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GW women's basketball redshirt junior Ivy Abiona talks about how she has handled suffering multiple season-ending injuries.
IVY ABIONA - WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Ivy Abiona entered GW in 2006 aspiring to what she thinks most incoming student-athletes aspire to - "go far and beyond expectations and reach high levels of success, to be remembered for doing something great."
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In four years on campus, she has experienced more than most of her fellow student-athletes.
She's enjoyed the peak of helping the Colonials' women's basketball team advance to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 as a freshman in 2007; the plateau of celebrating a repeat Sweet 16 run the following year while relegated to the sideline due to a season-ending injury; and the valley of missing the program's most trying and difficult season in two decades with another injury in 2009-10.
Being healthy for just two seasons, Ms. Abiona has yet been unable to utilize her complete potential on the basketball court. During her time at GW and away from the game, though, she has taken full advantage of the opportunity to develop and mature as a person.
One of Southern New Jersey's top players at Cherry Hill East High School, the lanky 6-foot-2 forward wasn't expected to be an immediate star for the nationally ranked Colonials, but rather learn and add depth to a veteran frontcourt that featured future WNBA Draft pick Jessica Adair.
Ms. Abiona played a handful of minutes as GW steadily climbed into the nation's Top 25 at the beginning of the 2006-07 season. On the second to last day of December 2006, she showed a glimpse of her budding talent with seven points, five rebounds and three blocks in 13 minutes as the Colonials crushed San Diego State and won the Surf `N Slam Classic in San Diego, CA.
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During that trip though, she landed awkwardly on her left leg and sat out the remainder of one of the team's practices, "but I felt good enough to play and didn't think much of it," she recalls.
She finished out the rest of the season and earned the team's Rookie of the Year award, but learned soon after GW's NCAA Tournament run that she had patellar tendonitis that required surgery.
Her rehabilitation continued through the 2007-08 season and proved frustrating for an underclassman anxious to play on one of the nation's best teams. "Going into my sophomore year where I was finally getting a sense of our system and maturing as a player, the injury definitely jolted and disrupted my confidence," said Ms. Abiona.
However, her enthusiasm never waned. She was the first team-member off the bench to celebrate Sarah-Jo Lawrence's game-winning layup against California in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, and she worked tirelessly with GW's athletic training and strength and conditioning staff to return to full strength.
The work paid off and she started the first 15 games before settling into a sixth-player role as a redshirt sophomore during 2008-09. GW's final game of that season against Florida Gulf Coast in the Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament was her best as a collegian so far with career-highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds. That performance bode well for Ms. Abiona, whose positive on-court efforts were being reflected off the court too. She received the women's basketball team's Abbie Oliver Smith Award, based on success on the court as well as in the classroom and community and appeared on the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll that spring.
Ms. Abiona was slated to be the team's lone upperclassman and eager to lead the Colonials during the 2009-10 season. Then an ordinary summer pick-up game between teammates turned into her next hurdle.
"I made a move toward the basket and my right leg came down on a defender's foot and buckled inward," remembers Ms. Abiona. "My knee swelled very quickly, worse than it ever had."
After a series of X-ray's, an MRI and two doctor's opinions, it was confirmed that Ms. Abiona had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). She missed all of the most recent season, leaving GW with the second youngest roster in the country and a 6-22 overall record. "It was very difficult not to be able to be on the court and contribute, particularly because we had a really young squad," said Ms. Abiona. "At times I felt helpless."
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Despite not being able to play, she found other ways to represent the women's basketball program. She has been the team's Student-Athlete Advisory Council representative the last two years and currently serves as co-president of GW's chapter of Athletes in Action, a service- and religion-oriented organization.
"The biggest and most positive impact I gained is maturity in my Christianity," said Ms. Abiona. "I learned a lot about humility, strength, what's important in life, and other revelations that I fully know would not have been awarded to me if I did not get injured. In both situations, my faith definitely lightened the burden."
Ms. Abiona has since returned to the district to begin summer strength and conditioning workouts, as well as hit the hardwood. When the new academic year starts in the fall, she'll be continuing toward a master's degree in health policy, having completed her bachelor's degree requirements as a speech and hearing sciences major last year.
"Fortunately, I have another year left to show what I have to give," said Ms. Abiona, who has at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. "Therefore, I plan on this upcoming season being the best I've ever played. I have very high expectations for our team and intend on fulfilling the goals of an A-10 Championship and a return to the NCAA Tournament. The road will not be easy, but I am very determined to get back on track."