Not Staying Down
September 07, 2021 | Volleyball, Joel Coleman
Shania Cromartie has fought her way back to the court for MSU volleyball.
STARKVILLE – For just a few moments, Shania Cromartie thought she'd dodged a bullet.
 It was March of 2020. Cromartie, who was then a senior at Leon High School in Tallahassee, Florida and only a few weeks away from joining the Mississippi State volleyball program, was playing in a tournament when she landed on her knee wrong. She went to the ground, but got up and tried to stay in the contest.
 "I honestly didn't think it was an ACL [injury]," Cromartie said as she reflected back. "I thought I had just sprained my knee. I tried getting back up and continuing to play, but after a while, I ended up having to pull myself from the game."
 Moments later, it all sank in for Cromartie. Her ACL was most likely torn. It was later confirmed, but before then, the magnitude of the situation flooded over Cromartie.
 "I'm just sitting in the wheelchair watching my teammates finish the game, and I was just crying thinking I won't be able to compete next year," Cromartie said. "There were a bunch of negative thoughts initially."
 Cromartie found herself in a bit of a mental pit. However, while she wasn't thinking this way at the time, this wasn't the end for Cromartie. This was just the setup for a comeback story that is now playing itself out in Maroon and White.
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 The Fight Begins
A long road to recovery was in front of Cromartie following her injury. That much she knew. But she could quickly take solace in the fact that road was headed towards Starkville.
 In the crowd the day Cromartie tore her ACL was MSU head volleyball coach Julie Darty Dennis. The leader of the Bulldogs quickly lent support to Cromartie and indicated the Bulldogs were sticking right beside her.
 "Coach [Dennis] came over after the match and just said the only thing I needed to worry about was getting better and just becoming the strongest athlete I could again," Cromartie said.
 It was the first sign the Bulldog family wasn't about to abandon Cromartie. She'd continue to feel the love as she worked her way back.
 "It meant the world," Cromartie said. "To just see the coaches stick around [and to have] my [future] teammates texting me before surgery, FaceTiming me after surgery and just seeing the support before I even stepped on campus meant a lot."
 Cromartie certainly welcomed all the well wishes she could get. It was a trying time for the Tallahassee, Florida, native in multiple ways.
 Yes, she was injured. That was bad enough. But her ailment also came just as the world was shutting down at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, there was a later complication as well.
 "I had to wait a month and a half longer to get my surgery [because of the COVID situation]," Cromartie said. "Most of my rehab initially was telehealth. I actually came to Mississippi State later than expected because I had a cyst behind my knee, and I had to go in for a second operation."
 Eventually though, Cromartie did finally make it to MSU. She still had rehab to do, but she was a Bulldog well on her way back towards the court.
 "We stuck with her because obviously, she is our kid," Dennis said.
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Help From A Friend
As Cromartie kept creeping back towards action, she was aided tremendously by a bond with a teammate who'd been in the same shoes.Â
Like Cromartie, MSU's Gabby Waden had previously suffered a torn ACL. Waden had already walked through that fire a couple of years before Cromartie and came out the other side. What better way could there be for Cromartie to stay motivated than to have a walking example of resilience like Waden?
"When you share an injury and share the rehab experience, it's very helpful to have someone you can talk to," Dennis said. "They have become quite close through that."
Waden was there for Cromartie. She was a sounding board. Waden also shared a tool with Cromartie that had previously served to help Waden overcome her own ACL tear.Â
"I gave her a Kobe Bryant book," Waden said. "It talks about his mindset going into games and how he was preparing as his body got older.Â
"I was just there for [Cromartie], having her read that book and hoping it'd inspire her the way it inspired me and just let her know that she is capable of being in the SEC. She's here for a reason. Just bring it on."Â
The book was helpful to Cromartie. The gesture from Waden might've been even more valuable though.Â
"It just gave me a lot of confidence and it meant a lot to me that she'd share that," Cromartie said. "She was obviously already there for me through text messages and calls, but her giving me something that was so sentimental to her own recovery process meant a lot."Â
Waden's friendship, along with support from the rest of Cromartie's teammates and the MSU staff, served as wind beneath Cromartie's wings. Finally, in February of 2021 – nearly a full year since her ACL tear – Cromartie was able to return to game action.
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Back On The Court
By virtue of State playing a spring portion of the schedule in 2021 – another aftershock of the COVID-19 pandemic – Cromartie got in a handful of games as a true freshman. She made her debut against Ole Miss and went on to see action in 10 sets over five matches.
It wasn't much, but it was a start. And it was certainly a long way from where Cromartie had found herself a year prior. Â
"She would get into matches in the spring and serve," Dennis said. "I wanted to get her as much experience as possible, so that when she finally put the jersey on this year to go be the outside that I know she's going to be, she wouldn't be as nervous."Â
By the time Cromartie's sophomore season began last month, she was fully back. The training wheels were off. Â
She's tallied at least seven kills in every game she's played in so far in 2021 and has been key in helping the Bulldogs to a 5-1 start to the year ahead of this week's games in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Â
A more mature, tougher Cromartie than ever before is shining for State. She has turned her torn ACL into a blessing.Â
"I learned that I'm a lot stronger than I thought that I was before," Cromartie said. "When I first got injured, I didn't really know how I was going to get through the process. I learned how to just be resilient and never give up. Some days are going to be a lot harder than others, but that doesn't mean I can't give the same amount of effort every single day.
"I'm just a lot more grateful. I have a lot more gratitude towards the sport, so I just want to be able to [contribute]. Last year, I had to contribute to the team mainly vocally because I couldn't really practice as much with them. This year, I want to be one of the players that they feel like they can depend on. Back row, front row, wherever I'm needed, I just want to be a consistent contributor to the team."
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Passing It On
It's easy to look at the stats and see that Cromartie is now a big piece of MSU's team on the court. However it's not so far-fetched to think, with all she's been through, Cromartie is now also ready to be just as big of a weapon when she's not even playing.Â
When Cromartie was first injured, she was in a bad spot both physically and emotionally. She didn't stay there though. She fought. She battled. With aid from Waden and others, she found her way back to doing what she loves. Â
If in the next few years, there's a Bulldog going through a challenge of any kind, there might now be no better resource to turn to for help than Cromartie, the girl who went down, but refused to stay there.Â
"I think the vulnerability part is the hardest where you have to admit to yourself, 'This return to play is super hard and getting help is super hard,'" Dennis said of Cromartie. "Once you ask for the help and get the help – and we have great resources here [at MSU] with our counseling and sport psych department – I think she got over that hurdle and could finally talk about it with someone. There has been a lot of tears, hugs and holding. She is coming back stronger and more prepared than ever. There is going to be another person at some point that has an injury. The fact that Gabby helped Shania through her injury and now Shania can help the next person, it's leaving your legacy as a great teammate, friend, and support system."
