Cayla Cogan is one of the best volleyball players in the state, recently named as a top-ten finalist for Michigan's Miss Volleyball award. Ali Smith, head coach of Clarkston volleyball says that her senior has been really brave.
"Sports aren't easy," said Smith. "Things aren't always going to go your way. But how do you respond in those situations?"
Last season, Clarkston volleyball made it further than they ever have in program history. To the state quarterfinals. They led Marian 26-25, two games to one. They were one point away from making it to the finals. It came down to a perfect set in the middle to a charging Cayla Cogan with what people claim would’ve been the game winning kill. But it was on that play, at that exact moment that Cogan suffered a gruesome knee injury, tearing her ACL, leading to surgery with months and months of recovery.
"Asking myself, questioning myself, why it happened? Why at that very moment? I kind of just took that and I took it as motivation that it happened for a reason," said Cogan. "I was just going to come back and play better."
Cogan said she learned a lot about the game from being on the sidelines, but even more, she learned a lot about herself.
"The biggest thing was not to take the game for granted," said Cogan. "It means the world, honestly, I don't have words to express how happy I am to be back. I've been dreaming about it since day one, since the injury, since the surgery."
She said the injury, in the fashion that it happened, has left her more eager, more hungry than ever to return to the state tournament.
"I think everybody is in a position where they are focused on finishing what we felt we were unable to finish last year," said Smith. "Were good without Cayla, we’re great with Cayla."
