HailStateVB Senior Feature: Ellen Stuart
November 16, 2015 | Volleyball
For the remainder of the 2015 season, HailState.com will take you through the journey of each of the five MSU volleyball seniors. Today, we begin our five-part series with a look at senior defensive specialist and Austin, Texas native Ellen Stuart.
By: John Galatas, MSU Media Relations
Senior Ellen Stuart's journey to get to her senior season at Mississippi State University has been just that – a journey.
From transferring, being sidelined by injuries and faced with hurdles throughout her collegiate career, Stuart relied on faith, support and determination to persevere on and off the court in pursuit of playing the game she loves.
In her senior season of high school, Stuart was eager to continue her volleyball career after committing to Lamar University. In March, however, she tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus and thought she would not play again. She called her sister, who was attending the University of Arkansas at the time, and considered attending school with her.
"The first thing I did was call my sister and told her I was going to go to college with her," she said. "It was in Denver, where I hurt myself. My (Lamar) coaches were there, and one of them said, 'You can either quit or you can keep playing. We still want you.' At that time, I thought, 'What am I thinking? Volleyball has been my life forever. How can I stop? Especially on an injury?'"
Stuart confirmed her commitment to play. She had surgery and shortly after began rehab. She received a redshirt her freshman year with the Cardinals, which allowed her to serve in a coaching role and develop a deeper understanding for the game. After her first semester, though, she decided to transfer and again questioned if she would continue playing.
"I didn't feel like I was in the right place for me. I wasn't a big fan of the feel of the school in general and felt that I needed to move. I thought I was going to stop playing volleyball and just be a normal student. Once again, I called my sister and said 'I'm coming to college with you, it'll be great!'" she said. "I prayed really hard about it. God really put on my heart that volleyball wasn't over for me."
Stuart pursued getting her release and transferring with the intentions to continue playing. A day after receiving her release from Lamar, Mississippi State called and offered Stuart a spot on the team. Having little knowledge of the university, she visited MSU the next day and fell in love with campus. She felt at home. She knew she had made the right decision.
Stuart enrolled in January and was finally cleared to return to the court in the middle of her spring semester.
"It was hard because I had been out so long and had yet to play at the college level," she said. "I was really intimidated coming to this awesome program in the SEC where I never thought I would be in a million years."
Stuart spent the summer before her true sophomore season rehabbing and practicing to get back on the court. She started her first full college season as a serving specialist for the Bulldogs, and developed a role as a leader and encourager on the team.
But by the start of her junior season, Stuart experienced increased knee pain.
"It was heartbreaking," she recalled. "Once again, it crossed my mind that maybe I shouldn't be doing this to my body. Maybe it's what is good for me in the long run."
Along with family and coaches, she continued to pray about her future. She was still not ready to leave volleyball.
Stuart went in for a second surgery to clean scar tissue in August of last year, but it was a worse than the doctors expected. Her physicians performed a micro fracture on her bones, which meant Stuart was out longer than she expected for her junior season.Â
"That was hard. I was ready to come in and be a leader for the team," she said. "I came back and rehabbed six to eight weeks. My team was so supportive. The trainers here took care of me. I'm so lucky to be at an SEC school that has awesome trainers that really know how to help ACL injuries."
After two-and-a-half years of working through her injury, one of the biggest obstacles Stuart faced was not only the physical limitations and rehabilitation, but having to mentally overcome limitations that were presented to her as well.
"The feeling of me thinking I would never be back to where I was in high school, it's a hard feeling to get over," she said. "I would not have done it without the coaching staff, especially after that second surgery."
Finally, after hard work and a commitment to her mission to play, Stuart was cleared toward the end of her junior season. She played in 19 matches down the stretch of the year, including seven starts.Â
"Last year ended up being a good year after I was cleared to play. I saw a lot of playing time at the end of last season," she said. "It felt good to be able to help my team again after it had been so long."
By the time she was ready to begin her final year in Maroon and White, Stuart was called upon to start at libero in the first match of the season against Jackson State. Having been an outside hitter for the majority of her high school and club career, she took pride in her new role and quickly became comfortable with the new position.
"Even coming to college and changing my role in the first place was hard because if you're a hitter and hitting is not going well you always have passing, or if passing isn't going well you can hit. It's a total different mentality being a defensive player," she said. "It's crazy to think that at an SEC school I started as libero after the past few years of my career."
Whether on the court or on the sideline, Stuart has excelled in her leadership position and takes pride in helping her teammates develop.
"I know that my leadership role as a senior, I am an encourager. I take the underclassmen under my wing because I have been there, especially the transfers. I've been there and it's tough. I've been to two different colleges and had to start over twice," she said. "I'm good at being with the freshmen and helping them work through some things. That's kind of the role I have taken on the team this year."
Her leadership is evident in the community as well. Outside of volleyball, Stuart enjoys helping MSU freshmen and incoming students adapt to a college lifestyle as a college Young Life leader, a campus ministry she has been involved with since her freshman year of high school.
"The first semester I transferred here was the first semester Young Life started here at State," she said. "That solidified that fact that God put me at this school for a reason. I was so excited. It's been a huge part of my faith journey."
She also blends her faith with sports as a counselor at Camp Ozark in Mount Ida, Arkansas.
At Camp Ozark, she serves as a high school counselor and teaches volleyball along with skeet shooting, archery and rifle, while mentoring kids and establishing life-long friendships with peers.
A member of the SEC Community Service Team, Stuart said her inspiration to serve and give back to her community came when she was growing up as a Texas Longhorns fan in Austin.
"I've been a big Texas fan my whole life. When I went to volleyball games and the volleyball players would talk to me after the games I would get so giddy and excited," she said. "I told myself that if I made it one day that I would be involved in the community as well."
Stuart added that she enjoys interacting with Starkville families and getting to know the residents that come support Mississippi State athletics.
Although she has experienced the highs and lows on her journey, Stuart remained steadfast in faith and is proud to have found her purpose and plan during her time at Mississippi State.
"I couldn't have been more thankful for that after everything I've been through," she said. "Glory be to God. He placed me here for a reason, with these people for a reason. I have grown up so much because of it."
