Gauthreaux back on the court after year-long rehab journey

By
Angela Moryan
-
0
489

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team started off the unprecedented spring 2021 season with a win against North Alabama Friday night. The young squad is led by five-year senior Mikaela Gauthreaux, who returns for a final season after tearing her ACL in 2019.

“I nominated her for preseason all-conference, and I think 24 hours later, her and I were bawling our eyes out processing that ACL injury,” head coach Travis Filar said.

- Advertisement -

Gauthreaux went from having never even sprained an ankle and hitting career highs as a junior, to rehabbing an ACL tear and sitting out her senior season. Now after almost two years, she’s back on the court.

“I think it’s a pretty incredible feat by her,” assistant coach Darin Van Horn said. “She’s one of the most determined players on our team.”

“It definitely gave me something to work towards. Knowing that there was a season at the end and working and getting stronger for something, rather than just every day life, gave me motivation while I was rehabbing,” Gauthreaux said. “It’s been a crazy progression, because there’s been some days where I’ve thought I’ll never be able to bend my knee again or get it fully straight. Just being able to see all the things I can do now has been awesome.”

“She rolls her sleeves up, puts her head down and gets to work,” Filar said. “She’s done that with her rehab process, multiple injuries and setbacks. That’s why the kids follow her. Why I was so grateful she decided to come back for a fifth year.”

The pandemic push back gave Gauthreaux more time to get ready.

“Blessing in disguise for sure, because it gave me those extra few months to focus on rehabbing and getting stronger,” Gauthreaux said.

“Just from us being a young team too, it helped us a ton from being able to implement our systems and getting everyone familiar with that,” Van Horn said. “It’s probably more of a blessing for us than other teams.”

The Mocs head into the season opener with 12 underclassmen on the roster — Gauthreaux’s experience and leadership showing itself to be invaluable in 2021.

Previous articleTennessee adds vaccine groups; no promised extra doses yet
Next articleTBI charges suspect with faking “news” on social media
mm
Angela Moryan
Angela joined the News 12 team in November of 2017 as the weekend sports anchor and reporter. Angela is a proud member of an Army family, which means she has hometowns all over the Eastern Seaboard. Most recently, she calls Peachtree City, Georgia, home, where she graduated from Trinity Christian School and spent her free time driving her purple golf cart. She then headed to Milledgeville, Georgia, to attend Georgia College and State University. A proud Bobcat, Angela graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Mass Communication and represented her December 2016 class as one of three valedictorians. Angela comes to the Scenic City from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she worked at the NBC affiliate, WMBF News. Before the big move, she worked as Georgia College's Sports Information Assistant, which let her get paid to be the Bobcats' biggest fan. It all started in Savannah, Georgia, though, where she interned for SAV's number one station, WTOC. When she's not working, you can find Angela watching the New York Giants, Rangers or basically any other game that's on. She also loves traveling, hiking and exploring new places, all with her camera in hand. If you have any story ideas, big or small, feel free to reach out to her on Facebook and Twitter, or email her at amoryan@wdef.com."