Annie Lockett wishes desperately she could be on the volleyball court — competing with her Hope College teammates — when they play for a national championship today.
 
Relying on her faith, the talented but injured junior has fully embraced what she is physically able to do and become the Flying Dutch's biggest cheerleader.
 
Lockett (Mason, Ohio / William Mason HS) will be on the bench tonight at 7 p.m. when second-ranked Hope plays No. 2 ranked and defending national champion Junita College (Pa.) in the title match at Roberts Pavilion in Claremont, California. The match will be live-streamed on ncaa.com.
 
As a sophomore, Lockett was a driving force in the Flying Dutch's run to the 2022 national quarterfinals as an outside hitter. The business major earned American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-America honors.
 
Early in fall practice, Lockett suffered a serious right ankle injury that's sidelined her all season. Lockett has drawn praise from head coach Becky Schmidt and her teammates for how she's dealt with adversity and been an exceptional teammate.
 
Lockett shares how she's balanced personal disappointment and absolute joy for her team's success.
 
Question: I can only imagine this week has been a mix of joy because of what's going on with the team because of what you've been through with your ankle and not being able to play. From watching how you've been able to maintain a positive attitude for yourself and for your team in a situation that I understand has to be frustrating.
 
Annie Lockett: I think it goes with two things. I think the first is seeing the joy that the team has been in this spot and the joy that it brings me to watch them succeed is huge. Also, I rely a lot on my faith to get through this hard time and in a season of disappointment where I mean, getting injured at first and holding on hope to be back later in the season and be able to compete, then have to go through surgery and just realizing like it's going to be a long, a lot of months to recover, and it's slow and tedious. I think I'm just now realizing that like it's going to be a pretty brutal recovery. I think it's really testing me to just like every day, I prayed that God can show me who I can love, who I need to be a good teammate to who I need to be a good friend to. Then I'm more like tactical ideas, just really focusing on the game and how I can help, especially people in my position, like [Addie VanderWeide] and [Brooke Fox] telling them where the defenses are, encouraging them when they're down. Keeping them just full of energy and joy. I think that's been a cool opportunity just to see the impact I have off the court. Even though sometimes it feels like it could go unnoticed or unwatched, just deciding to show up every day to practice with a smile on my face and encourage people who aren't playing and really just to bridge that gap. I think that's been something that I realized as soon as I got hurt that this is going to be a very different season than I had last year. For however long of not being on the court and deciding every day like, I can still make an impact. Whether that's love to the girls who are on the bench and showing them that their voice also matters and they have just as much of an impact as the six who are playing.  I think even though it's been nothing short of just a disappointment in every game, like it kills me in some ways to watch, like 'Oh, I wish I was out there'. but it's also just a really cool opportunity to show up for my teammates to love them and then just to share that faith aspect of like, I could not be doing any of this without God, I cannot show up to every practice and game with the amount of joy and love that I have for the team and my coaches, the fans without God. It's really strengthened me and has helped me grow in ways that I couldn't imagine and I'll be thankful for, for the rest of my life.
 
Question: Have you in your whole time in playing volleyball ever missed any extended period of time?
 
Annie Lockett [00:03:18] I've never had a season loss or an injury. At high school, I had a stress fracture that made me sit out for a couple of weeks. But other than that, it's just the first time.
 
Question: How did you get hurt?
 
Annie Lockett: I landed in the preseason on someone. They thought it was just a really, really bad sprain that would get better in 4 to 6 weeks. At Week 6. Nothing really had changed. The range of motion back swelling wasn't going down and it just like wasn't making a ton of progress. So I went and got a second opinion at Holland and then they suggested that I had a lot more ligaments in soft tissue damage and tendons that were damaged, so suggested surgery.  I went down to Cincinnati to get a second opinion because I knew I was going to have surgery to be at home because I'm from Cincinnati. We went down there and the surgeon down there, went through the MIR and found the two torn tendons and ligaments. Then they had to do a complete lateral ankle reconstruction and repair the two pereneal ligaments.
 
Question: What's the prognosis? 
 
