Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 4 | March 2020

Continued on page 38 This was the first ACC school I visited, and I absolutely fell in love. I loved the campus, loved the whole athletic department and I knew this was the one because I would travel to other schools, and I would compare every other school to this school. Me and my dad left here, and we already knew this was where I wanted to end up. Olivia Lattin on her decision to come to Virginia Tech “ ” of investment and little return on it (e.g. no NCAA appearances and only one winning season). In other words, this finance major saw her college experience depreciating rather rapidly. “I was devastated,” Lattin admitted. “I was to the point where, mentally, I was like, ‘I can’t stand this sport. I’m done. This was supposed to be my best year, new coaches, and I’m done the third game into the season.’ That was just a hard pill to swallow.” Not long after her surgery, though, Lattin’s feelings started to change. She returned to the field, albeit with a bulky brace and as a spectator. She sat on the bench during games, even going with the team to the ACC Championship in Tallahassee, Florida, and to the NCAA regional in Lexington, Kentucky. She cheered on her teammates, and as she became farther removed from surgery, she hobbled onto the field for the occasional shagging of balls or for a little fielding. Team cheerleader and student manager became her roles, though certainly humble ones for a young woman who had started every game in her career. “I put myself in a different role,” she said. “I might not be a starter, but how else can I help? That was my goal last year—but it was not easy.” For sure, the time away from the sport and the long, grueling hours of rehabilitation matured her. It also motivated her. Her feelings of anger dissipated, and the thoughts of a potential return fueled her. Of course, she needed D’Amour’s blessing to take a redshirt year and return for a fifth season. Often, coaches tend to double down on their own players rather than the ones who committed and signed under the previous staff. But D’Amour, like any savvy investor, was willing to put his money up front on Lattin. TAKING CARE BUSINESS OF Though her final season ended abruptly, Olivia Lattin showed an amazing ability to bounce back—a trait that ultimately will serve her well going forward by Jimmy Robertson D iscussions of class schedules among the members of the Virginia Tech softball team often feature some heady topics. Not coincidentally, the team’s grade-point average ranks among the best of the school’s 22 varsity sports teams. But when revealing her class load, Olivia Lattin often receives glazed eyes and blank stares in return. Courses such as Operations and Supply Chain Management, Managing Risk with Derivatives, and Investments: Debt, Equity and Derivative Markets tend to leave her teammates’ heads nodding in boredom. Their attention span then fully drops when she enthusiastically explains to them why she wants to pursue a career in commercial lending. “It’s always funny because they look lost when I explain that I have a test or homework, or when I tell them my classes, they’re like, ‘That doesn’t sound fun,’” Lattin said, smiling. “But that’s what you get when you go into business.” Lattin already has wrapped up a degree in finance, and she currently spends a portion of her time finishing up coursework for a second degree, this one in management. Before the cancellation of this season because of the national implications related to the coronavirus, this year’s journey had meant much more to Lattin, who had hoped to cash out with an actual NCAA appearance. A year ago, in the Hokies’ third game at the Cougar Classic being played in Charleston, South Carolina, her softball market crashed, literally. While trying to chase down a fly ball right behind first base, she unintentionally, but viciously, collided with a Purdue runner. The two never saw each other, and humanity flew in all directions. The sports medicine staff originally expected a broken leg. They rushed her to the emergency room at the nearest hospital, and x-rays revealed no break. The ER doctor told Lattin that the ACL in her knee looked good, but the meniscus probably was torn. Lattin knew better. “My director ops, Whitney [Showalter, the softball team’s director of operations], was like, ‘Liv, that’s good,’” Lattin said. “The doctor said, ‘Some people play on it, or if you get surgery, you’ll be back in a month or two months.’ “I’m like, ‘That’s not it. I know that’s not it.’ It turns out that my meniscus was totally fine, and my ACL was torn.” Sure enough, an MRI in Blacksburg after the six-hour bus ride home revealed a torn ACL, and Lattin underwent surgery a week later. The injury put her on the shelf for the remainder of the season. It was the ultimate gut-punch. She had looked forward to a new season, one with a new coaching staff and one with promise. She wanted a final year with her beloved ride-or-dies—fellow seniors Caitlyn Nolan, Kinsey Johnson, Emma Strouth, Lauren Duff and Sierra Walton. She longed for a program-turning campaign after three years inside.hokiesports.com 37 softball spotlight olivia lattin