By: Matt Florjancic, ‘07
BEREA, Ohio – On February 4, 2023, the Baldwin Wallace University women’s basketball team lost more than a game when they suffered a 58-55 road setback to the Otterbein Cardinals, as star forward Caely Ressler experienced what turned out to be a season-ending knee injury.
Weeks later, Ressler would undergo surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Following surgery, Ressler spent the rest of spring and all of summer rehabbing her injury and preparing for a return to the court.
Despite an eight-month timetable from surgery to the start of the season, Ressler made it all the way back and has been an impact player for the Yellow Jackets, who have a two-game lead in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings heading into the final two games of the regular season.
“It’s been great,” Ressler said of her return. “Going down with an injury I think makes you appreciate so much more being back on the floor.
“Obviously, the entire team’s here because they love basketball, but coming here, one of the things that you get out of the BW experience is a great team atmosphere and some best friends. Being able to be back on the floor with my best friends and contributing and working for our goals together has been awesome.”
A Greater Appreciation
Although Ressler suffered the year-ending injury, she remained with her teammates through the remainder of the season, making trips to John Carroll, Capital and Marietta, and then, to Holland, Michigan for a first-round game in the NCAA Division III Women’s Tournament.
Ressler described having to watch the games instead of play in them as “brutal” mentally, but she was not about to step away from the team when she felt there still was something to be done.
“It gave me a greater appreciation just for the game and just being able to be out there,” Ressler said. “I think it taught me a lot about leadership and just changing roles from being out there and being able to physically affect the game versus becoming my team’s biggest cheerleader.
“It was an eye-opening experience and one that ultimately, it sucked, but I’ll be grateful for in the long run. It taught me a lot about just speaking up and put me in a position that I might not have normally been in otherwise. I’m definitely bringing the leadership and the cheering attributes into the game this year, and then, being able to be back out there was awesome.”
Repaying the Support
In a way, Ressler viewed her role as the “team’s biggest cheerleader” as an opportunity to give back to those who were showing their support after she suffered the injury.
A four-year letterwinner, two-time team captain, a three-time All-Northern Lakes League (NLL) honoree and 2021 OSHAA Division II State Champion, Ressler had never suffered an injury of that magnitude before. However, some of her BW teammates had, and they extended their support in whatever way she needed.
“It was great to just be able to lean on them and pick their brains for similar experiences and the reminder that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and they have my back regardless of what role I’m in or if I’m on the floor or not,” Ressler said. “Everyone on the team is equally important, and so, whatever value I could bring, whether it was on or off the court, they appreciated that, and I gave it 100 percent and they gave 100 percent for me.
“Luckily, I got my surgery scheduled right after we lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I got surgery that Monday, so I was fortunate enough to be able to experience everything all the way through and be on the sideline for them the whole time.”
Rehab Process
Waiting nearly a month to have surgery to repair the torn ligament meant Ressler had a very narrow timeframe to rehabilitate before preseason workouts were set to get underway in the fall. The process started in March on campus, and then, continued in Columbus throughout the summer.
Right before practices began, Ressler was cleared for contact in drills and returned to the team ready to test herself and her repaired knee.
“I had some great doctors, great trainers that just kept me on top of things, and it’s easy to work hard when you have the people around you to work for,” Ressler said.
“I spent the first month of official practice building up into contact and really didn’t get 100 percent of the way back until they gave me limited reps in the last scrimmage we had. Then, we went to Rochester, and I jumped right in 100 percent.
“I knew that I might be a little bit rusty. It had been a long rehab process, but I was grateful for my teammates having my back, and it was good to be back out there. We’re still working on strengthening and keeping up with injury prevention, but it was a long summer of just the grind of rehab. Coming back to campus and being able to build back up with my teammates was awesome.”
Nervous Moments
Admittedly, Ressler had some nervousness leading up to her first game back with the nationally ranked Yellow Jackets, which came at the Chuck Resler Tournament hosted annually by the University of Rochester.
However, once Ressler took some early contact, she overcame whatever nerves she had and became a leader for her team. Over the two-day tournament, Ressler scored 37 points and earned Most Valuable Player honors.
“Everyone says you can mentally prepare for it, but until you get hit that first time, you’re never going to know what’s going to happen,” Ressler said. “It took a couple hits just to be like, ‘Okay, your knee’s not going to explode again,’ and then, it’s just back out there playing basketball just like before.
“I think seeing the game from a different angle, being forced to see it on the sideline and seeing where I could fill in coming in this year definitely gave me things to focus on this summer, but more than anything, it’s just playing for my teammates and doing whatever is needed from me at any game.
“One of the things the coaches and I talk about is, ‘Your role could change game to game, but your effort needs to stay consistent. That might not always be scoring. That could be rebounding. That could be pushing the ball in transition.’ Just trying to bring whatever I can to the team night in and night out is what I usually focus on.”
Motivated Play
When Ressler returned to the lineup, she did so with the goal of helping the Yellow Jackets not only return to the NCAA Division III Tournament, but also, go on a memorable postseason run. However, she knew doing so could come only after a lot of hard work.
Through 23 games this season, Ressler has averaged 9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.7 assists while shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three-point range.
“We have our goals within the program, and they stay the same year in and year out,” Ressler said. “Whether we lost all our games last year or we won a National Championship, it’s a new season every year. Obviously, we keep that in the back of our minds as motivation, but right now, I think we’re focused on getting better as a team, and ultimately, we know if we continue to get better each day that we’re going to hit those goals at the end of the season.
“All the coaches preach raising the standard every day, and I think that’s been our mindset from the start is just continuing practice in, practice out, game in, game out, raise the standard every day. I think as a team, we feel like we still have a ways to go to where we could be. Just continuing to raise that standard is where we’re headed right now, I think we feel like we could be somewhere in March.”