HS volleyball player, who had legs amputated after wreck, signs with college team

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee – Smyrna senior Janae Edmondson will get to stay close to home when the multi-sport athlete goes to college.

The Middle Tennessee State volleyball program made sure of that.

Edmondson, who had both legs amputated after being struck by a vehicle in St. Louis on Feb. 18, signed with the Blue Raiders on Wednesday.

She had originally committed to UT-Southern, but the Blue Raiders came in with an offer recently, and it was one the family couldn't turn down.

MORE:Emotional return for Janae Edmondson to Smyrna High

"Just getting to stay close to home," Edmondson told The DNJ on the decision to sign with MTSU. "It felt right."

Edmondson will receive a partial scholarship as a manager for the Blue Raider volleyball team. "Doing stats and all that kind of stuff ... going everywhere with the team. Just filling a part," she said.

Edmondson, 17, is a volleyball and basketball standout at Smyrna. She was competing with her travel volleyball team in St. Louis when she was a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, according to a St. Louis police report. The vehicle that hit Edmondson had just been struck by another vehicle that, according to the report, violated a yield sign.

Edmondson had both legs amputated as a result of the accident and spent much of the next 40 days in a St. Louis hospital before returning home to Smyrna.

She had committed to play volleyball at UT-Southern just prior to the accident. The school and coach Tristyn Lozano, a former Blackman standout, honored the scholarship after the accident. But MTSU later came in to offer her a spot on the team as a manager.

MORE:Smyrna High rallying behind Janae Edmondson after serious injury to honor student, athlete

"One of the assistant coaches had mentioned to me that they thought UT-Southern had done a wonderful thing, but that they were planning (on offering), just in case they didn't," said family friend and travel volleyball coach Rhonda Ross, who then alerted the Edmondson family that MTSU was an option. "The family thought this would help them live as a family easier and (Janae) would have the opportunity to have more of a college life."

"When Rhonda told us about it, we talked about it (and made the decision to choose MTSU)," said Janae's mother, Francine Edmondson.

Logistics were a major factor and benefit in Janae staying closer to home, the family said.

Members of the MTSU volleyball team were present for a ceremony at Smyrna High honoring Edmondson's return home on April 5.

Janae, who spoke to a crowd of spectators in the Smyrna gym, plans to major in exercise science at MTSU.

"I've always wanted to be an athletic trainer or physical therapist," she said.