Stony Brook, N.Y. – It happened in an instant. On March 14, 2013, Evann Slaughter of the Stony Brook volleyball team went up for a ball that was a little off the court and too close to the pole. As she jumped, she tried to avoid running into the pole by twisting her body. When she landed, the bottom of her leg went one way and the top went the other.

An MRI confirmed what she and head coach Coley Pawlikowski already knew: Slaughter, who was coming off a first-team all-conference junior campaign, had torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Her senior year was in jeopardy.

“It hurt so much,” Slaughter recalled. “I was screaming in pain on the ground, and I knew I had torn my ACL. My main concern when I was on the ground was that I was going to miss my senior season. I think that’s the reason I was actually crying.”

Slaughter’s senior season would happen, but it would have to wait a year, something that was difficult to swallow.

“It was rough for Evann at first,” fellow-middle blocker Taylor Gillie remembered. “She was really distant and trying to just process what was happening alone.”

“That preseason, I felt like I wasn’t even on the team because I felt so disconnected from everyone,” Slaughter admitted. “Watching from the sidelines was very hard for me, especially since I had played in every match of my Stony Brook career. It was hard to have a good attitude at first because I felt like I didn’t matter.”

As she is known to do, Pawlikowski found a silver lining in a seemingly disappointing situation.

“We’ve had this conversation with Evann many times,” she said. “An injury is a bummer and no doubt incredibly challenging to handle, but rather than dwell in that we instantly went to the positive. The injury gave her an opportunity to really learn the sport she loves and be a student of the game while on the sidelines.”

Slaughter listened to her coach and began to study the game. Though she could not be on the court, she was on the sidelines with a clipboard: observing, learning and growing. She studied the advice her coaches were giving to her teammates. More importantly, she studied how her coaches were giving advice to her teammates.

“Watching the game, you get to watch your teammates,” Slaughter said. “I learned my teammates and what worked for them. It helped me know what to say to them and what tone to use for individual people. I think I became a better communicator with my teammates than in previous years. I think they are a lot happier with this Evann than the previous one.”

Her teammates loved her before, but they love her even more now.

“As she progressed and started to get her strength back, you could see the fire to be better than she was,” Gillie said. “During our season last year, it was neat to see her grow not only in strength but also as a person and volleyball player. Her knowledge of the game and her demeanor grew immensely. We are all very proud of her.”

Though they missed her on the court, the Seawolves were able to finish in a tie for second place in the America East standings and reach the conference tournament semifinal round. Despite not recording a single statistic all season, Slaughter’s presence on the sidelines was absolutely crucial to Stony Brook’s success.

“She embraced the situation and the role she was in and maximized it,” Pawlikowski remembered. “Evann played a critical role in on-court feedback as the year went on. That was the best thing she could give her teammates, and she made sure it was there.” 

As she was learning to be a better teammate, Slaughter was also slowly but surely gaining her strength back. However, it didn’t come easy for the Clinton, Md., native who admits she’s “not very patient.”

“I felt like I was doing the same thing every day, but I wasn’t getting any stronger,” Slaughter said. “There would be days when I felt great but I had to keep doing ‘baby’ exercises. I was like, ‘Why can’t I jump? My knee feels great!' 

“But I was never afraid of not coming back. I was more afraid of not being as good as I was before the injury. In the end, the amount of rehab and work I put in was very beneficial because I can actually jump higher now!”

Still, she had some hurdles to overcome.

“The hardest thing was blocking,” Slaughter said. “I specifically remember one practice where I just could not close a block for the life of me. I wasn’t strong enough to push off and go on my right leg, so I left a hole in the block every time the ball was set to the right. That was extremely frustrating. It dashed my confidence a little, but as I got stronger, everything started to fall into place.”

With things coming together for the standout, Pawlikowski helped Slaughter gain an opportunity of a lifetime: To play volleyball in Europe in the Bring it Promotions Global Challenge during the summer alongside former Stony Brook teammate Kaitlin Costello ‘14. The training wheels were off, and Slaughter was competing once again.

“I think the Global Challenge was crucial for Evann,” Pawlikowski said. “After being out a full year, she flat out needed to play in matches where there was a score that counted for a group resulting in a win or loss.

“We talked to her a lot about phase two of her recovery being the application of the volleyball IQ she acquired while sidelined. We prepared her to not just expect the application piece would be there and that it would take a concentrated effort on her part. That’s where playing in the Global Challenge and overseas was so important. It provided her with the opportunity to get that game experience and face the challenge prior to putting on a Seawolves jersey this fall.”

“Playing overseas was the best thing that ever happened to me—hands down. Well, besides going to school for free,” Slaughter laughed. “I think it definitely helped my confidence because before that, I had not played in a real match in over a year. When I realized that I was the same Evann I was before the injury but a little smarter, I was really excited for my school season to start.”

Seventeen and a half months after her injury, Slaughter was in the starting lineup for Stony Brook’s season opener at DePaul Aug. 29. She recorded a block and a kill early in the match and finished with 11 smacks to help lead the team to a four-set victory over the BIG EAST school.

“It felt amazing,” Slaughter said. “Everything was flowing and it felt good being back on the floor with my teammates. I had been waiting for than moment for over a year, so it felt great.”

For an encore, Slaughter led the team with 0.90 blocks per set at the Columbia Invitational on her way to All-Tournament honors. It was a sign that she had come a long way from that day in the gym mere months ago when she could not close a block.

“It was a great honor,” she said. “It’s one of those things where it feels great because other people are recognizing the hard work I’ve put in to get back to where I am. I know what I can do and now I just have to stay consistent with my play.”

Slaughter is stronger than ever after working through her injury, and so are her teammates and coaches.

“We are proud of Evann for the way she overcame her injury,” Pawlikowski said. “It taught her how to push even when the odds were stacked against her. We also used it as a tool for our whole group. Evann’s injury challenged all of us to step up and conquer adversity.”

In Slaughter’s absence, Gillie and middle blocker Stephanie McFadden had to play nearly every set of every match. Both finished the year in the top 10 in the conference in blocks per set, and McFadden earned all-conference accolades. Now that she’s back, the deep middle blocking corps, which includes freshman Cydney Bowman, is constantly pushing one another.

“Having Evann back has upped the competition amongst the middles,” Gillie said. “I compete more this year and want to better myself every day now that there are four middles. That competition spreads throughout the gym every single day.”

Additionally, the Seawolves rallied around Slaughter and learned to put one another first, and the staff had to think outside the box. 

“I think the response was positive all around,” Pawlikowski said.

Slaughter will be on the court when the Seawolves begin play in the Razorback Invitational vs. SMU Friday at 5 p.m.  As the season progresses and conference play approaches, she wants to continue to get stronger every day and has her sights set on helping her supportive teammates make a little history.

“All-Tournament at the Columbia Invitational was just the start,” she said. “I want to be greater than that. Oh, and I guess an America East championship ring wouldn’t be the worst thing to cap my comeback year.”