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Mark Morris senior Emma Fisher poses on the Mark Morris High School gym bleachers on Thursday, September 29, in Longview. Despite tearing her ACL, she continues to play and push through her final season of high school volleyball.
Emma Fisher leaps off one leg and notches one of her nine kills during a sweep of Washougal, Thursday, Sept. 29, at Ted M. Natt Court.
Ali Milspaugh (front) and Emma Fisher (knee brace) enjoy a moment of calm during a sweep over Washougal, Thursday, Sept. 29, at Ted M. Natt Court.
Mark Morris senior hitter Emma Fisher smashes a shot against W.F. West during Saturday's Monarch Challenge. The Monarchs finished second in their tournament after going the distance with Kelso in the championship match.
The adjectives flood your mind when you first hear Emma Fisher’s story. Crazy? Unbelievable? Foolish? Courageous?
The Mark Morris senior varsity volleyball star, who joined the Monarchs volleyball and basketball squads as a freshman, is playing her senior season for the volleyball team on a torn ACL in her left knee.
The adjectives started flying around in your head, didn’t they? Maybe the question ‘Why?’ popped in first, though.
It’s the question most people think of when they hear about Fisher’s decision, and the subsequent ones made by her doctor, coach, and the team’s athletic trainer that have allowed her to do so. (Editor’s Note: MM athletic trainer Chris Reeves declined to be interviewed for this story.)
For Fisher, the simple answer comes down to a desire to experience what may end up being a very special Monarchs 2022 volleyball season in her senior year. And she doesn’t want to watch from the sideline or in the stands. She wants to be out on the court, where she has proven she can still help her teammates achieve their highest goals, while creating highlight reels their minds will never forget.
“I already have to get surgery. I’m going to be out at least a year. So why not do my senior year, have these experiences and these memories that I won’t have in the future?” asked Fisher. “I would rather have the memories of playing than sitting.”
But are those memories worth potential future damage to her uninjured right leg or the other major muscles and ligaments of her left leg? The first team member of TDN’s All-Area volleyball team says yes.
Fisher wears a brace on the knee and her court time isn’t as much as it was last year when she played all six rotations for the Monarchs and averaged eight kills and eight digs per game over the full season. She finished the year with a total of 128 kills, 129 digs and 115 service points. That output peaked right on time with 53 kills in the State tournament.
“When you watch her play, you would never know. I can’t even explain it,” Mark Morris volleyball coach Carmen Hewitt said. “People have said to me, ‘You’re letting her play with an ACL tear?’ And literally, you have to watch her. You would never know.”
However, as athletic as Fisher remains, the awkward gait and reduced mobility caused by her hulking hinged brace would provide at least one clue that her knee is not right.
After qualifying for state in track and running the 100 and 200-meters, the 300-meter hurdles and the 4x400-meter relay events, Fisher entered the summer eyeing a memorable senior year. Unfortunately, one awkward move on the basketball court in June, put those plans in doubt.
Fisher was playing basketball in a summer tournament in Centralia, when she heard a pop in her knee after jumping. She went to the bench not fully understanding the seriousness of her injury, then returned to action unsure of how her leg would perform. It felt unstable as she walked gingerly back onto the court.
“I went back out there and I could feel how unstable my kneecap was when (coach) got me out there, so I said, ‘I guess we’ll see how this goes and not even two minutes later, I jumped again and my knee gave out on me. I jumped, planted it and it went to the left side… So, I (thought), I guess I’m out.”
Out for how long? The question became how bad was the knee injured and what did the recovery timeline look like. Fisher wasn’t able to get an MRI for two full months and while she waited to discover the severity of her knee injury, she continued to compete.
“As time went on, I realized I could do volleyball… because in my spare time, I was playing basketball still on my torn ACL with no brace which probably wasn’t a good idea but I still wanted to stay active,” Fisher said. “And I realized I could still… do everything I could do in the first place.”
Coach Hewitt initially thought her team lost Fisher for the season when she heard the news of the injury. But the dogged Fisher wanted to attend the team’s volleyball camp July 24-28 to show Hewitt she could play. Though she received permission from her doctor, parents and lastly her coach to participate in the camp, Fisher was still unsure of whether it was the best decision.
And as she considered her options, Fisher was hearing opinions on both sides.
“There were definitely a lot of people out there that were for it and against it,” said Fisher. “Before I went to camp, I had to get cleared by my surgeon. I tried it at camp and it worked out well.“
When Hewitt witnessed Fisher’s movement at the camp firsthand, and saw that her ability to jump and land didn’t appear severely hampered, she was sold.
“I’ll never forget her saying to me, ‘Coach, the adults around me are telling me what I can’t do, but my body is telling me I can,’” said Hewitt. “She played incredible. You would have never known she was hurt. She didn’t miss a beat.”
After the camp, Fisher returned home committed to delaying surgery in order to play one more season of varsity volleyball for the Monarchs. Her coach was sold, her parents and doctor were on board, so Fisher and Hewitt crafted a plan for the season. Though she looked good on the floor, Fisher was, and is, still an athlete dealing with a serious knee injury. She was going to need regular rest, daily treatment and a modified approach to both her use and amount of time on the court.
