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Unlike most student-athletes at Pepperdine who experience a clear-cut beginning and end to each season, the demands of the season never really end for Heidi Dyer. The junior from San Clemente, California, is one of a handful of Waves athletes playing on both the indoor and beach volleyball teams. While the two sports are similar, Dyer explains that competing on both teams takes 鈥渁bsolutely twice as much effort.鈥�

During the fall, she is fully committed to the indoor game鈥攖he one that earned her a scholarship to Pepperdine. In the spring, she does double duty. Some days require Dyer to attend both indoor and beach practices and later participate in the beach competitions. 鈥淭here are days when it鈥檚 hard to have any energy left for school,鈥� she admits.

There was a time when even playing one or the other would have been a challenge for Dyer. At the age of 11, she was diagnosed with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, a condition that could have ended her volleyball career almost as soon as it had begun.

鈥淭hey put me in a brace at first,鈥� she says, remembering her frustration about having to sleep in the confining contraption. 鈥淏ut I knew it had gotten more serious when my doctors said the brace wasn鈥檛 working and started discussing the option of surgery.鈥�

It wasn鈥檛 a simple procedure. Surgeons removed three ribs from Dyer鈥檚 right side and grafted bone from those ribs onto her vertebrae to fuse them together. They also installed two titanium rods to keep her spine stable. When they were done, Dyer鈥檚 spine was straight, but it wouldn鈥檛 bend at all鈥攁 staggering realization for someone from a family in which all six children not only played volleyball but excelled at it.

Fortunately, the surgery had happened early in her volleyball career, and Dyer鈥檚 relative lack of experience ended up working in her favor. She wasn鈥檛 far enough along in her career to be afraid of losing it, nor had she mastered enough of the game鈥檚 fundamentals to know how limited she would be. Simple determination, she says, drove her to find ways to work around the moves she couldn鈥檛 make gracefully on the court.

鈥淥ne thing I鈥檝e heard from coaches many times over the years is to get my elbow back farther,鈥� Dyer says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that鈥檚 very hard for me. I have to move from my hips and turn sideways to use my whole body or else I鈥檒l only be getting power from my arm.鈥�

Dyer sensed she wouldn鈥檛 get very far by making excuses or trying to explain her surgery. Instead, she practiced even harder, hoping to develop her skills to the point where they overshadowed even the most minor glitches in her technique. Dyer went on to excel in high school and attract the interest of a number of college programs, Pepperdine included. Not only did Pepperdine nail every item on her 鈥渨ish list,鈥� but the indoor coach at the time, Troy Tanner, had followed her career since she was 13.

Even after making both of Pepperdine鈥檚 volleyball squads, Dyer admits she didn鈥檛 feel overwhelmingly confident. An unusual convergence of events changed that. As a freshman, Dyer, who had played both setter and right side hitter positions, was behind a senior setter with superior skills and felt unsure about her ability to play over her. 鈥淚 asked coach if I could go on hitting lines鈥濃�攁 move that sends the ball over the blocker and parallel to the sideline鈥斺�渁nd I was able to hit, so he watched to see if I鈥檇 be able to pass. Passing was easier since I鈥檇 played so much beach .鈥�

Dyer was named a starting outside hitter as a freshman and, by the end of beach volleyball season, she and her partner, Taylor Racich (鈥�16), had earned All-American honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

Now, as she enters her junior year, Dyer is using the lessons she learned through her challenges to mentor and inspire the younger players. 鈥淭his year, it has been great to welcome the freshmen in and shepherd them along,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 really a set culture when I came in as a freshman, because we had a new coach and a group of girls who had been recruited by different people. But we have been able to build our own culture. It feels good to be able to show the new recruits how hard we have to work and how that translates into wins.鈥�

Waves beach volleyball coach Nina Matthies says Dyer is making a difference for young players far beyond campus as well. 鈥淕irls that are 12, 13, 14 years old have emailed us to get in touch with Heidi because they鈥檙e having the same surgery and are inspired by her story,鈥� Matthies says.

鈥淪he鈥檚 made them feel a lot more comfortable. As her story has gotten more attention in the media, it鈥檚 been great to see other people benefiting from it.鈥�

Expect that story to continue even after Dyer earns her degree in integrated marketing communication in 2019. Having put so much of herself into the game, Dyer wants to continue playing鈥攎aybe a year or two of professional indoor ball overseas, maybe on the AVP tour, maybe both.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just been such a big part of my life growing up,鈥� she says. 鈥淎lthough it doesn鈥檛 define me, it鈥檚 a big passion of mine, and I don鈥檛 want college to be the end of that.