Another Side to Grieve on the Court

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Angela Grieve shows another side to her when she steps on to that volleyball court.

A quiet and shyer demeanor is left behind when she plays with the Miami volleyball team.

“Volleyball brings out a different side of me,” Grieve said. “It’s always been like that with all sports, too. I learned it from my dad because I grew up with him coaching my brothers and he was always just so vocal.”

Her tenacity and passion for the game will be shown when she hits the court for the first time as a Hurricane this season.

“When Angie is playing, she’s not messing around. She really gets after it, after herself, after her teammates and even after us as coaches,” associate head coach Kasey Crider said. “It was certainly unexpected initially, but as you get to know her, the contrast actually fits her.”

The sophomore sat out her entire freshman year due to a torn lizfranc ligament and fractured navicular bone in her foot. It was a two-step surgery that began with the initial surgery in August and a follow up in December to remove the screws.

The return to volleyball happened quickly, but trusting that her foot could handle the work was the hardest part.

“It was hard to be confident that my foot could handle the stress I needed to put on it,” Grieve said. “I basically had to learn to walk again, too.”

The 6-foot outside hitter had a noticeably pigeon-toed walk to her prior to surgery.

“It’s just the way my foot turns out, which caused the pain,” Grieve said.

It wasn’t just the work with the athletic trainers that got her back on the court, but the support from fellow teammate, Taylor Burrell.

“We were going through [physical] therapy at the same time, so I wasn’t always alone and it was just nice having that support,” Grieve said. “We bonded really well last year because we really knew what the other person was going through.”

Now that she is back on the court practicing with her team, all she wants to do is play in a high-level match again. Practice is one thing, but Grieve is yearning for the intensity of a real match.

“We’re all holding our breath with Angie with it being her first match [coming up], but in the best-case scenario, we’ll see a six-rotation outside hitter that will be among our best passers, servers and defenders, and perhaps most importantly, a pretty sharp edge that our program, hasn’t had in a while,” Crider said.  “Opponents and referees will probably hate her, but if you’re a Cane, I’d imagine you’d love her feistiness and competitiveness.”

Miami will open the 2020 season at home on Sept. 24 against Georgia Tech.