Purdue University's Maddy Chinn breaks out for volleyball during win streak
WEST LAFAYETTE - Maddy Chinn waited three years for her opportunity.
When she finally seized it, that chance was taken away almost as quickly.
In the season's seventh match, Chinn sprained her left ankle.
She'd become one of the most reliable hitters last spring and carried that into her senior season this fall.
But without the ability to launch off her left foot, there wasn't much she could do to help Purdue's volleyball team be successful.
"When I was trying to come back from it, it was hard not being where I was even a week after, two weeks after," Chinn said. "Regaining mentally the skill and toughness, the confidence was a little bit of the issue. I hadn't had an injury like that before where I was out for awhile."
Chinn missed two weeks.
When she returned, she wasn't the same player who'd propelled herself into a starting role.
Over the next nine matches, Chinn hit .072 with 19 kills and 13 hitting errors on 83 swings. Sometimes her playing time was limited. Others, she was set in an attempt to break her out of her funk.
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"What is first, the body or the mind," head coach Dave Shondell said in response to her injury, "Sometimes you have an injury and until you go out and get something done on the floor, you are not sure if you are back yet."
Shondell believed for awhile now Chinn has been healthy enough to perform like she's capable of.
It's why he kept putting her on the floor.
Chinn may not have believed it until coming off the bench in a match against Indiana. That was the beginning of her season transformation.
Chinn pummeled eight kills on 16 swings on Oct. 30 against the Hoosiers.
The Oakland Township, Michigan, native was going to be inserted into the starting lineup when Purdue returned to her home state for road matches at Michigan State and Michigan last week based on her breakout against Purdue's biggest rival.
"I just felt like when we were playing Indiana, she came off the bench and did a really, really good job and I think she earned the opportunity to start this past weekend," Shondell said. "We’re going back to her state. She’s from Michigan. And what a show she put on."
Chinn totaled 20 kills and seven blocks in a pair of victories.
In Purdue's last three matches, all wins, Chinn has 28 kills and is hitting .350.
But having two of her best matches in Michigan as a senior was especially rewarding.
"All my family and friends were there. They always have my back," Chinn said. "To go back to my home state and see everybody who has helped since when I started playing volleyball at age 10, it was nice to see. I am playing for Purdue. I am playing for my program, but when I am out there, I am playing for all the people who helped me get to where I am now. To have those people show up, whether it is my parents or previous coaches or teammates, that's always really special to me."
While it provided a little extra adrenaline, Chinn tuned out who was there beyond the court once both matches started.
She had to.
Otherwise, it might've rattled her.
She again looks like the star player Shondell thought he had coming out of spring volleyball.
The one who put the team first for three years and played with a limited role. In the last two weeks, she's taken off at a critical point where Purdue desperately needed her to.
"At the end of the day, I am here for the team. Whatever we need to do," Chinn said. "For the past three years, we had such a special group of girls ahead of us teaching us what we need to do.
"Because such a large number of them graduated and left, we knew it was our time. We've been waiting for that time to take over those spots and make them proud, make Dave and the rest of the staff proud. That was our main goal was to fill those shoes and lead the team to something special."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This week
No. 6 Ohio State (17-5, 13-1 Big Ten) at No. 15 Purdue (18-6, 9-5)
Thursday, 7 p.m.
No. 16 Penn State (19-6, 8-6) at Purdue
Saturday, 8 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Maddy Chinn breaks out for Purdue volleyball during win streak
