ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: Nikki Huetteman
By Nate Bloomquist
College athletes spend countless hours honing their skills and are constantly in preparation for the next big match, meet, or game. The athletes at IVCC are no exception. In recognition of that commitment to excellence that athletes show, the Apache has begun the IVCC Athlete of the Month.
This award is presented to an outstanding athlete from IVCC that has shown an outstanding effort throughout the course of that month. It is open to any athlete from any officially sanctioned sport that IVCC has to offer. Recipients of the award are chosen by the Apache staff. There is no prize money or trophy to go along with the award; simply a story written about that athlete will appear each month in the Apache sports section.
The first ever IVCC Apache athlete of the month is volleyball player Nikki Huettemann. She is the athlete of the month for September.
Huettemann says she is somewhat accident prone.
"I know my doctors pretty well and they know me," says the sophomore with a laugh. "I’ve visited the hospital so much I think they have a room in the ER in St. Margaret’s named after me."
Her string of accidents that turned into injuries started when she began playing volleyball in seventh grade at Spring Valley JFK junior high school. She had twisted ankles, pulled muscles and the like, but she continued to play volleyball and softball.
Then, during her sophomore year at Hall High school, she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.
"I didn’t just tear it," she says. "I shredded it in half and it really hurt."
While a major injury like that would’ve ended most player’s high school volleyball careers, Huettemann kept going. She went through an extensive rehabilitation program and worked her way back to the sport she loved.
When she came back with a cumbersome knee brace her junior year as a Lady Devil, she tore her posterior cruciate ligament in her right leg.
"I couldn’t believe it," Huettemann recalls. "It was so frustrating that I did that right after I’d just come back."
So far, Huettemann hasn’t had an injury this year. IVCC coach Laurie Polte would like to keep things that way as she leads the small squad of eight players as the only sophomore.
"I’ve been having a lot of fun with blocks this year," says Huettemann, who is only 5-foot, 6-inches tall. "Which is pretty strange because I’m not really that tall and I have been blocking up at the net a lot."
The sophomore says she isn’t sure where she’s going to transfer to next fall, but she isn’t ruling out the possibility of taking her volleyball skills with her to a state school.
"I’ve always kind of kicked the idea around," she says. "But I’m not sure if I’ll still play when I go wherever it is that I go."
When she isn’t batting down opponent’s kills, she can be found tickling the ivories. Huettemann has been playing the piano since she was six years old.
"My dad played one song for me when I was little and I was just amazed; I wanted to do that," she says. "I guess piano playing is a bit like volleyball. You have to practice a lot for both and you also have to love them both if you want to be good at it."