Annie Lockett: Right now I'm six weeks post-surgery so I can start like range of motion stuff. Getting it moving up and back, then it's eight weeks I can start walking out of the boot. Then 4 to 6 months after surgery is when I can start like lateral cutting, all that, hyperbolic ball movement. I'm taking it day by day and just doing everything I can to get back in shape and my ankle back how it was before. I'm hoping for spring, but it's up in the air.
 
Question: Your faith, is that something that you've had since you are a child or is that something, as you've gotten older. Different people are coming in different on reaching that point.
 
Annie Lockett: That's something I've always grown up with. I have an amazing family and parents who just really like instilled that in me since we were kids, which is awesome. I think the first time it really got tested was when I was at Eastern Michigan. That was a really hard season of life and just really having to rely on God and a situation that just seemed like lonely and hard. So that was what really strengthened my faith. Then going through this has been honestly one of the harder things in life. Jjust like looking back and I mean, it's been since August and it's, what, almost 3 or 4 months of just disappointment after disappointment. I think it's cool to see that the one steady thing in my life is God. Even in this, like there's been so many lessons I've learned and goodness in relationships I've been able to build with girls on the team that I probably wouldn't have gotten to if I was on the court all season. I think those are just the things that it's like even in a season of disappointment. I mean, I had such high expectations for this season. I would spend my summer just working so hard for this just with such high hopes. I just think that it's hard, but it's good to see that those expectations will never satisfy you and that the one consistent thing is my faith and that that's something I can share with the team. And just by showing up and loving the girls well and encouraging. So simple.
 
Question: I wanted to ask you about about Addie, Brooke and [Liz VanderSlice]. Addie, obviously,she's had such a tremendous season. But to me, it's not just been about Addie's emergence, it's been Brooke and Liz, too. They've flourished.
 
Annie Lockett: First with Brooke, I don't think I've ever been more proud for someone. She stepped in huge. I remember the first tournament I was you, and that was her first time on the court. She just played with this sense of just like reckless abandon and it was so cool because she would go out there and take big swings and play with those smart shots and play with the defense. I think it's just cool to see her just step into this amazing role. She just continues to get better and better the later we get into the season. The thing I love the most about her is just the way she encourages her teammates. That's been fun because now that I can finally stand on the bench, I get to stand next to her. She is everyone's biggest fan and no matter what, she has their back. I think that's just an amazing thing to see her step into this big role and still play with that just absolute confidence and trust in the abilities that she has. She knows that her whole team's backing her up and that she has everyone's back. I'm just excited to see like what's in it for her in the future because she has been a huge role on this team and it's just amazing to watch.
 
Then, Liz, to think of her last year to this year, I mean, she put in the work in the spring season and she put in the work in the summer and just plays with so much passion. And I think that's really awesome to see her go out there and fire her teammates up and just play with so much grit and joy and in practice and games. She's always throwing her body on the ground, going the extra mile which is extremely inspiring to see. And I mean, with everything she's gone through in her life like it's just amazing to see her be able to do this and be so successful and do so much for our team. I think that that is just also amazing. Like even from the beginning of the season to now, she's grown so much and become an amazing player. So I'm also excited for the next year like for her. But they're both stepping up in huge ways.

Addie is amazing. I think the world of her as a player and a person. I think it's cool, like she's an amazing volleyball player, like )[co-national] player of the year is huge. But I think what is even more amazing is the humility she plays with and the love and the joy that she plays. There's no sense of talking is her 'Oh, I'm so amazing', she just plays with so much love and just a sacrificial type of love and joy. I was talking to one of my teammates yesterday on how steady she is. Like that environment we were playing [in the national semifinals] was crazy and people's emotions can get amped up. You look at Addie and she just feels like a steady, calm, happy person. I think just seeing her come into this and just take all of it in and be able to do so well is amazing. Just the way that she's played with the team and the way that she's gone, I mean, so far out of her way to make everyone on the team feel so empathy. She's always cracking jokes. She's making people laugh. She celebrates all of her teammates way more than she'd ever celebrate herself. I think that's what makes her so amazing, is just the person she is, let alone the player she is. But the way she just cares about every single person is amazing. I cannot say enough words about her. She's awesome.