JF: Dancing With Braced Ankles

Dancing with Braced Ankles

Brittany Born, Loyola's star libero, balances her passion and the simple life

Ed. Note: Hey guys, I know most of you have met Britt before but I thought I'd share this with you before we all left for New Zealand together. I wrote this piece as an assignment for my Sports Writing class so it is a bit dated but I feel like it's an adequate description of her persona. I know it's a bit long but please take the time to enjoy it.

BALTIMORE - Before last Sunday's match against St. Peter's, Brittany Born meets trainer Steve Austin in his office to be treated. Austin places pads on her back, two on her upper back and two on her lower, and channels electric currents into her muscles.

She does this before every match.

The process takes 15 minutes and makes her quiver, but she claims it is painless. It stimulates her sore back muscles and allows her to bow with the grace necessary for the libero (pronounced LEE-beh-ro) position. After some icing, she is ready for warm-ups.

The rest of the team wears their home blacks but not her. As libero, Born, 20, is designated a lime green jersey that makes her more noticeable to the officials - and everyone else. By now, she is used to standing out.

Jogging lightly, Born ducks her head under the net and bounces up on the other side, swinging her arms like a willow in a windstorm as the rest of the team warms up. The song playing on the loudspeaker is House of Pain's "Jump Around" - her favorite. Born mouths the lyrics along, swiveling her hips to the beat as she fields serves to assistant coach Rich Zwolinski. He does his best to shake off a smile.

After the balls are shagged and the game is ready to begin, she stands off to the side of the net, beams bright and darts towards freshman middle blocker Taylor Koncelik. The two meet mid-jump, Born delivers an enthusiastic two-handed high five and lands soundly on her braced ankles. Electrified, she lets out a fervent cheer to rally her teammates for the upcoming contest.

"I live for game day," Born said, with a thin-lipped, knowing smile, "it's so exciting."

What you wouldn't assume is that this game is the last in a disappointing season that began with four straight losses and ended with the NCAA tournament still out of reach. You wouldn't assume that their opponent was a struggling St. Peter's squad who had also buried the hopes of a playoff berth, coming into the match with a lowly 8-21 record.

You wouldn't stop to think that this was Born's last time donning her ankle braces and lime green jersey before she skips the spring season to study abroad in New Zealand.

Brittany born is this enthusiastic every game - and she hasn't missed one of the 362 sets Loyola has played since she arrived three seasons ago.

"I calculated it and, during the season, it's a full-time job," Born admits, almost guiltily.

At times, the commitments of Division I college volleyball makes her feel restricted, tied down. However, she does not let this affect her. She maintains her constant enthusiasm - for the sake of the team.

"[I try to] be loud, you know, celebrate every point," she explains, "every game matters...nobody likes to lose."

"You'd go nuts if you had six of her," Loyola coach Scott Pennewill jests, "but she's got the ability to get people fired up."

Senior Kimi Gabriel subs in for Born during much of the match, but Born continues to cheer from the sidelines, never completely removing herself from the action. The Hounds dig deep to overcome a late rally by St. Peter's and finish off the Peahens in five sets.

Then, it's over.

The team wraps up another disappointing year, finishing 15-18.

Following the match, they hold a banquet to honor the seniors who won't be returning to Loyola for the coming season. The next day, Pennewill gets busy courting five new recruits signed on for next year and the team takes some much needed time off.

For now, the 20-hours of weekly practice and the early morning workouts are through.

"It hasn't even hit me yet that we don't have volleyball."

Brittany Born sits in her bed across from me, legs folded Indian style, and hugs a pillow in her lap. She dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, the outfit of a girl reviling leisure. no make-up, it's not worth the effort today. Her crimped silk hair falls easy on her shoulders.

She is taking her time, letting her weak ankles rest, and enjoying the good life

BORN INTO THE SPORT

Growing up in Ellicott City, Md., Born learned to cherish tranquil things. She remembers sitting in the bathtub at the age of three, splashing along to UB40's "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You" while her father, Michael, worked outside on the porch and her mother, Lori, prepared food in the kitchen. This was about the same time her parents introduced her to the sport of volleyball.

Lori and Michael born, who met in college, were doubles partners in beach volleyball. About the time their daughter was a toddler, they began bringing her along, sitting her on a blanket a safe distance from the net with toys and snacks to keep her occupied.

"They were actually pretty good!" she laughingly admits.

Her father, a graphic arts teacher at the Center of Applied Technology North in Anne Arundel County, Md., brought Brittany up with a carefree spirit. A printer by profession, Michael Born also surfs, skateboards and plays the drums.

"She was always really, really smart and outgoing," he said, "always willing to speak up, always

curious. You can see it on the volleyball court, (laughing) she never shuts up."

