Leah Delcourt began her Northwestern volleyball career two years ago in a style that would give most athletes nightmares. Experiencing an injury the summer before her freshman year, she was sidelined before ever suiting up.

Due to a tough, self-imposed pre-college training schedule, Delcourt suffered a stress fracture in her left fibula in the summer of 2000, forcing her to redshirt her freshman season. And all those hard landings she took as a high school high jumper didn’t help either.

“I was nonstop, always on the go,” the sophomore said. “My dad had to say to me, ‘Leah, slow down and smell the roses.'”

Despite being unable to play, the then-outside hitter still accompanied her team to preseason matches in Nebraska, California and Hawaii. But all of the walking she did on the trips may have caused her ankle to heal more slowly than expected.

“My ankle took forever to heal — at least three or four months instead of six to eight weeks,” Delcourt said.

While the rest of her team traveled across the Midwest to take on conference foes during the regular season, Delcourt had to stay behind in Evanston. The boot on her foot a constant reminder of what she was missing, Delcourt said that fall was one of the most difficult times of her volleyball career.

“It was really hard,” Delcourt said. “I just sat at home and watched TV. I didn’t want to go out at all, because come on, I was wearing a boot.”

But even more depressing for Delcourt than her lack of a social life was the thought of her teammates getting to know each other on the road and developing their skills without her.

“While they bonded, I was still at the high school level,” Delcourt said.

Determined to get back on the roster — and back on the road with the rest of the team — Delcourt gritted her teeth and made herself stick to a grueling rehab schedule. To rebuild her lost calf and ankle muscles, Delcourt did more calf raises in her physical therapy than she cares to remember.

“It was painful, but worth it,” she said.

Delcourt’s situation was even stranger because her true freshman season was also Keylor Chan’s first year as the Wildcats’ head coach. Thankful for Chan’s support throughout her injuries, Delcourt admits that she was intimidated starting her NU career on the sidelines.

“Coming in, (Chan) had never seen me play,” Delcourt said. “But he had watched tape of me and he’s like, ‘We want you back and for you to get into gear with the rest of the girls.'”

Delcourt’s teammates were just as understanding as Chan, supporting her throughout her time away from the court.

“A lot of people get sidelined at one time or another,” senior captain Sarah Ballog said. “You understand that’s part of being a Division I athlete.”

To make matters worse, at the beginning of what should have been Delcourt’s first season on the court, she suffered another injury that kept her on the sidelines. This time, she separated her shoulder in a collision with teammate Cassie McKnight.

Although Delcourt played in only 29 games in 2001, her skills weren’t rusty. With 32 kills, 13 digs and 12 blocks, she proved that time on the bench left her with a chance to strategize.

Now that she’s injury free, Delcourt is excited about the current season and her switch to a different position — middle blocker.

“Playing outside is a difficult position,” Delcourt said. “There, you have forever to think about the ball coming at you, but in the middle you don’t have time to think — you just get a quick swing.”

Her team is glad to see Delcourt in the middle-blocker position as well. At 6-foot-1, she has the height to make an impact at the net.

“She has a great vertical jump,” Ballog said. “She gets up really quick and it seems very familiar for her to be there.”

At the Wildcat Classic Sept. 20 to 21, Delcourt nailed five kills in NU’s win against DePaul and one in its loss to Loyola-Chicago.

As the season progresses, Delcourt, a substitute for both Ballog and Erika Lange at middle blocker, hopes for more playing time.

But if anyone has learned how to make the most of her time on the sidelines, it’s Delcourt.

“I admire her,” Ballog said. “She’s one of our most optimistic players and always has the biggest smile.”