Women's Volleyball: Former Glenbard East star Amanda Peterson overcomes life-threatening illness, continues pro career in new league

When times got tough for Amanda Peterson, she knew where to go and who to turn to.

The former Glenbard East volleyball star had just graduated from Ohio State, where she was a four-year starting setter who led the Buckeyes to four NCAA Tournament appearances, when she got sick.

Peterson was eventually diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a disease that attacks the digestive tract. In Peterson’s case, it nearly proved to be fatal.

Beginning in 2014, Peterson underwent three surgeries, including an emergency operation that removed her large intestine. It was during this time she returned to her home in unincorporated Glen Ellyn. Walks around the neighborhood with her mother, Michelle, provided comfort and healing.

“My family was a big part of (her recovery), especially my mom,” Peterson said. “Being able to come home and having her take care of me was huge, to have her positivity and support. Moms are superheroes.”

Given what she’s been through, the same could be said of Peterson, who despite having surgeries that cut through her abdominal muscles has played professional volleyball since 2016.

“My condition was really bad so I actually got lucky to find a surgeon who did an open surgery, where they cut open your whole abdominal wall,” Peterson said. “Most of the time it’s done laparoscopically and they make two-inch incisions.

“(The intestine) was so disintegrated it probably would have fallen apart if it had been pulled through the small holes. That obviously wouldn’t be good.”

Despite the surgeries, Peterson regained their strength and today she is mostly healthy, with only minor symptoms.

After a four-year layoff, Peterson signed a contract with a pro team in Austria, where she has played the last four seasons. She is believed to be the first Glenbard East volleyball player to reach the pro ranks.

“It’s just amazing what she’s done,” Glenbard East coach Marci Maier said. “She has really been a fighter and fought through all of that adversity and is still playing volleyball at the highest level.”

Now Peterson, who turns 30 in November, will be doing so closer to home. She is one of 40 players who will launch the Athletes Unlimited pro league next February in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the first women’s pro league in the U.S. since 2003.

“I asked one of my friends who plays with the national team if she knew anything about it and she connected me,” Peterson said. “I had planned on playing again in Austria, then Covid hit.

“The team wasn’t able to tell me if they would have a position for me or not and when you’re a professional athlete, it’s kind of hard to not have a little bit of certainty as far as where your income is going to be coming from.”

Peterson did not expect to hear back from Athletes Unlimited, which was co-founded by Jon Patricof and Jonathan Soros and is supported by an advisory board comprised of high-profile sports figures like U.S. women’s coach Karch Kiraly.

“I was just putting my name out there because I would regret it if I didn’t,” Peterson said. “I was so completely stoked that it ended up working out and the idea of playing back in the States is so exciting.”

Maier is looking forward to traveling to Nashville to see Peterson play in person.

“We still keep in touch,” Maier said. “Since I’ve been coaching, she’s been by far the best player we’ve had come through. Periodically she’ll stop by school and say, ‘Hey, how’s everything?’”

Peterson last returned to Glenbard East in 2017 when she gave setting lessons for some of the players. She has fond memories of her days at East, where her brother, Nathan, ran cross-country before getting an electrical engineering degree from Illinois.

“I loved playing for Coach Maier, she’s amazing,” Peterson said. “She really helped keep my love of volleyball alive and the whole team that whole four years was so much fun.

“We played against a lot of (teams) who most of their girls went on to play college volleyball and our conference had such high competition.”

The Rams won a regional title in Peterson’s senior year before losing to eventual state champion St. Charles East in the sectional semifinals. It would be 10 years before they won another regional.

“We loved being scrappy, we loved working our butts off and we loved playing with each other and I think that’s what brought us a lot of our success, was our team chemistry,” Peterson recalled. “We went out there and had nothing to lose and we had a lot of fun doing it.”

Peterson hopes to continue having fun playing volleyball for as long as she can, but she’s set up for success after her playing career is over. She has an engineering degree from Ohio State is hoping to enroll in grad school next fall with plans to become a physical therapist.

Yes, her struggles with ulcerative colitis played a factor in her future plans.

“In general, there’s been a lot of learning throughout my life as far as resiliency and how to look at situations,” Peterson said. “I take the helpful thoughts and leave the non-helpful thoughts.”

As inspiring as her comeback is and as impressive as her talents are, Peterson remains humble. She may be one of the best volleyball players to come out of the Chicago area, but her path to success was paved with a determination anyone can demonstrate.

“I don’t feel as though I’m special,” Peterson said. “I think commitment to grow is really important, whatever that means at the time.

“Especially when you’re younger, there is a huge focus on the development of skills and getting really comfortable with the volleyball. Then as you grow, it becomes committing to growing your mental game on top of your physical game as well as just physical strength in general.

“Don’t waste your time in the gym or out of the gym. Get better every single day.”