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| TAYLOR REUTHER |
NEW ORLEANS — If her 2015 comeback season were a Twitter post, Xavier University of Louisiana volleyball standout and social media aficionado Taylor Reuther wouldn't hesitate to click "favorite."
"It has gone better than what I expected it to be," said Reuther, who missed 2014 competition because of right shoulder surgery after the 2013 season. "It's very good to be back with my teammates. That's what I missed the most —being fully engaged on the court and in the game.
"But I wouldn't say I'm pleasantly surprised because I know how much work I've put into rehab to get to this spot."
Repair and rehab became vital to Reuther — a three-time All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference outside hitter from the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, La. — during an XU practice midway through the 2013 season. A routine swing at a ball — something she's done thousands of times since she started playing at age five — produced unexpected and extraordinary pain which couldn't be cured with a little ice and ibuprofen.
"After one certain swing it was oooooh, that didn't feel right. That hurt," Reuther said. "It kind of came out of nowhere. I had never been hurt or injured in any type of way before."
Reuther played through her pain — helping the Gold Nuggets win their third consecutive GCAC regular-season and tournament championships and qualifying for a third straight NAIA National Championship in 2013 — then underwent an MRI approximately two weeks after the season ended. Surgery to repair the labral tear was scheduled for one month later, between XU's fall and spring semesters.
"When you looked at the MRI, there was no second opinion about it," Reuther said. "My shoulder was completely torn. The arm was hanging out of the socket, it was so bad. I was going to need surgery just to be able to use my arm in daily living — just to be able to lift it above my head again."
That surgery, by Dr. Scott Montgomery, was successful. Regular rehabilitation to redevelop strength, stability, range of motion and endurance — first with physical therapist Scott Wanke, then most recently and still ongoing with XU athletic trainer Allie Wood — has gotten Reuther back on the court and made her an integral part of the Gold Nuggets' success again. Montgomery, Wanke and Wood all work for Ochsner Health System's sports medicine division.
Through 15 matches in 2015, Reuther is among the GCAC's top seven in kills per set and digs per set. Based on aggregate numbers, she leads the team with 127 kills and is second with 177 digs. Although her season hitting percentage of .186 is the lowest of her XU career, her .230 percentage of the past seven matches is the same as her career percentage.
"There's still pain," Reuther said. "But it doesn't stop me from playing or hitting."
Reuther's career totals of 1,204 kills, 1,212 digs and 174 aces all are No. 1 in XU history. As a sophomore in 2012 — the same year she was GCAC Player of the Year and third-team CoSIDA Academic All-America — her 0.77 aces per set led the NAIA, and her 79 aces ranked fifth. But this year Reuther has served just one ace — the injury put an end to her longtime effective jump serve.
"Serving hurts the most because of where the ball is coming from," Reuther said. "When I'm hitting (during attacks) I have the momentum and my whole body engaged. When I'm hitting outside, the ball is coming to me from another direction and I'm hitting out in front. But when I'm serving, I'm hitting behind my head almost. It's a straight up-reach. So that pressure up here pushing back on my shoulder — that's what hurts the most."
But Reuther says any pain from playing has been preferable to sitting on the bench, which she did for home and in-town matches a year ago. "I was there," she said of the 2014 season, "but I wasn't on the court, where I wanted to be."
These days Reuther has several desired destinations: Volleyball, her third of four years in XU's College of Pharmacy and, since June, a 30-hours-per-week pharmacy internship at Walgreens. She needs 500 intern hours before she can sit for the boards (certification testing) after her graduation from Xavier in 2017.
"It's been stressful," Reuther said of her recent workload. "It's definitely gotten my time-management skills way up. It's exhausting both mentally and physically.
"But I'm doing the things that I love. I'm playing volleyball. I'm working in a pharmacy. I'm going to pharmacy school. It's all things that I want to do and all the things that I love doing. I don't mind the exhaustion. I wouldn't want to give any of them up. I have my days where this is too much, but I never second-guess what I'm doing."
Reuther and teammates endured a five-set loss Sept. 25 at SUNO — ending the Gold Nuggets' 63-match win streak against GCAC opponents — and Xavier enters tonight's home match against Belhaven with a season-worst three-match losing streak. But Reuther remains optimistic.
"We're a bunch of fighters, that's what I know," Reuther said. "We love each other. There are six seniors who have been together for a long time and know the ins and outs of each other. And it's been so much fun working with the new players and teaching them how to play our system. There's no doubt in any of our minds that we can win the GCAC regular season and tournament. We have learned what we can and can't get away with. (Losing to SUNO) wasn't a wakeup call — it just let us know that we need to focus and get our work done on the court. We're going to rise up and meet the challenge. The rest of the season is going to be fun."
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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