Loyola’s Grace Kreutz was months removed from a great sophomore season when she tore the ACL in her left knee in 2023.
Not surprising, she was devastated.
But the 5-foot-10 outside hitter had a formidable ally in her corner, one whose support and guidance boosted her from the start. Grace Kreutz’s father, Olin, is a former Chicago Bears center who recently was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“When I first tore my ACL, my dad told me, ‘You can be sad for a little bit, but you can’t let it break you,’” Grace Kreutz said. “It was a nine-month injury, but I was like, ‘No, my brother tore his ACL his senior year, so we’ve been through it.’ I knew what it was going to take.
“I woke up at 5 a.m. to work out before school like three times a week. I worked out after school. I did PT. I came back in six months, played my first club match January 9th.”
Grace Kreutz hasn’t looked back. Though she still wears a brace on her knee, she is savoring every play, with her father’s words ringing in her head.
“He was like, ‘You never know when your last match is going to be. You never know when it’s going to end, so you have to leave it all out there,’” she said. “That’s my mindset going into every game.
“I did come back from this injury, and I can do this. I am doing it.”
Indeed, despite missing her junior season, Grace Kreutz has committed to Miami of Ohio and guided Loyola (20-4) through a challenging schedule. In the Ramblers’ first tournament of the season, she was named MVP of the 32-team Plainfield North Crimson Classic, which they won.
“As she was being handed the MVP plaque, she started crying because of that journey, that hard work was paying off,” Loyola coach Lionel Ebeling said. “That was great.”
Ebeling has known Grace Kreutz since she was a freshman. He was impressed by her determination to overcome the injury.
“For her to have the work ethic to go through rehab literally every day, it’s not easy,” Ebeling said. “Of course she had resources to help her, but you have to put in that effort. She put in the commitment.”
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Teammates such as senior middle Ellen Gundlach, a Navy commit, are thrilled to have Grace Kreutz back on the court.
“It’s been really awesome,” Gundlach said. “Everyone always has a lot of doubts on people who are coming back from an injury. It’s like, how are they going to respond to it?”
Gundlach never doubted Grace Kreutz — or the Ramblers, who were 23-15 without Kreutz in 2023 — would come back stronger than ever. Through Sept. 30, Kreutz had a team-high 176 kills and was second with 130 digs.
“I know Grace. I wasn’t worried about her in the slightest,” Gundlach said. “I knew that having her as a consistent outside is so, so important. It would open up me in the middle.
“It would be so big for our team this year, and I think that’s one of the reasons we are succeeding this year as opposed to last year.”
Like her father, Grace Kreutz is driven to be the best she can be. But she’s also blazing her own path. She has two older brothers, Josh and James, who play center and linebacker, respectively, for Illinois. Her mother, Wendi, is a former high school cheerleader and has run 17 marathons.
Volleyball was not on the family radar until Grace Kreutz started playing the sport.
“It’s a lot different, and my parents definitely had to learn the ropes and what it really took to play volleyball, but my dad is the best,” she said. “He’s learned so much about the sport.
“He’s talked to so many people, and he helps me train, he helps me work out. After the games, he’ll tell me what to do, and he watches film for me. He does a lot for me.”
Grace Kreutz is doing a lot to expand her family’s sports legacy. She has three younger sisters, including Hannah, who is a freshman outside hitter at Loyola.
“My whole family is awesome, and following in everyone’s footsteps is a lot of pressure, but I want to live up to it,” Grace Kreutz said. “I want to show them that I can play too.
“No girl in my family has ever played a sport in college or even came close.”
Grace Kreutz’s athleticism definitely comes from her father, but so do other qualities that manifest themselves on the court.
“I definitely think it is part of my genes,” she said. “But he’s also given me some tenacity to go out there every day and go get what I know I can get, like go after every ball, leave everything out on the court, don’t have any regrets because you only get one shot at playing that exact game at that exact moment.
“You’ve got to leave it all out there. That’s what he taught me.”
It’s a good lesson for any athlete, one that Grace Kreutz, who plans to study sports journalism in college, demonstrates every time she plays.
“She’s built for those moments,” Ebeling said. “She’s kind of our go-to player.
“Her story is unbelievable. To sit out your junior year and still earn a Division I scholarship is a testament to her work ethic. She’s got such a bright future.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.