Minnesota Duluth volleyball coach Jim Boos said former Greenway star Hannah Johnson is like a caged dog this season.
Johnson spent almost all of last year on the UMD bench recovering from a career-threatening knee injury. After more than a year of rehabilitation, the caged dog has been unleashed.
Johnson had 17 kills and a .593 hitting percentage as fourth-ranked UMD set a school record for its best start with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 victory over 10th-ranked Wayne State on Friday night before 475 spectators at Romano Gym.
"I love being out there. I just missed it so much," said Johnson, a senior outside hitter from Coleraine. "It means so much more that it's my senior year. Every day I have to remind myself that this is it, and I have to give it my all."
Johnson's re-emergence has helped take pressure off sophomore star Kate Lange of Hibbing, who had a match-high 18 kills while hitting .173. Senior setter Eleena Iisakka had 41 set assists and 13 digs, while freshman Julie Rainey led UMD (15-0 overall, 6-0 NSIC) with 20 digs.
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Tali Fredrickson had six kills and 10 digs to lead Wayne (10-5, 3-3), but she wasn't nearly as effective as when she had a season-high 20 kills when the then second-ranked Wildcats knocked off the top-ranked and undefeated Bulldogs, who were going for the same record they broke on Friday. UMD's 1983 team also started 14-0.
"Duluth's ball handling and defense are much improved over last year, and they are balanced up front," Wayne coach Scott Kneifl said. "When you have two players like that (Lange and Johnson), you kind of have to give and take who you're going to double. We tried to stick with the same thing, but when they're in system, they're scary."
Johnson was scary good in the second set as all seven of her swings went for kills. A former News Tribune player of the year, Johnson believes her injury stemmed from her freshman year at UMD when she landed awkwardly. She thought she tore her anterior cruciate ligament but in reality caused damage to the cartilage in her left knee. She had a combined 510 kills through her first two seasons with the Bulldogs even though the condition escalated.
Right after her sophomore year, Johnson had microfracture surgery, which is commonly used with basketball players where replacement cartilage is created from a blood clot. Johnson also had cortisone and lubrication injections. She was on crutches for six weeks following surgery and continued to rehab.
Last season she shadowed the other players at her position, meaning practices were basically a walk through. But Johnson stuck with it and is serviceable this season, even if she's not 100 percent.
"I still feel a sharp pain, even tonight," Johnson said. "I have a different situation, but the great thing for me is that my teammates understand it."
Johnson is proving that at 80 or 90 percent, she is still better than just about every other player out there.
To avoid tightening up, Johnson rides an exercise bike, hidden beneath the bleachers, between sets at home and uses a heat pack on the road.
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Johnson is the younger sister of former Minnesota Gophers football recruit Adam Johnson, who later finished up at UMD. She said the injury will likely get better in time or she could have another surgery to correct the condition. That wasn't an option for this season as the early childhood education major plans on graduating and May.
Johnson is a wicked hitter on the court, but she's as nice as a kindergarten teacher off it.
"Hannah is that Northwoods kind of kid who loves to hunt and fish, and at the same time is the sweetest, nicest person you could ever find," Boos said. "It's unreal how nice of a person Hannah is, but on the court, we want to see that mean, nasty Hannah, the one with the big booming arm. Now, she really has it in her to unload again. It's like an entirely different Hannah Johnson this year."
