DCC volleyball team remembering teammate who died over the weekend

DANVILLE (WSLS 10) - "We hadn't heard in the past couple of days that anything was declining, so it was just shock really," said DCC's head volleyball coach, Jerusha Kazmier, recalling her reaction when she got the news that one of her former players passed away over the weekend.

Maddie Jackson had spent much of the past eight and a half months in and out of surgery, trying to recover from a car crash in October as she was driving to meet her teammates for their game that day.

In March, she was able to go home briefly but developed an infection and had to go back to ICU.

Her teammates say the news of her death was devastating.

"There was a lot of crying, a lot of emotion. Everyone was upset," said teammate Sydney Shelton.

Monday night, the teammates came together to console each other.

"It was really comforting to be with each other and just to be there to hold each other's hand and make sure that we were all going to be okay," Shelton said.

Maddie's coach and teammates say they will remember her as always being spunky and tenacious.

"We all have the 'Maddie' stickers on the back of our cars, so every time we number 7 it's always going to remind you of Maddie," said teammate Megan Dillion.

Dillion was an assistant for the team last season and now coaches at another school.

She hopes to be with the team as much as she can though this season as they work to carry on Maddie's memory.

"Me and Maddie kind of got blamed for everybody else's bad mouths I guess you could say," Dillion recalled, smiling and laughing. "So, we kind of played that 'no, it's your fault it's my fault' kind of thing."

Head Coach Jerusha Kazmier says there's no way to prepare for the emotions that will come with the start of the upcoming season.

"I just think I'm going to have to process just like the rest of the girls are," she emphasized.

Maddie's jersey will be retired this season and the college is working to set up a scholarship in her name.