If you've watched volleyball outside hitter Kayla Knowles at all this season, you may have noticed something a little off with her swing.

Every time she goes up for an attack, she has a self-described mental "freezing up" - one that takes a lot of the power she knew in high school away from her - something she's working very hard to snuff out behind the scenes.

It's been a long road for Knowles to get to where she is today, one that has featured two pit stops in college and an exponential amount of rehab since the initial injury.

Knowles tore her labrum on a dislocated shoulder at practice during the fall of her senior year and opted to play through it during the season, something that at the time seemed like the right decision due to her commitment to play at Houston.

"I knew that something was wrong, but I didn't know what was wrong, and I was almost in denial about it the whole time," Knowles said. "I got out of season, and since I was committed to go play in college, I thought I could tough it out. I kept trying to do everyday things and it kept dislocating."

Spending the spring of her senior year in rehab, Knowles noted that in retrospect, her rehab process was hastened, which may have led to some issues down the road, small differences that you do not notice as an athlete until you go through it elsewhere.

The issues came to light when she enrolled at Houston for her freshman campaign. Going through another rehab program with the Cougars six months post-op, Knowles cleared all tests but still felt that something was wrong with her shoulder, and the staff still pushed for her to get back into action.

Knowles pointed out how tough it was to hear those rebuttals.

"It invalidates you as an athlete, but I understood since not everyone knows what goes on in other people's bodies," she said. "It's disheartening when you know something is wrong, but you can't express that in a way that people can understand, especially when they say you are fine, but you don't feel that you are."

After sitting out the season at Houston, Knowles opted to enter the transfer portal and found a familiar face willing to bring her on in Georgia Southern head coach Chad Willis, who had connected with Kayla during her high school days and nearly landed the commitment of. 

"I wanted to find a place I could develop more as a player and a person, and Georgia Southern was that place," she said. "[GS] was the first school I reached out to, and the fact they were willing to take me on and understood what I was going through and still wanted me meant a lot."

Since joining the Eagles, Knowles has been working rigorously behind the scenes to rebuild her swing to where she wants it to be. When she goes up for a swing, she describes it as "freezing up" due to fear of re-injury, but it is not the yips or anything physically wrong, just a mental block she is trying to get over.

"I've been trying to break my swing down again ever since my rehab process. I don't feel pain anymore, but I'm trying to get the mechanics back," Knowles said. "There are certain situations where I freeze up and I don't remember what to do even though I know what to do, my body just doesn't go. Right now, it's a process of breaking down that barrier and rebuilding the connection."

Knowles has worked with the coaching staff and sports psychology to work on the mental stimulation side of rebuilding her swing, using visualization drills to attempt to overcome the block, which she described as a maturing point.

"A lot of the things I did in high school probably would not have worked in college, so I'm rebuilding the technique and also ways to score from scratch," she said. "I would love to be where I was before, but you never know if that's possible. Right now, I'm just trying to get to the point where I am confident and also can go out there and do a job well."

Another job that Knowles has been tasked with is to bring the NCAA Tournament environment to a team with tournament aspirations. Coming in alongside TCU transfer Lydia Seymour, who also made it to the big dance last season, the outside hitter is instilling in her teammates what needs to be done to get there.
 

"I've been trying to provide that perspective to my teammates this year and certain spots we need to level up in to get to [the NCAA Tournament]," she said. "Also making sure we focus on one game at a time. If you focus on the result, you're going to miss everything in between."

While she's working on getting back to being an all-around player, Knowles is focused on helping out in the areas that she can control this season.

"I'm focusing on what I can control while still working with Coach E and Sports Psychology to break everything down," she said. "It's mostly just competing and being a good teammate where I can, and honing in on blocking because that's my strongest suit."

Knowles has fit right into a team that is riding a nine-game winning streak into a conference bout this weekend with 11-2 Old Dominion. She made her collegiate debut on the big stage at Auburn and has come in and provided a kill against UMES and a block assist to get to set point against Alabama State.
 

Riding the highs of non-conference play, Knowles can see the prospects of an exciting season ahead for this team.

"10-1 right off the bat is where every NCAA team wants to be, and that's exciting," she said. "Especially with our Sun Belt schedule, we have every possibility to be top two, if not one in our division, which I'm amped about."

Knowles will continue to build up as the season progresses and hopes to continue to be a positive influence on the roster as they set their sights on the ultimate goal.