MOSINEE – Mosinee’s three-sport star Taelyn Jirschele will miss the remainder of the 2025 volleyball season with an ACL injury that will require surgery in the coming weeks.
In a summer league basketball game, Jirschele rose for a layup and a defender crashed into her knee. Afterwards she felt some discomfort, but overall felt fine.
“They did some tests on it, and she was cleared to play,” Mosinee volleyball coach Justin Jacobs said. “So she played all the way through until Tuesday against Rhinelander, and in the warm up, she kind of came down awkwardly.
“We went and kind of looked at it again and it turns out, yeah, she had torn her ACL.”
Jirschele, a senior, is still processing it all. But she feels comfortable heading into a sweat-filled road of rehab.
“It’s really hard, to be honest. I never imagined this would happen,” Jirschele said. “I can’t believe that volleyball and basketball are kind of over for me, but just knowing that I have the right people around me helping me get through this, I know I will come back even stronger.”
Mosinee volleyball (26-3, 4-0 conference), entering the close of another strong season, will miss Jirschele’s timely defensive support as she’s the team leader in digs with 207.
She felt good about how the season had gone up to that point and trusts her teammates to not miss a beat in her absence.
“It was going really well,” Jirschele said. “I love playing with my teammates. It was just an awesome season so far, and I was really looking forward to finishing it, but I know they’re going to finish out strong no matter what.”
In terms of Jirschele’s return to action, there’s some extra motivation. When Jirschele departs from Mosinee in 2026, she will be in Big Ten action as a member of the Northwestern softball program, on a full-ride scholarship.
“Just knowing that I’m going to play softball in college, I’m going to do everything I can to come back stronger,” said Jirschele. “I’m just going to try to do everything I can.”
While the remainder of the volleyball season is out of the question with the postseason getting underway in the coming weeks, she hopes to possibly be back in time for the tail-end of basketball where she is the Indians all-time leading scorer.
“Some people might call me crazy, but I’m hoping,” Jirschele said.
With ACL surgery anticipated for Oct. 10, Jirschele said she feels no fear entering the procedure. She hopes to use her battle as a blueprint for young athletes in similar situations. For her, it’s just another mountain to conquer.
“I know this feels like it sucks so much right now and there’s not much I can do about it, but I know in a year or two, it’s just going to make me a stronger person, mentally and physically,” Jirschele said. “I think that’s really going to help me throughout the years and help others to know that stuff like this is going to happen, but there could be worse that could happen to you.
“This, for sure, is not anything that can’t happen. So I want to be an inspiration to people – seeing other people go through it will help.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Reporter Alfred Smith III at alfred.smith@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @AlfredS_III.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Mosinee’s three-sport star, Big Ten softball commit Taelyn Jirschele out with torn ACL
Reporting by Alfred Smith III, Wausau Daily Herald / Wausau Daily Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
