I didn’t get to witness the spectacle in person, but it must have been an inspiring moment when Adrian’s Jessica Parsley returned to the court during Thursday’s volleyball match at Southwest Christian.Call me a softy, but I always find myself pulling for our area seniors during their final years of high school competition simply because it’s a rewarding experience for them.In the case of Parsley, a 6-2 middle hitter for the Dragons, her senior season nearly became a forgettable one due to a practice incident on Sept. 16.About 30 minutes into the Friday practice, Parsley collapsed to the ground in pain after she dislocated her kneecap during a drill. I’ve never seen such an injury, but the way AHS coach Mary Jo Graphenteen described it to me, my stomach felt a little bit uneasy."What I remember the most was the tears and the silence in the gym after it happened," Graphenteen recalled."I know quite a few of the girls saw Jessica’s knee and how it looked. They were in shock."When initial reports indicated that Parsley would miss the rest of the season, I grew sick in my stomach again. Here is a girl who plays just one sport, and now she’ll miss the priceless experience of playing volleyball during her senior season, I thought to myself.Parsley, however, didn’t give in that easily.Instead of cashing in her chips and calling it a year, the AHS senior set her sights on returning to the court for last weekend’s Subway Tournament in Marshall. With lots of hard work and following a rehabilitation schedule set up by her physical trainer to the last detail, Parsley surpassed her own expectations by turning in a six-kill, five-block performance in Edgerton Thursday."She really beat the odds," Graphenteen offered."When she met with an orthopedist a little more than a week after the injury, she was expected to miss for up to six weeks. She ended up coming back in about 18 days after meeting the orthopedist, which tells you a little something about Jessica’s mentality. She was committed to coming back, and she did everything that was asked of her and more in order to do it."With Parsley on the floor, Adrian automatically becomes a better volleyball team.It might be tough for the Dragons to contend for a title in the very competitive South Section 3A volleyball field, but the Dragons will not be a team opponents can look past now that Parsley is making her presence felt at the net once again."Absolutely," was Graphenteen’s response, when asked if AHS was a better team with Parsley back on the court."The first thing all of our girls said after the SWC match was how much better everyone looked with Jessica back. Over the weekend (in Marshall), she kept us in some matches we might not have been in without her. I think she’ll continue to do that the rest of the year."Even if the Dragons do falter with Parsley in the front row, Graphenteen said she’ll never forget what happened in Edgerton Thursday night."It was one of the highlights of my career to see the look on her face when she stepped on the court again at SWC," Graphenteen said.I didn’t get to see Parsley’s return to the court, but I would like to congratulate her for winning the fight to get back into action for what I hope is the remainder of her senior season.
