While playing a spring tournament in April 2022, San Francisco State University women’s volleyball player Izzy Issak had continued business as usual. She went up to hit the ball as she’d done countless times before but upon landing on her feet, she knew something was wrong.

Issak tried to get back up but couldn’t put any weight on her knee. Later on, Issak found out she ruptured her ACL and tore her meniscus, which took nine months to recover from.

This devastating moment for the young student-athlete sidelined her for the entire 2022 season until she came back to the court in 2023.

“Going through that helped me understand a lot more about myself and how much I truly love my sport,” Issak said. “Coming back from an injury is really tough and it’s really rewarding to come back. Ultimately, I’m just happy I can contribute to my team.”

Since her return, the Gators have made it to the California Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball tournament in both seasons. Throughout the entire 2024 regular season, Issak has made 381 kills and averaged 4.69 points per set, which is fifth in the conference and 22nd in Division II.

She was also recently named 2024 All-CCAA first-team by the conference. But during her recovery process two years ago, Issak had internal doubts of how she would perform upon her comeback.

“There’s always going to be thoughts like questioning your ability to do anything at the same level again,” Issak said. “But I think coming away from the court and having a long recovery process gave me so much time to get back into it. There’s playing volleyball in the recovery process but there’s just not live playing. The really slow recovery process and taking time really helped build up my volleyball ability.”

Alhana Velasquez, Issak’s teammate and roommate at SFSU, said since it was Issak’s first severe injury, it was difficult for her to handle the emotions that accompanied her inability to play during that time. Without Issak on the court, the Gators managed a 14-11 record in 2022 and it was the only instance during her time at SFSU that the team missed contention for the postseason tournament.

Head coach Matt Hoffman said Velasquez and former Gator Josie Collier stepped up and filled in Issak’s absent spot on the team. Even with a winning record and a season that was satisfying to the team, the impact of Issak’s absence from playing live on the court was felt beyond the numbers.

“You lose that leader on the court,” Hoffman said. “She’s kind of like the heart and soul kind of player, so she had to bring that energy from the sideline. We just lost that on the court, which is a big piece… That was lacking in moments, that energy and that heart and soul was over here when you were missing it over there.”

Issak first played volleyball during her middle school years and also started playing at Vision Volleyball Club, a youth girls’ volleyball club based in San Jose. She went on to continue playing the sport in high school.

After graduation, Issak’s career at Vision as an athlete ended and she began coaching at the club. Issak also played at Foothill College during their team’s last recorded season in 2019.

After attending Foothill for two years, Issak was looking for universities to transfer to when she remembered a familiar face from Vision — Coach Hoffman who coached Issak when she was 17 was now coaching at SFSU.

“I knew exactly how Matt coached and I loved playing for him in club, so I thought it would be a good fit,” Issak said. “I came on a visit and I really liked the campus. I really like what he told me about the program. I committed and I have felt at home ever since.”

Hoffman said Issak is very great as an athlete but is very caring for everyone around her.

“She wants the group to do probably better than herself,” Hoffman said. “She cares for her teammates and she’s a very good leader. She’s vocal and a lot of it comes from how caring she is about people.”

Senior defensive specialist Cynthia Beall said Issak’s sideline support for her teammates made the 2022 season feel less different than other seasons with her.

“She was able to make her presence known and still contribute as a positive factor all the time and that was really encouraging,” Beall said. “We still were able to succeed even without her playing because she was very supportive of everyone who was on the board.”

Issak said the time away from the court brought self-set expectations on her performance after missing an entire season on the sidelines. She expected herself to “pick it back up really fast” after her time away.

“Struggling with that and not being up to the level of skill that I wanted to be was hard, but it came back pretty quickly and just getting little touches here and there,” Issak said.

Velasquez said Issak’s recovery and her ability to remain healthy since then have reassured her of her performance upon returning to the court.

“I think her rehab and everything working made her realize that she is stronger than she thought she was,” Velasquez said. “I think it made the days where other little injuries, the days where it was swollen, seem more than normal. It gave her that reassurance that she’s gonna be okay and I helped her keep going every single day.”

Senior middle blocker Chloe Henning said everyone around Issak trusts her to make plays that benefit the team day in and day out.

“We know that if she gets the ball, she’s going to be able to put something positive onto it,” Henning said. “With her past experience with her injury, she has been able to work really really hard to come back even better than she was before and I think that says a lot about her as an athlete.”

Beall said Issak’s competitiveness, presence and impact on the team set a high standard for everyone on the team.

“She is incredibly competitive at everything she does, which holds herself and all of us to a really high standard and that makes her a very good role model, especially now that we are seniors and this is our last year,” Beall said. “We can see the impact that all of us have, but also what [impact] she has on the freshman — how they look up to her and they look up to us because of her energy and dedication. She takes a lot of pride in this program and instills that pride in all of us too.”

According to Issak, having a major role on the team is worthwhile given all the dedication she has put into it.

“I really enjoy having a big role on this team. I think I’m really lucky, too,” Issak said. “I’ve worked really hard in this program and throughout my entire career to be an impact player in someone that my teammates can look to get a kill, get a dig.”

As Issak reflected on her role on the Gators’ volleyball team, she didn’t forget to acknowledge the role her teammates played in her career.

“I’ve usually been that person and that comes with time and trusting my own abilities and my teammates,” Issak said. “It feels great. I don’t think I would have those opportunities if I didn’t have amazing teammates around me.”

When Issak reflected on who she looked up to in her volleyball career, two coaches came to her mind, Joe Ripp, founder and club director of the Vision volleyball club, and Oscar Crespo, one of the coaches at Vision and father of one of Issak’s best friends.

“[Ripp] is really charismatic and really treats people how they want to be treated,” Issak said. “He really cares about the players and people in his life. Oscar Crespo… he’s an amazing coach and the wisdom he has about volleyball and techniques is amazing. He also instilled a strong work ethic in me, determination to be disciplined and a little bit better every day.”

Coaching at Vision taught Issak how to understand the game from her coaches’ perspective, which she describes as “invaluable” for any athlete. It also taught Issak how to encourage young, aspiring athletes into the sport.

“You’re instilling good values and the same love of the sport that you have is huge,” Issak said. “It’s given me a lot of appreciation for the coaches I’ve had and has shown me things I appreciate that they did because I want to emulate that in my coaching style.”

“It can get really easy to think about big picture things, not being a star player, not having the impact you want,” Issak said. “But I think taking the journey one step at a time and focusing on what you can do to be better day by day is what leads great athletes to become great. You don’t get to where I am or anyone in this program is without working hard for a long time. That’s just self-discipline and commitment that pays off if you stick to it.”

Issak’s future is undetermined as the redshirt senior sees a variety of opportunities and paths she can take after she concludes her final season and year as a Gator. As a history major, she eventually wants to go into teaching history but she doesn’t want to let go of the sport she grew up with.

While unsure if her next chapter will involve playing professional volleyball, Issak knows she will continue coaching as it keeps her in touch with the sport. Like the recovery process, Issak is taking life one step at a time.