First Person: Elena Shklyar

Rising junior Elena Shklyar is a journalism major on the volleyball team. She will be chronicling her thoughts as she and her teammates navigate the departure from and return to campus in the world of the novel coronavirus - beginning from when the volleyball team first learned that their spring semester would drastically change due to the the threat to public health. In her third entry, she shares with us ups and downs the team has experienced since returning to campus in mid-June.

Aug. 31, 2020 - Two Months of Practice

The last time I wrote, I had only been back on campus for about two weeks since we got sent home in March. A lot has happened since I gave some insight into our first two weeks back on campus.

Around July 1, we started to settle in and work out in our small pods in the Breslin center with the same procedures as before. We got health screenings before every workout, cleaned off every ball and weight, and could only workout with a certain group each day.

The first bump in the road for our program happened the last week of July, when my pod had to be quarantined for two weeks since we were exposed to a positive case. This was an extremely scary time for the whole program as it was the first time we had to deal with the realities of the protocols that were put in place to protect us. I got to stay in my apartment, while my roommate/teammate had to move out to be quarantined somewhere else since we all had to be by ourselves.

During quarantine, we are supposed avoid leaving the apartment unless it is to be outside to get a solo workout in or going for a run or walk or anything like that. I spent my days in quarantine working out outside alone, facetiming friends and family, and watching a lot of Netflix.

My non-quarantined teammates and our staff were super helpful during this time, as they brought food and groceries and whatever else we needed to us since we could not leave our apartments/quarantine rooms.

Thankfully, when we were all retested, the results came back negative and we were able to resume work outs after the 14-day quarantine period.

When we were able to return, the team had moved from Breslin back to our home facility at Jenison Field House, where we resumed workouts in our small groups after that. This feeling was AMAZING. Being able to be playing in our gym was a feeling I had missed so much.

We continued our routine of volleyball, runs, and lifts in our pods.

When the beginning of August arrived, we were just days from our regular pre-season camp beginning – but that is when the Governor of Michigan announced that only 10 people were allowed indoors in the same room at one time.

This was a bit of a setback, since it meant we could not be all together as a team just yet. Thankfully, we still were about to start preseason and we could be reunited in the gym with our coaches!

We started preseason full speed, even though it looked a little different. It was great!! We started with double days, including a lift or run. We still worked out in three small groups of players and part of the staff, rotating based on the skill we were working on that day. The improvement in just a few days of preseason was incredible. The vibes and energy being back in the gym with the team and the coaches was amazing. I loved it.

Unfortunately, the excitement didn't last very long. Just a few days into our pre-season training, The Big Ten Conference announced that it was postponing all fall sports seasons until further notice. This announcement was devastating in different ways for everyone. A lot of us saw it coming, (myself included), but it did not really hit me until it became official.

Elena Shklyar

We would not be playing our season this fall. We won't get to step onto the Jenison Fieldhouse court in front of our loyal fans and play the game I love for the university I love. We have since learned that we will hopefully have an opportunity to have a spring season. We don't know quite yet what that will look like, but we feel blessed that it is a possibility for just a postponement and not a cancellation.

Following the announcement, there were millions of questions going around in everyone's head. What about the seniors? How will they play all these sports in the spring? When does our season start or end now? When do we have preseason? What do we do until we find out? When do we get answers to all of these questions?

Honestly, most of these questions don't have answers yet. The uncertainty of the situation has become normal now. Uncertainty has become the theme of 2020 so far.

Despite the uncertainty and unfortunate news about our season, my team has stuck together. Every single person is responding differently but we all have the same goal in mind which has not changed.

Michigan State volleyball has a goal to win a national championship, and a global pandemic will not entirely take that goal away from us - it just might postpone when we get to accomplish it. (Be ready for us in spring 2021.)

The team, coaches and support staff has all remained on the same page through this tough time. We have been focused on finding the silver lining in all of this.

We now get four or five or six more months to get better together before the season. We can use this time to grow as players, people and as a team in order to be better when we do get back on the court to compete.

In my opinion, this time is a blessing in disguise. Don't get me wrong - I wanted to be playing all fall, but a season in the spring might just be perfect for us. We lost all of the practices we usually have in the spring to get better, and now we can use the fall to make up for those practices we missed!

Overall, the team has continued to focus on our goal and stay on track through this tough time. We are still practicing, just at a smaller scale at the moment since the season is further away now. We are getting into the gym and wow, we are getting better. This team is no joke, I'm serious.

As I write this, we have come to yet another bump in the road - I am currently wrapping up my second quarantine as I had another close exposure to someone else who had tested positive for COVID-19. This time, I am staying in isolation off site since I could not stay in my apartment with my roommates.

As I was the first time, I once again tested negative both before and late in my quarantine, meaning that I am two for two on a possible exposure but negative test results for Covid. I had to be quarantined twice for my safety and the safety of others. Asymptomatic or not, the threat of giving it to someone else is real. Its not enjoyable, but better than finding out that I infected someone else if I had tested positive and was allowed to mingle among my teammates.

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This entire year so far has been one of uncertainty.

This week, we start the fall semester, and MSU has moved all classes to online this fall. I am not really sure how that is going to work for everyone and I am personally already stressing about it - but I'm sure that like with the other hurdles in our path so far in 2020, it will just take a little work and we can come out on the other side.

A few key points to take away from this super long blog post:

Be safe!! Wear a mask, wash your hands, and take the virus seriously.
Share a little love with some fall sports athletes you see. We're all hurting from what we're missing out on like everyone else!
Michigan State volleyball is ready and only getting better
Lastly, uncertainty is scary, but we can get through anything with a little help from others. Lean on your friends, family, and those around us who are there to help.

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