ARMSTRONG — “My knee will never be the same, neither will my determination.”

“Fight through setbacks, never waste the talent God gives you.”

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”

Behind each quote is a story that North Union Warriors senior guard Alexis Valvick can tell about her journey as an athlete.

Her prep athletic career has been plagued with injuries — all of which came on the basketball court — but none have taken away her positive outlook and fearless determination to continue competing.

“There’s a lot of other people who have it worse than me. … I’ve always had to look at it (injuries) with a positive outlook instead of being negative,” Valvick said.

Alexis Valvick, the youngest of four daughters, has a sports background that began with being in the car and traveling to her sisters’ games. She started dance at 3 years old, and played on her first basketball team in East Chain as a fifth-grader.

“I’ve always had the love for volleyball a lot, but my sisters never really loved basketball. So, I tested it out, tried it, and ever since I went to East Chain, I fell in love with the game,” Valvick said.

Valvick dances, plays basketball and volleyball, and runs track. As freshman, she played on the varsity basketball team.

But once her sophomore season came, so did the injuries. Valvick suffered a sprained left ankle that left her out of basketball for three weeks.

“That was really hard on me watching someone take my spot and watch the whole game from the sidelines,” Valvick said. “It just made me hit PT (physical therapy) hard so I can get back to the sport and continue playing.”

Upon her return, Valvick admitted to having some hesitations.

“Should I steal that ball that’s going to the floor? Should I dive after it?” she recalled asking herself. “I really had to be careful and think twice about going after the ball. It was hard to know what my abilities were, but I knew I had to trust my gut and play with all I had. Both ankle braces really helped.”

It took her about six or seven games to be fully confident and not think about her ankle. She completed the rest of the season with no problems.

While playing basketball during the summer before her junior season, Valvick was challenged again when she tore her right anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL.

She underwent surgery and went to physical therapy. The lingering effects of the injury caused her to miss volleyball.

Valvick attempted to come back for basketball, but said her knee “kind of tweaked” and decided not to play the rest of the season.

Good things do come to those who wait, though, and Valvick’s patience allowed her to be part of the Warriors’ 4×100-meter and sprint medley state qualifying track teams.

“I remember the meet, I was an emotional mess,” she laughed. ” I knew in the end, something would be worth it, something was (going) to happen, that it would be a miracle. So, I was very happy that I made it to state.”

The Warriors’ girls 4×100 team finished fifth, and the sprint medley team placed ninth at the state meet.

Valvick was hopeful for no more injuries this, her final prep season. She completed volleyball with no problems and helped the Warriors girls basketball team to a 10-0 start.

“There wasn’t much hesitation (in her game),” Warriors head girls basketball coach Merle Tigges said, adding that volleyball helped Valvick get back into competing. “She settled back into basketball and got back at it.”

With the first 11 games under her belt, injury struck again. While playing against North Iowa last Saturday in Armstrong, Valvick went down after colliding with a North Iowa player and experienced a feeling she had felt before.

The next day, Valvick and her parents went to the doctor for an MRI and waited to get the official diagnosis.

“All night long, we stayed up, we couldn’t sleep,” Alexis Valvick said.

Finally, the doctor called and delivered the bad news — Valvick had torn her left ACL. She’ll undergo physical therapy with Dr. Chris Kern, her doctor from the previous ACL injury, and hopes to be back out on the court soon.

“I’m just going to have to battle back a lot harder,” Valvick said. “I know that I’ll never be that player that I was before because of two (injured) knees, but, it’s all a mental game. I have to stick with my gut and push through.”

Valvick’s faith and the support of her family and teammates have been a big part in her injury-filled journey.

As the only senior on the Warriors’ team, she takes pride in being a leader for the younger players, with hopes of getting to the state tournament.

She also has the support of her “Haitian family.” In 2013, Alexis Valvick’s mother, Annette, founded “For Daughters,” a non-profit Christian-based foundation that assists Haitian women and their daughters, and a play on Annette having “four” daughters. Alexis Valvick has gone on a few mission trips to Haiti and said it helps her keep things in perspective.

Now dealing with a right ACL tear, she chooses not to have a defeated attitude and knows what to expect with a little help in remembering last year’s process.

One of her sisters made her a book filled with pictures and notes from doctors, detailing her journey from ACL injury to recovery.

“I was sitting there crying because it brings back so many memories,” she said about looking through the book. “Now, I’m glad that I have it, and I can always go back and look at it. I’ll probably get another book like that again.”

Valvick is prepared to fight through another setback, and can’t wait to finish out her final season with the rest of the Warriors girls basketball team.

Her knees may never be the same, but neither will her determination.