Maia Dvoracek: Setback for a Comeback
8/25/2022 2:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
By: Connor Leary, Cal Poly Athletics Communications
It's been a whirlwind last three years for Cal Poly volleyball senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek. It's been a timespan where she has felt just about every emotion a human can feel. In 2019, she burst onto the college volleyball scene in her first year as a starter after not playing her first two years. She worked her way into becoming one of the premiere players in the country, solidified by being named a Third Team All-American, just the seventh player in program history to do so. Dvoracek was riding high following the 2019 season and looking forward to what was to come for her and her teammates the following season. However, the COVID pandemic forced the 2020 season to be cancelled by the Big West. Dvoracek and her teammates were forced to just focus on training that year to prepare for the fall 2021 season. The most devastating blow came in the spring of 2021 when Dvoracek suffered a severe knee injury which left her with a dislocated knee, full tears of both her ACL and PCL, and partial tears of her MCL, PCL and patella. While Dvoracek never thought her volleyball career was over, she knew she had a long recovery road ahead of her that would test her both physically and mentally. Doctors told her it would be a yearlong recovery process which would cause her to have to miss the 2021 season. In the days following the injury and diagnosis, Dvoracek moved back to her parents' home in Truckee, Calif. Before she could even have surgery, she had to do a month of physical therapy to get her knee to a place where doctors could do the surgery. For the first four months of her recovery, she did physical therapy twice a week in Truckee. During this time, she leaned on her family as well as talking with her friends and teammates to help get her through. She had many talks with her brother, who suffered knee injuries while competing on the ski racing team at the University of Utah. "The rehab process was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to go through in my life," Dvoracek said. "My parents were massive for me just being at home and having them around me the whole time. I could not have done it if I didn't have their support and love." Early on following surgery, she was limited in her mobility, so just doing the most mundane tasks were difficult for her to do. Dvoracek says her dad, ever the loving parent, would make her breakfast every morning and had it at her bedside table so she didn't have to put more stress on her knee. Because her rehab process was long and slow, Dvoracek said she had to start focusing on the small progress she made along the way and celebrate those achievements. "Doing a circle on the (exercise) bike going forward for the first time, I cried on the way home afterward and got ice cream because I was so happy. Being able to step up and step down a stair those were both huge milestones. The biggest thing was how monotonous (rehab) gets knowing you're so far away, especially in the early months, but now looking back it's really cool to see how far I've come." Dvoracek eventually moved back to San Luis Obispo in the fall to continue her recovery. Even though she wasn't playing, she wanted to make the most of her time and continue to stay involved in the game. A journalism major, she was able to get to be part of the broadcast team for the Cal Poly volleyball matches during the 2021 season, something she said she really enjoyed doing and allowed her to see the game differently. "It gave me a different perspective. I think it let me look at the game with less ego and bias. I think being back with a different perspective is helpful." In addition to doing the broadcasts, she also got the opportunity to do things like travel and be a youth volleyball coach for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. One of the positives that came from the injury for Dvoracek is that she says it allowed her to take a step back and give her a new perspective on life and volleyball. "Now, little things in life that used to affect me way more don't bother me as much. My mentality on the court is quite a bit different than how I was before. I play more free and less scared of making errors and I think that lets me do a lot of other things better." Heading into to her final season as a Mustang, Dvoracek is feeling good and excited for the opportunity to play one last fall for Cal Poly. "I feel strong. I feel some of the best I've felt at Cal Poly going into a season both physically and mentally." She also wants fans to know that she will still be doing her patented, electric top spin serve that helped her be top-five in the nation in service aces in 2019. As one of the upperclassmen on the team this year, she hopes that she can be a leader for her teammates both on and off the court. "I want to be the person that the other girls on the team can look at to bring everyone together and be calm and consistent. When the season's finished I want to feel like I gave everything I have to the program. I want to leave the program better than how I got it. I want it to continue to be fighting for conference and national championships." Dvoracek plans to graduate in December and then hopefully sign a professional contract to play overseas. For her, she says playing for Cal Poly has been one of the best experiences of her life and has helped her grow not only in volleyball but in life. "I've met my best friends from volleyball. I feel like I found my people and found myself in college in terms of confidence and who I am as a person." Dvoracek and the rest of the Mustangs will kick off their 2022 season Friday at Utah State starting at 10 a.m. PT.
