in everything," Pickel said. "It's a huge goal of mine to beat Big Foot."
Pickel is second on the Cardinals in kills (177) and first in blocks (24). Senior teammate Kylie Moe, the Rock Valley South Conference Player of the Year last season, leads the team in kills (210) and digs (227).
Pickel and Moe have used their training in basketball to help them dominate at the net and on the court in volleyball.
Moe, who is being recruited by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Winona State in basketball, started playing volleyball in sixth grade.
"Basketball is my first love," she said. "I have come to love (volleyball). It gives my body a break from doing the same muscle motions in basketball."
Brodhead coach Erin Kammerer sees the quickness and strength Pickel and Moe have worked to develop as assets in volleyball.
"Both Amber and Kylie are powerful hitters and their communication lead this team," Kammerer said. "I think any multi-sport athlete has an advantage. Hopefully, what you learn in one sport can carry over. They definitely want their senior year to be the best, and they are pushing everyone to that level."
Kammerer said both Pickel and Moe have gotten stronger since last year. She always can tell when a powerful spike may be on the way.
"It's the sound," Kammerer said she can hear from the bench. "I can tell not only by the sound of the ball but by the sound of the kids on the floor. They know how hard they have to hit it to put it away. It's pretty gratifying."
It will be hard to reach the high the Cardinals did two years ago when they made a run to the state tournament. However, in that magical year the Cardinals didn't knock off Big Foot.
"Last year was a big win for us," Moe said. "We have to move on from that. It's our senior year, and we want to win conference. We are not afraid or nervous. We are more excited than anything."
Pickel jumped up for a block attempt at the net in a tournament last October just like she had done hundreds of times before. However this time, Pickel landed awkwardly and felt a pull in her ankle.
As a basketball and softball player, she has played with injuries before, but a bag of ice and a high-pain tolerance weren't going to make the pain go away this time.
Pickel was sidelined seven weeks with the ankle injury and missed the final seven volleyball matches and first two basketball games last year.
"It was so hard," Pickel said of trying to cope with the injury setback. "From the beginning of the season, I wanted to play Cuba City. I looked forward to playing Cuba City because they were in our regional. It was just devastating."
Cuba City swept Brodhead in three sets in a WIAA Division 3 regional championship last year. Pickel went through two and a half months of physical therapy and stretching.
"I still don't have full mobility, and I probably never will," she said.
Fast forward one year and Pickel is healthy again.
Pickel is back to being an integral cog for Brodhead leading into the Cardinals' showdown with Walworth Big Foot tonight.
With a win, Brodhead (15-9, 6-1 Rock Valley South) can force a tie atop the conference. It was Pickel and the Cardinals who beat Big Foot last year to snap the Chiefs' 56-match conference winning streak. The Cardinals were conference co-champions with the Chiefs last year. Big Foot has won the Rock Valley South Conference seven straight years.
The Chiefs edged the Cardinals in a four-set match earlier this season.
"It's my senior year, and I want to go out on top in everything," Pickel said. "It's a huge goal of mine to beat Big Foot."
Pickel is second on the Cardinals in kills (177) and first in blocks (24). Senior teammate Kylie Moe, the Rock Valley South Conference Player of the Year last season, leads the team in kills (210) and digs (227).
Pickel and Moe have used their training in basketball to help them dominate at the net and on the court in volleyball.
Moe, who is being recruited by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Winona State in basketball, started playing volleyball in sixth grade.
"Basketball is my first love," she said. "I have come to love (volleyball). It gives my body a break from doing the same muscle motions in basketball."
Brodhead coach Erin Kammerer sees the quickness and strength Pickel and Moe have worked to develop as assets in volleyball.
"Both Amber and Kylie are powerful hitters and their communication lead this team," Kammerer said. "I think any multi-sport athlete has an advantage. Hopefully, what you learn in one sport can carry over. They definitely want their senior year to be the best, and they are pushing everyone to that level."
Kammerer said both Pickel and Moe have gotten stronger since last year. She always can tell when a powerful spike may be on the way.
"It's the sound," Kammerer said she can hear from the bench. "I can tell not only by the sound of the ball but by the sound of the kids on the floor. They know how hard they have to hit it to put it away. It's pretty gratifying."
It will be hard to reach the high the Cardinals did two years ago when they made a run to the state tournament. However, in that magical year the Cardinals didn't knock off Big Foot.
"Last year was a big win for us," Moe said. "We have to move on from that. It's our senior year, and we want to win conference. We are not afraid or nervous. We are more excited than anything."
