How Kerrville Tivy’s Rylie Coates rebuilt her ankle, confidence and volleyball career

The “Frankenstein” scar has faded. These days, the only time Rylie Coates feels the metallic fiber brace that holds her left ankle together is when it is freezing.

“It hurts so bad when it’s cold,” said Coates, a senior setter for Kerrville Tivy volleyball.

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Save for the occasional times it sets off airport security alarms, it’s the only complaint she has about it now. But emerging as one of the state’s top high school setters seemed unlikely four years ago when she tore all her ankle ligaments.

Through a grueling rehabilitation process that took a mental, emotional and physical toll, the 6-foot-0 Coates has blossomed in her first season as the Antlers’ full-time setter. Entering the UIL playoffs that start Thursday, she ranked No. 3 in Texas and No. 8 in the nation with 1,261 assists this season.

“As a coach, I’m super proud of her,” said Stephanie Coates, Rylie’s mother who is in her eighth season as Tivy’s head coach. “But as a mom, I’m amazed by the human being that she is because a lot of kids – yeah, they go through injuries – but not necessarily one that takes that much to come back from. And so, I’m just really proud of her.”

The injury

Rylie was excited about joining a highly competitive club team based in Austin after eighth grade volleyball season. She hoped that experience would get her on college radars and help her gain a spot on Tivy’s varsity.

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“I remember her telling me, ‘Mom, I’m in the best shape of my life. This is going to be amazing,’ ” Stephanie said. “Then, it stopped, and it was a hard stop.”

During a practice in September 2022, Rylie – never short of determination, even on basic hitting drills – reached for a ball that was bumped higher than usual. That didn’t stop her.

“In Rylie’s world, if the ball’s up in the air, you’re going to kill it, no matter where it is,” Stephanie said.

After smacking the ball, Rylie drifted down and bumped into the pad that wraps around the pole. She lost her balance, landed awkwardly on her left foot and felt a pop. A a rush of piercing pain followed.

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“I felt the ripping and the tearing, and I never felt that before, and it was just it like kind of was an out of body experience,” Rylie said. “It was such an unreal feeling of how much pain there was, I couldn’t even understand what was going on.”

The pain subsided as shock set it. Only to return when she tried to get up and put weight on it.

Her teammates came to her aid and carried her off the court.

Because of the swelling that ballooned over her ankle, it was difficult for imaging to immediately pinpoint the damage. Her ankle was too inflammed for a soft boot, which is usually used to treat ankle injuries.

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She couldn’t even move her toes.

Eventually, doctors discovered that all her ankle ligaments had torn apart.

Every single one.

Nothing that held her left ankle together was intact.

‘Her Frankenstein’

Because she was 13 years old at the time, doctors hoped physical therapy would regenerate the ligaments. But, after nearly 50 sessions, there was no progress. And on Dec. 20, 2022, she had surgery to implement the internal brace.

The surgery left a prominent scar.

“I used to call it her Frankenstein because it you could see the spots on each side,” Stephanie said.

Shortly after surgery, pain from scar tissue shot through her left foot.

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It was the price she needed to pay to get better.

“I didn’t understand, but (the doctor) told me all this scar tissue basically had to tear, and it was gonna hurt, and I had to get over it if I wanted to walk,” Rylie said.

Rylie had other concerns. Was she going to heal? After intensive physical therapy prior to surgery showed no signs of progress, she had some doubts.

“I had worked so hard before and nothing had happened,” Rylie said. “I was scared the same thing was going to happen.”

And this time the process was going to be even longer. She began at step one where she learned to walk on it again let alone get to the point where she could jump and land on it.

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The ankle progressively improved through rehabilitation, but her volleyball skills were rusty as a result of being away from the court for six months.

At the time of her injury, Rylie was transitioning from a middle blocker to setter. Rylie, who towered over her middle school teammates at 5-foot-11, knew that staying at that position wasn’t ideal if she wanted to play NCAA Division I volleyball.

Rylie was about 75% healed when she joined club team, Austin Performance, prior to her freshman high school season. She participated in practices, but it was clear she was behind on her skills.

“I just felt so out of place, even though I, I shouldn’t have been,” Rylie said. “It wasn’t that big of a deal now looking back at it, but I was just so upset. Like there’s no reason why I should be even trying to catch up because I’m so far behind.”

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Her confidence was shattered.

“I’ve never not been a confident person, and that just stripped it all away,” Rylie said. “I genuinely had to rebuild so much. There was frustration and tears, but there is with everything that you want. You don’t really want it, if you aren’t having failure. That’s just something I had to understand and go through.”

That concerned Stephanie, who remembers telling her mother, Vickie Aherns, “I don’t want her to lose the sport that’s meant so much to her when she’s worked so hard for it because of this obstacle. We both prayed to help her get back to where it’s fun and she enjoys it. And, now, I think we are there, but it did take a really long time.”

Rylie, though, was able to ease her to a prominent place in the Antlers lineup. As a freshman, she played middle blocker and right side hitter to fill open spots because of injury. As a sophomore, Rylie was one of three setters for the Antlers, then one of two as a junior. This season, Rylie has thrived as the Antlers’ primary setter.

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Rylie and Stephanie credit Debbie Gonzalez of Alamo Volleyball Association for helping her transition from hitter to setter. Those skills have been refined by training trips to Cedar Park’s SetterU.

Rylie sits at 2,332 career assists as Tivy – ranked No. 6 in Class 4A by Texas Volleyball Insiders with a 27-15 record – prepares to play first-year Creek View in the first round of the playoffs at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Harlan District Gym.

Rylie has reopened her recruitment after initially committing to Air Force. She’s confident she’ll land a Division I offer. Because of her time away from the sport, Rylie gained an understanding of where volleyball stands in her life. And she believes that more than anything might be the best thing to come out of a tough situation.

“Volleyball is a big part of who I am, but volleyball ends at some point,” Rylie said. “You play from seven years old, all the way up until when you’re like 20, 22, and then it ends. You realize when it ends, that doesn’t mean you don’t matter anymore. It’s just that’s a chapter of your life.”

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This article originally published at How Kerrville Tivy’s Rylie Coates rebuilt her ankle, confidence and volleyball career.