In March 2021 after a win against Texas Southern, Aliah Bell, a member of the Grambling State University volleyball team, and her teammates were celebrating on the court and jumping up and down with glee.
During the celebration one of her fellow teammates accidentally elbowed her in the face which caused her to suffer from a concussion that left her on the bench and on the road to recovery for a month.
“I did not expect to be out as long as I was,” Bell, a junior, criminal justice major, said. “Actually I felt pretty fine the first few days but after two days I looked in the mirror and saw my face and was shocked it was swollen and my eyes were bleeding."
Due to the injury, Bell missed the Spring 2021 Championship tournament and took the month off to properly recover.
Bell says the recovery process was really tough.
“The recovery process was really hard because I wanted to be on the court,” Bell said. “I was pretty tired all the time the headaches were so horrible I had to lay in the dark all day or wear shades… that was pretty boring.”
Her teammates and family were a huge part of the recovery process.
Bell's teammates encouraged her not to rush to get back on the court and reassured her that fully recovering before playing again was the right way to go.
They didn’t complain that she wasn’t playing, instead they kept her in the loop of what was going on at practice and made her feel like family.
“My teammates and family were a big part of my recovery they made sure I was staying on task,” Bell said. “I wanted to be the court so bad I was rushing to be back, but I needed to wait and take time so I could be healthy.”
For Bell, the time to get back on the court was tough but went by pretty quickly. The Lady Tigers were back in action for this fall season and Bell was back on the court for their first match, The North Texas Invite.
“It feels good to be back I was missing it, I missed the last SWAC tournament and was sad, so I’m super glad to be back in action and ready to eat this season!”
On Sept. 7, the Lady Tigers earned their first win of the season at home against Centenary College.
“I feel very good about this season we got our first win,” Bell said. “I feel like every one is on one page everyone is positive and super confident I can’t wait to start swac and show them what the Lady Tigers are all about.”
The team is 3-6 in early season play.
Aliah Bell prepares to hit a ball.
Aliah Bell