Been to a Harvard women’s volleyball game recently? If you have, one thing’s for certain. You can’t help but notice Kaego Ogbechie.

The long legs. The hair. The energy.

But this year, something is different about Harvard’s middle hitter. She’s on the sidelines.

The junior is out of action indefinitely with a tear in her patella tendon. It’s the first time Ogbechie has had a serious injury that has kept her out of competition since she started playing volleyball in the eighth grade.

“It’s a very difficult injury to deal with,” she said. “There was some talk about surgery, but I don’t feel like I’m actually ready to do that yet. This is a really important

year for me, academically and athletically.”

Ogbechie has built up quite a resume during her two seasons at Harvard.

Last year, Ogbechie became the first Crimson player to earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors. She led the league in kills and was only the second player in league history to be named an AVCA Northeast Regional All-American. In her freshman year, she earned the Ivy League’s Rookie of the Year award after winning Rookie of the Week four times during the season.

Ogbechie was also named to the All-Tournament teams at both the Crimson Classic and New England Challenge.

Not too shabby.

In just two years with Ogbechie, the Harvard women’s volleyball team improved from a 3-11 record in Ivy League play in 2001 to 9-2 in 2002.

“It was a great opportunity for Harvard volleyball to have that caliber come in,” Harvard coach Jennifer Weiss said.

With all of Ogbechie’s successes, the beginning of this year has presented quite a challenge.

Because of the nature of the injury, Ogbechie has to take it day by day.

“With this, it’s so subjective—how do I feel this morning? How bad has it been this week? Can I play? Can I even practice?” she said.