Kelly Pang can look back now and joke about it.

"It’s funny because every year from eighth through 12th grade, I was on crutches," she said.

Happy times were few and far between in high school as Pang played just one full season for ‘Iolani, as a freshman.

Now a senior at Washington (Mo.) University, she says she can’t remember all the injuries that plagued her volleyball career — but won’t forget the one that hurt the most.

"I definitely only played three matches my senior year because I came back for senior night and then tore (my ACL) two games after that," she said. "After that injury I was kind of like really depressed and there was a time that I really didn’t want to play volleyball anymore."

While other high school seniors were going on recruiting trips and checking out different colleges, Pang had to go through it all again.

The pain, the rehab, the inability to walk under her own power — all of it had finally caught up to her.

It took strong encouragement from her father, Daryl, who she says convinced her to give it one last shot in college.

And boy has she made the most of it.

Pang has played nearly 120 matches and close to 400 sets for the Bears, a Division III powerhouse that has won 10 national titles.

The last came in 2009, when Pang, who won the starting job at libero less than a year after undergoing a fifth knee surgery, set a school record with 702 digs in a single season.

Twelve days ago, Pang became the school’s all-time digs leader when the Bears, ranked No. 1 in Division III, beat No. 2-ranked Wittenberg University in five sets.

"It was really awesome because I got the dig and my coach wanted to call timeout to stop the game, but the Wittenberg coach let us stop the game without using a timeout and I thought that was the coolest thing ever," Pang said. "I’m so honored because this is an amazing program and has been a great experience and my teammates are just so awesome."

The Bears have won at least 34 matches in each of Pang’s first three seasons and remain the top-ranked team in Division III despite losing their most recent match.

"Fortunately we lost in September and not November, but it’s really helped us focus and pinpoint those areas we need to improve on," Pang said.

Washington hasn’t played in 11 days since ending a 13-match winning streak with a five-set loss to Hope College. The Bears don’t return to the court until a doubleheader on Saturday as part of three matches the team will play in Chicago.

"Practices are fun, but games are always so much more fun," she said. "We’re excited to get back out there, plus we get to go to Chicago, which is cool, too."

With 15 matches left in the regular season, Pang, who is now at 2,126 digs in her career, can shatter the record she already holds.

She was named the AVCA freshman of the year in 2009 and has a chance to be just the second Bears player named to four All-America teams.

"I think the coolest thing is for me to be (5 feet 1) and be able to be our libero and help our team win and do so much. It’s a great honor," she said.