This is the moment Ingrid Noha has been working toward for four years now. 

  

Her senior season.  

  

One more chance for the defensive specialist and her teammates on the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team to make memories. One more opportunity to add to a legacy for a class that has already helped the Bennies capture two-straight MIAC playoff championships. 

  

But it was almost over before it had a chance to begin. 

  

This past July, Noha found herself in a doctor's office poring over x-rays and digesting crushing news. The Centennial High School graduate was helping out on the first day of a summer volleyball camp at CSB when she jumped at the net and landed the wrong way on her ankle. 

  

"I could tell right away something was wrong," she recalled. "I looked down and my ankle was bursting out of my shoe. But I've never been the type of person who wants to sit out. I love being part of our camps and I wanted to keep going. So for the next two days, I tried coaching from the sideline. When it got to the point where I couldn't walk, though, I couldn't deny it anymore. I went home and got an MRI. It came back saying I broke my ankle, tore three main ligaments and was dealing with a bone bruise. 

  

"It was the worst diagnosis I've ever gotten. The doctor said she thought my volleyball career might be over – that I wouldn't be able to get back on the court my senior year. As soon as she said that I burst into tears. This sport has been my whole life, and I've put in so much work the past three seasons. It was all building toward getting one last go at things. Suddenly, it looked like that might not happen. I was devastated." 

  

That devastation, however, soon gave way to resolve. 

  

"I called (head coach) Nicole (Hess) and told her I was going to find a way," Noha said. "I saw a different doctor who told me once the (broken) bone healed; it would then just be about pain management. It wouldn't be easy. But it's possible to play on torn ligaments and with a bone bruise. So I circled the final week of September on my calendar. I was determined I'd be ready to get back out there by then." 

  

That's exactly what happened. Just two weeks after shedding crutches and a walking boot, Noha returned to the court and recorded seven digs and four set assists in CSB's matchup against MIAC rival Gustavus on Sept. 25 at Claire Lynch Hall.  

  

She's continued to see action since – despite the fact her ankle continues to hurt. Surgery is scheduled for next spring, but she's determined to gut it out until the end of the season. 

  

"I have a pretty high pain tolerance anyway," said Noha, who recorded 162 digs a year ago as CSB finished 21-7 and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the second-straight season. "I've played through injuries before. There's pain, but I tape it up and wear an ankle brace. Once I get out there, the adrenaline starts flowing and I don't notice it. 

  

"The good thing, if you can call it that, is that I've already done all the damage I could possibly do. So playing through it isn't going to make things any worse. Strange as it sounds, that actually makes me feel better." 

  

Noha's ability to push through the pain and contribute has impressed her teammates and head coach. 

"Talk about being resilient," Hess said. "That was such a devastating injury. But from the start, she was clear that she was going to figure out a way to play this season. She manifested that into reality. 

  

"She's still playing through pain, but you'd never know it. She comes to practice, works hard and does all the right things. She's a role model who leads by example and it's been great to see the way her teammates have rallied around her." 

  

Noha, a two-time All-MIAC Academic pick, continues to undergo physical therapy. Meanwhile, the elementary education major is also student teaching full-time in the fourth grade at Saint Boniface Grade School in Cold Spring and beginning plans for an April 2028 wedding to fiancé Brennan Blake, a former SJU track and field athlete who graduated this past spring. 

  

"It's definitely busy," she said. "I'm teaching every day from 7:30 to 3:30, then I'm at practice after that. But it's exciting too. I've gone through all these classes preparing to teach. Now I'm finally getting the chance to do it. 

  

"A few of the kids at the school have come to volleyball camps (at CSB) in the summer, and a large group of girls play every Tuesday and Thursday through Rocori High School," she continued. "They always come back to school excited to tell me what they learned, and I love getting to see young girls just as excited about volleyball as I've been my entire life. 

  

"When we had an open house before the school year started, I was still on crutches and in a boot. Then when school started, I was just in my brace. Now I don't even have that. Hopefully, seeing the progress I'm making helps them see they can do difficult things too. That just because something bad happens, it doesn't mean it has to define you, or that everything will be horrible from then on." 

  

If that sounds like a message a coach might stress, you're not far off. Noha and fellow CSB senior Libby Burns coached a club team of players ages 12-18 in Sartell during their junior year, and becoming a volleyball coach – possibly at the college level – is a long-term career ambition. 

  

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to say goodbye to volleyball totally," she said. "Coaching would be a way to stay involved in a sport that I've loved for a long time now. It's given so much to me through the years, and I've been lucky enough to work with great coaches. I'd like to have the chance to pass all that down to the next generation." 

  

One of those coaches has been Hess, from whom Noha said she's learned a great deal. 

  

"Even when Libby and I were coaching last year, I found myself saying some of the same stuff Nicole tells us," Noha sad. "Whenever we had questions about anything with our team, we could go to her for advice. 

  

"It's kind of funny. But my mom says when she sees me coaching, I look like Nicole does. So she's obviously had a pretty big impact." 

  

Hess, meanwhile, thinks Noha would excel in the coaching profession. 

  

"She has all the traits she needs to be successful," Hess said. "Just start with her ability to balance a lot of things at once. Then there's her drive and work ethic. The way she relates to people. 

  

"There's nothing greater to me than to see strong women get into this profession. It makes my heart burst when that happens. So I'm really excited to see what the future holds for her." 

  

Right now, though, Noha remains focused on being a player – one completing a final season it wasn't always certain she'd have the chance to. 

  

"The first time I stepped back on the court, my parents could tell how much the moment meant to me, and for the first time in a while, I felt like I'd came alive again," said Noha, who will graduate in December. "An injury is never a blessing, but it's definitely made me even more grateful for every moment I get as part of this team. 

  

"Nobody wants to sit out and watch," she continued. "I missed my sophomore year in high school with an ankle injury and I didn't want to repeat that experience. Especially not during my final season ever.  

  

"I started this journey with my four fellow seniors and I wanted to make sure I finished it with them too."