After battling an ankle injury for all of the 2006 season, middle blocker Kari Klinkenborg will not play for the UF volleyball team this season, and her career is likely over.
The oft-injured Klinkenborg hurt her ankle again during the winter and is no longer on the team, Coach Mary Wise said.
"For Kari to be able to live a normal life and stay active, her ankle just wasn't going to sustain the wear and tear of jumping in our sport," Wise said.
Klinkenborg re-injured the ankle while attempting to rehab by playing volleyball over winter break in Denver, Wise said.
Klinkenborg played in 15 matches and 24 games last season but never started a match, tallying only five kills all year.
She last played in the Gators' regular-season closer against St. John's on Nov. 25. She had one kill.
Wise ruled out any possibility of a return for Klinkenborg.
"She's done with playing," Wise said. "The initial surgery that she had, things just didn't work out as cleanly as you would hope. So they had to go back in and repeat."
Klinkenborg was the hitting-percentage leader in the Southeastern Conference in conference-only matches during her sophomore year with a .419 average.
In 2004, she was on the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll.
She came into UF as the No. 49 ranked player in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com.
Wise lamented the absence of Klinkenborg.
"That's the tough thing about sports," Wise said. "Things you can?t control."