As she grew up, her affinity for the sport only amplified. In sixth grade, Brittany quit her dance lessons and joined a local youth volleyball team that her mother coached.

From then on, she flourished.

At Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Md., she established herself as a leader. A four year letterman, born quickly adopted a reputation for being a successful setter. She set a slew of school records including setting percentage, most sets attempted, most sets made, most assists and highest passing percentage.

Serving as captain her senior year, Born developed a drive for leadership that her father say in her from a young age.

"[Volleyball gave] her an outlet for her energy and her emotion and her athleticism and her leadership and her competitiveness," he said.

In 2007, she walked on to the Loyola squad after turning down a scholarship to set at Salisbury University, an NCAA Division III school. When Gabriel, the incumbent libero, suffered a back injury, Born was pieced into the position. She acclimated herself quickly, averaging 5.22 digs per game and setting a single-season record for digs at 626 in her freshman year. As a sophomore, she led the team again with 489, crossing the 20-dig mark on nine separate occasions.

But enthusiasm and prestige is not without pressure.

They call the position libero - the Italian word meaning "free." As libero, Born is not subject to normal rotation rules - she remains on the court for most of the match, only substituting out every other serve. It is the most important position on the team.

"She's a live wire," Pennewill remarked of his team's emotional backbone. "Not all players are built that way...there is just a positive energy that she infuses through the team."

"It's really an asset to have her out there," junior outside hitter Nina Camaioni related, "She's almost like a leveling balance out there...there's definitely a different feel on the court when she's in."

Pennewill, a wrestler by training, expects intensity and commitment from his players.

"Work ethic. Perseverance. Workhorses." That was the mantra he recited to me.

"She's the one who has to be the best. She mentally has to be it. We want her getting to all the first balls."

The position is not completely unrestricted, though. The libero is prohibited from attacking balls above the plane of the net. Instead, she is the defensive stalwart, responsible for digging out hard hits to rally her team. While she readily accepts this role and uses her coach's expectation to drive herself, sometimes she needs a release.

As we sit in her bedroom, she opens her iTunes and puts on that same cool rhythm her father once filled the house with when she was three years old. The lyrics follow: "Wise men say only fools rush in/But I can't help falling in love with you..."

She lays back on her mattress and closes her eyes.

"How could you not love this song," she asks me.

FOUR MONTHS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

Auckland, New Zealand, is 8,669 miles away from Baltimore - a 19-hour flight with a 9-hour layover in San Francisco. There, the people refer to themselves as "kiwis" and rugby is the sport of choice - not volleyball. Auckland is a scenic city famous for the quaint sailboats that stir in the harbor; perfect for those looking to stimulate more than just their back muscles.

On Valentine's Day, 2010, Brittany Born will be taking that 19-hour flight, complete with the lengthy stopover. She'll be gone until late June, missing the 5-practice weeks and mandatory weight training sessions that make up the off season. Instead, she'll be climbing glacier on South Island, skydiving in the country and juggling conversations with what she calls "regular students" over a meal of what is ominously called "Vegemite."

"I'll be totally refreshed and ready to come back after," she said, "[The Season] is really hard but I absolutely love it."

"But honestly, I could study abroad in Iowa and still have a good time," she jokes, "just because there would be no volleyball."

"We always call non-athletes 'normal people,'" Camaioni commented. "It's going to be so nice to just be able to enjoy being a student without that commitment."

After her, no other Loyola athlete will do the same. Born and Camaioni - who will be studying abroad in Rome - are the last two varsity athletes from Loyola allowed to study abroad. The Loyola University Athletic Department has decided that the demands of Division I athletics are too heavy to be packed into suitcases and carried abroad.

"Yeah, it's going to be so nice to have a break," Born says, rolling out the words slowly, savoring the idea with every syllable, "I love volleyball but it takes a toll on your mind and your body and your social life and your experience of college life as a whole..."

For a second, she loses herself in the fantasy, biting her lip lightly as if to remind herself she's not quite there yet.

"Yeah..." she finally spills, trailing off with an inflection borrowed from her father. It sounds like she's letting something drift away.

She lets her thoughts wander for a second but springs back to life when I bring up the prospect of bungee jumping.

"I'm very scared of heights but I'm going to go - it's going to be great," she said, "All I have to do is get that initial jump."

The very thought is liberating: her standing at the edge of the Greenhithe bridge, looking up - straight up - feeling the cool air drifting up from the river below as it pushes her hair back wildly. Just a quick step and then a fall - everything rushing at once. For an immeasurable instant at the lowest point she'll be perfectly still.

Suspended.

Finally free. Libero.

After that instant of total release, she'll be pulled up backwards by the cord tied to her delicate ankles.

And, for once, it'll feel more like being grounded and less like being tied down.