It's been a whirlwind last three years for Cal Poly volleyball senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek. It's been a timespan where she has felt just about every emotion a human can feel. In 2019, she burst onto the college volleyball scene in her first year as a starter after not playing her first two years. She worked her way into becoming one of the premiere players in the country, solidified by being named a Third Team All-American, just the seventh player in program history to do so. Dvoracek was riding high following the 2019 season and looking forward to what was to come for her and her teammates the following season. However, the COVID pandemic forced the 2020 season to be cancelled by the Big West. Dvoracek and her teammates were forced to just focus on training that year to prepare for the fall 2021 season. The most devastating blow came in the spring of 2021 when Dvoracek suffered a severe knee injury which left her with a dislocated knee, full tears of both her ACL and PCL, and partial tears of her MCL, PCL and patella. While Dvoracek never thought her volleyball career was over, she knew she had a long recovery road ahead of her that would test her both physically and mentally. Doctors told her it would be a yearlong recovery process which would cause her to have to miss the 2021 season. In the days following the injury and diagnosis, Dvoracek moved back to her parents' home in Truckee, Calif. Before she could even have surgery, she had to do a month of physical therapy to get her knee to a place where doctors could do the surgery. For the first four months of her recovery, she did physical therapy twice a week in Truckee. During this time, she leaned on her family as well as talking with her friends and teammates to help get her through. She had many talks with her brother, who suffered knee injuries while competing on the ski racing team at the University of Utah. "The rehab process was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to go through in my life," Dvoracek said. "My parents were massive for me just being at home and having them around me the whole time. I could not have done it if I didn't have their support and love." Early on following surgery, she was limited in her mobility, so just doing the most mundane tasks were difficult for her to do. Dvoracek says her dad, ever the loving parent, would make her breakfast every morning and had it at her bedside table so she didn't have to put more stress on her knee. Because her rehab process was long and slow, Dvoracek said she had to start focusing on the small progress she made along the way and celebrate those achievements. "Doing a circle on the (exercise) bike going forward for the first time, I cried on the way home afterward and got ice cream because I was so happy. Being able to step up and step down a stair those were both huge milestones. The biggest thing was how monotonous (rehab) gets knowing you're so far away, especially in the early months, but now looking back it's really cool to see how far I've come." Dvoracek eventually moved back to San Luis Obispo in the fall to continue her recovery. Even though she wasn't playing, she wanted to make the most of her time and continue to stay involved in the game. A journalism major, she was able to get to be part of the broadcast team for the Cal Poly volleyball matches during the 2021 season, something she said she really enjoyed doing and allowed her to see the game differently. "It gave me a different perspective. I think it let me look at the game with less ego and bias. I think being back with a different perspective is helpful." In addition to doing the broadcasts, she also got the opportunity to do things like travel and be a youth volleyball coach for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. One of the positives that came from the injury for Dvoracek is that she says it allowed her to take a step back and give her a new perspective on life and volleyball. "Now, little things in life that used to affect me way more don't bother me as much. My mentality on the court is quite a bit different than how I was before. I play more free and less scared of making errors and I think that lets me do a lot of other things better." Heading into to her final season as a Mustang, Dvoracek is feeling good and excited for the opportunity to play one last fall for Cal Poly. "I feel strong. I feel some of the best I've felt at Cal Poly going into a season both physically and mentally." She also wants fans to know that she will still be doing her patented, electric top spin serve that helped her be top-five in the nation in service aces in 2019. As one of the upperclassmen on the team this year, she hopes that she can be a leader for her teammates both on and off the court. "I want to be the person that the other girls on the team can look at to bring everyone together and be calm and consistent. When the season's finished I want to feel like I gave everything I have to the program. I want to leave the program better than how I got it. I want it to continue to be fighting for conference and national championships." Dvoracek plans to graduate in December and then hopefully sign a professional contract to play overseas. For her, she says playing for Cal Poly has been one of the best experiences of her life and has helped her grow not only in volleyball but in life. "I've met my best friends from volleyball. I feel like I found my people and found myself in college in terms of confidence and who I am as a person." Dvoracek and the rest of the Mustangs will kick off their 2022 season Friday at Utah State starting at 10 a.m. PT.
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