Quick recovery for Hinkey

Leah Hinkey faced the biggest challenge of her volleyball career last fall, four games into her third season at Tennessee.

The Lady Vols were playing Iowa in the Denver Pioneer Classic. Hinkey, a native of Glenwood Springs, Colo., jumped and attempted a kill. When she landed, her left knee gave out, and she immediately knew there was a big problem.

"It was the worst pain in my life," said Hinkey, a starter her first two years at UT.

Her road to recovery was not an easy one, but she is back. She played her first game Saturday since suffering a torn ACL.

Hinkey, a 6-foot-1 junior middle blocker, had seven kills and three blocks in the Lady Vols' season-opening 25-22, 25-9, 25-14 victory over Tennessee Tech in the Comcast Lady Vol Classic at Thompson-Boling Arena. UT beat Western Kentucky 18-25, 25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12 later Saturday.

"I felt good. Everything was good," Hinkey said. "I think maybe I had some adrenalin. I'm excited to say that I'm back. I didn't think I would even play in preseason tournaments because it hasn't even been a year yet, and doctors and Kari (Kebach, team trainer) and everybody said it would be a full year, so I'm excited to be back."

Her quick recovery was a welcomed surprise, especially with sophomore Alyssa Hilby, the team's leading blocker last season, on the bench with a knee injury sustained during the summer.

In an odd twist, Hilby was the player that moved into Hinkey's spot at middle blocker when Hinkey was hurt. Hilby, who made her collegiate debut in the Denver tournament in which Hinkey was injured, is out for the season.

"I would never want this to happen to anybody, but I just went through it and I want to be there every step of the way and help (Hilby) go through it better, like make it a better experience than I had," Hinkey said.

It was an experience Hinkey won't forget. She had knee surgery Sept. 30, 2008, and thanks to a donor, she has somebody else's Patella tendon. She had never before been injured, never had to deal with the mental aspects of a physical injury.

"The whole experience was mentally challenging for me," she said. "Physically I was fine. It was a completely different role, from starting for two years and then sitting on the bench, but I learned a lot watching for a year."

After surgery, Hinkey began rehabilitation three times a day with Kebach. Those workouts gave Hinkey some relief from her anxiety of being injured and redshirted.

"It was pretty strenuous but that was the only time I was happy because I felt like I was progressing and I was working on my knee," she said. "I could never have accomplished it without Kari Kebach. I'm fortunate for her."

UT coach Rob Patrick didn't expect Hinkey to be ready this soon. At best, he hoped to work her into games by the end of September.

Patrick said Hinkey's work ethic put her on the fast track back to volleyball.

"I think she's going to be a better player because she knows what it's like not to play," Patrick said. "She has a little sense of urgency. I don't know if she always enjoyed playing every point that she did because she was always on herself for making an error. … Now I think she's really enjoying volleyball more because she got past that now, knowing, 'Gosh, I'm playing again.' "

Notebook: Lipscomb defeated Western Kentucky 25,23, 25-17, 27-25 and later Tennessee Tech 25-16, 25-17, 25-22. The Lady Vols play Lipscomb today at 2:30. Western Kentucky plays Tennessee Tech at 11 a.m.