On Oct. 9, 2023, Lindsay Krause earned Big Ten Player of the Week after dropping 24 kills on .458 hitting and four aces in a pair of Husker wins the previous week. Later that week, she put up 13 kills on .300 hitting and two aces in a sweep over Penn State. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter was playing at the top of her game.
Then a freak occurrence in practice ended her season as she suffered a significant ankle injury during a drill. She began suiting up and going through pre-match warmups late in the season but did not play again.
Now, six months removed from the initial injury, Krause is back on the practice court as the Huskers prepare for their spring exhibition.
“It’s been really smooth, honestly, because I had already started practicing a little bit right before season ended,” Krause said. “So getting back onto the court was a really smooth transition, especially being able to do the whole beach season.”
Krause made it through the full beach season without any setbacks and is full-go during indoor training. Beach season allowed her to work through some of the confidence issues that often come with a return from injury and she had to work through a bit of a mental block when indoor practice began, but Cook said she’s “doing great” now.
“It took her a while in beach to get going, and the first couple days in here I could tell she was a little tentative, which is natural, because in beach you don’t have people at the net tight,” Cook said. “She’s really worked into it and we’ve worked on getting comfortable being around the net. We’ve done some drills for everybody because we want to learn from that injury and not let that happen again.”
Krause said she tapes her ankle every time she sets foot on the court, which provides as much mental support as it does physical and allows her to play more freely. She isn’t quite all the way back to where she was before the injury, but she said she’s getting there.
“I’m feeling really good,” Krause said. “My vertical is still work in progress; it’s coming back and getting higher every week. I didn’t do actual floor jumping for about five months, so it was a little weird for a little while, but it’s getting higher every week.”
The spring has been busy for Krause and the Huskers outside of practice as well. The team recently hosted a volleyball clinic in conjunction with the 1890 Initiative for elementary and middle school girls to learn about the game and connect with the Huskers. Krause was among the counselors who also hosted her own question-and-answer session for the attendees.
“I wanted to open a circle and just kind of have like a short little like Q&A session for them because I think it’s really fun,” Krause said. “I think a lot of them, a lot of the reason they go is just because they want to be around the Husker group. The older girls, who were like eighth grade, would ask questions about volleyball and how do you not get in your head and what’s practice like, and then the younger girls, like the eight-year-olds, would ask me what’s your favorite color, what’s your mom’s name, what’s your favorite song, stuff like that. And it’s just really fun for them because no matter what questions they’re asking, they’re usually getting excited about it because they just want to hear my answer.”
Krause said she enjoys pushing the young girls out of their comfort zone and encouraging all of them to speak up; she views it as a valuable growth opportunity.
As for her own growth, Krause said she’s focusing on serving, passing and defense as she continues to round out her game heading into her final season in Lincoln. Having missed out on such a big chunk of her junior season, she’s determined to make the most of her senior year.
“I talked a lot with my coaches going into this spring season just talking about how I think it has really set in for me that it is my senior year and just how excited I am to go into it knowing that it’s my season of lasts,” Krause said. “Having to go through that injury and sit out so much was really eye-opening for me and realizing how much I can take in and really enjoy and appreciate where I’m at.
“I come to practice every day just really happy to be here and excited to do everything. So I think it really helped me kind of reassess where I was at and understand my feelings toward the game.”
The Huskers have a closed scrimmage coming up which will allow Krause to test herself against a new opponent, but her first chance to play in front of Husker fans since the injury will be the spring exhibition against Denver in Kearney on May 4 — which sold out in 46 minutes.
“It’s really crazy that you can get that many people wanting to show up for ticket sales like that,” Krause said. “You expect that stuff for an online ticket sale, but when you have to have people driving and staying overnight to buy tickets to one of our spring matches, that’s just another example of the devotion that people have to our team and our program and our university.”
