Olivia Rhodes is a volleyball player who got seriously injured but overcame her injury and became a really good player. Olivia was the outside hitter for her high school team in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She had been playing varsity since her freshman year, and helped her team win two state titles throughout her years of high school. She had a full scholarship to Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) to play volleyball.  The school was only two hours away, so it was an easy drive for Olivia and her family to go up and visit the university.

One day Olivia and her mom, Allyson, drove to Penn State for a recruiting trip. On the way back to Greensburg, they got into a terrible car accident. Both Olivia and her mom were taken to the hospital. Allyson had a broken arm and a couple broken ribs, but Olivia’s injuries were much worse. Olivia had a few broken ribs and she had to get a rod in her fractured femur. The doctor, Eloise, told her there was not a great chance that she would be able to play volleyball again.

Two weeks later, Olivia started physical therapy with Summer as her physical therapist. Summer helped Olivia get from out of a wheelchair to walking on her own. The first day Olivia did not want to go because she thought there was no point as she would never be able to play volleyball again. Summer encouraged Olivia to get up and start walking with the bars as support. Three weeks later, Olivia was walking on her own, but only taking a few steps.

One day in the physical therapy room, Olivia met Molly. Molly was a cancer patient who had to amputate her leg so the cancer would not spread any more. Even though Molly could not walk, she went to physical therapy to encourage other people beginning to walk. One day Molly was there when Olivia was in therapy. Olivia was complaining to Summer that there was no point in her even trying to walk because she was never going to be able to play the sport she loved again. At the end of her session, Molly met up with Olivia and asked her why she was doubting being able to play volleyball again. Olivia explained how she got into the car accident and was told that she would never be able to do physical activity again, including volleyball. Molly told Olivia her story and said that she should be grateful to walk, because some people cannot walk at all. Molly stated that if Olivia tried hard enough and really believed in herself, she would not only be able to start physical activities again but be able to play volleyball. After the inspirational words from Molly, Olivia started working really hard at physical therapy.

Months later, she was running up the stairs and jumping rope. She then returned to her high school volleyball coach and started training with her. After training for a couple of months, Olivia went to the Penn State volleyball coach and expressed that she was ready to start playing. At Penn State she started to practice with the team. During her first volleyball game for Penn State, Olivia got ten kills, twenty-six digs, and three aces. After her volleyball career at Penn State, Olvia Rhodes started playing volleyball for the olympic team, and now plays for USA Volleyball. Through Molly’s inspiring words, Olivia began playing the sport she loves again and achieving her dreams.