Given how important her fourth-year senior is to the Monarchs accomplishing the team’s lofty goal of capturing a 2A state championship this year, Hewitt is strategically managing Fisher’s playing time so that the Monarchs get the most out of Fisher in the most critical matches.
“As her coach, I have told her I will have to make decisions that are hard for her. We need her healthy and feeling good for big matches,” said Hewitt. “I am focused on managing exposures to tweak her leg, while still giving her the time to mentally feel comfortable.”
Fisher sat out the team’s opener against R.A. Long and the vast majority of the Yakima Sundome Festival tournament in mid September. Entering Tuesday night’s contests at Hockinson she’d played six of Mark Morris’ seven regular-season matches where she’s averaged roughly six kills and four digs.
Last Thursday, in Mark Morris’ sweep of Washougal, Fisher had a season-high nine kills. Then Saturday in the day-long Monarch Challenge, Fisher played extensively as the Monarchs advanced to the championship against Kelso, losing to the 3A Hilanders in the third set tiebreaker.
So far she has been limited to a half rotation on the court, playing the front line positions and serving. And that’s worked out well all the way around.
It helps that Mark Morris is loaded with strong defensive players like seniors Madi Noel and Hallie Watson. That depth has helped to limit the amount of bending and diving that Fisher has to do.
According to Hewitt, having Fisher play exclusively at the net just makes the most sense.
“We need her to hit,” the Monarchs’ coach said. “She is accepting of this role and doing the best she can to overcome the mental game on the court.”
The psychological element is the most challenging because there is no practiced skill that the athlete can lean on to overcome the invisible hurdle. Instead, the athlete must go it alone, sometimes without the necessary preparation that a true sports psychologist can provide, in an effort to build confidence, conquer the doubts and perform when called upon without seeing their body breakdown any further.
And while she is loathe to admit, that is the real danger for Fisher now. Rather than injuring her left knee more than she already has, it is the very real possibility that she could do damage to her right leg or her left calf, left hamstring, left quadriceps or left achilles because of the added stress caused by a compromised left knee.
Fisher’s surgeon has tested her current lower body strength to determine whether she is at risk of further injury. To date the doctor has been satisfied with how Fisher has performed. The strength of the surrounding muscles around her left knee have been essential to enabling her to play the amount she already has with the significant ACL injury.
It becomes a real test of confidence and Fisher admits she’s lost some of the confidence she’d built up in herself over the years.
“I can still do my normal movements. It’s just the feeling of lack of confidence,” Fisher said. “I lost confidence (in my knee). Am I going to go up and this is going to be it? I’m really careful about how I land and certain things that I do.”
The Mark Morris training staff are helping Fisher take care of her knee with regimented daily care between every practice and game. She takes daily dips in an ice bath. She does quad stability work with exercise bands, ices and tapes the knee.
So far, Fisher’s body has held up. The plan is for her to continue competing for the Monarchs all the way through what the team hopes is a long and prosperous playoff run before she goes under the knife to repair her left ACL at the end of November.
“Emma knows this only works if she’s honest,” Hewitt said. “So far, she has been.”
And so far the Monarchs are winning. The team is 5-2 in 2A Greater St.-Helens League play, trailing just Columbia River and Ridgefield who started the season ranked first and second in a state poll.
Fisher likes her team’s chances against the Rapids and Spudders, or any other teams it might encounter on a State title run. The Monarchs took a set off the Rapids in their earlier meeting. They also took a set from a formidable Kelso team that is likely to do damage at the 3A state tournament so long as they remain fully healthy.
The same caveat holds true for the Monarchs, but there’s a confidence level surrounding Mark Morris and its seven seniors. Everyone in blue and red believes this is destined to be the team’s big year.
With or without the 2A State title, Fisher has made her decision – foolish or inspiring, whichever way you choose to describe it – and is determined to see it through to the sweet, or bitter end.
“It is the journey that is better than the end result,” said Fisher.
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HOCKINSON — Fresh off a runner-up finish in the Monarch Challenge, Mark Morris defeated Hockinson in three sets in its 2A Greater St. Helens L…
Mark Morris senior Emma Fisher poses on the Mark Morris High School gym bleachers on Thursday, September 29, in Longview. Despite tearing her ACL, she continues to play and push through her final season of high school volleyball.
Emma Fisher leaps off one leg and notches one of her nine kills during a sweep of Washougal, Thursday, Sept. 29, at Ted M. Natt Court.
Ali Milspaugh (front) and Emma Fisher (knee brace) enjoy a moment of calm during a sweep over Washougal, Thursday, Sept. 29, at Ted M. Natt Court.
Mark Morris senior hitter Emma Fisher smashes a shot against W.F. West during Saturday's Monarch Challenge. The Monarchs finished second in their tournament after going the distance with Kelso in the championship match.
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