MARQUETTE, Mich. -- KC Fortune, a senior outside hitter for NMU women's volleyball, had just helped the Wildcats win five of six matches to kick off the 2024 season when her body started shutting down. 

She sat out the rest of the season, cycling through doctors and tests with no answers, until she was finally diagnosed with undifferentiated connective tissue disease — a systemic autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system attacks itself, resulting in chronic pain and fatigue. 

For many athletes, a diagnosis with no cure ends a career.

For Fortune, it meant fighting to come back.

"I had to be like, 'okay, this is what I'm gonna live with. This is what my life is gonna be like now, and these are the symptoms that I'm gonna have to experience every single day.'"

Returning to volleyball wasn't an easy path. Fortune started small— building her strength and skills back up, one step at a time.

"I passed a few balls at practice, and then I passed a couple more balls, and then I started putting knee pads back on, and then I started trying things at lift. It was a really, really slow process. I had to get more comfortable with my body and the way that my symptoms flare up."

Part of what made the process work, she says, was recognizing that the road to recovery would be challenging.

"I think the reason why I was able to come back was because I acknowledged that it was going to be hard. But being honest with myself and with everyone around me allowed people to help me in ways that they wouldn't have been able to if I had just put on a fake smile every day. I think trusting the people around you is so important to recovery."


Fortune, #9, digs an attack from the opposition

By fall 2025, she was back in practice, rebuilding skills and strength she'd once taken for granted. And this past August, more than a year removed from her diagnosis, Fortune returned for the 2026 season opener. Playing in all 13 games, she's put up more than 80 kills so far, providing a steady offensive presence for a team that never stopped counting on her.

"Honestly, volleyball just brought me so much joy that it was worth it. Coming back, I was so happy to be able to play back row again, to be able to relate to my teammates again, and to be able to travel and train again. It honestly just made me so happy that I wanted to continue to try to improve."

Fortune points to her family, coaches and teammates as the reason she made it back at all. Her teammates, she says, taught her that she's never alone — a lesson she now tries to pass on to others.

"They've taught me that I'm never alone, and so I try to make other people feel that way too. No matter what's happening in the season, we're always in it together. No matter what you're going through, there's always someone that you can talk to."



That support system is part of why she's at NMU in the first place. A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, Fortune began her college career at Drake University, playing Division I volleyball. After her freshman year, she entered the transfer portal looking for a different kind of balance.

"I knew I wanted to go Division II because Division I felt like I was really only an athlete, like the student part was pushed off to the side. I knew that by playing Division II, I would have a better life balance of family, education, and then also volleyball."

She landed at Northern in part because of her older sister, Abby, who played for the Wildcats from 2017 to 2021 and gave Fortune a firsthand look at the program's culture before she ever set foot on campus.

"My sister played here, and so I knew the culture that [Coach] Mike had created here. I knew how much emphasis he placed on family and on you as a person outside of volleyball. So I knew coming here, I was going to be in really good hands no matter what happened on or off the court."

Now in her final season, Fortune isn't just back on the court — she's playing with a renewed appreciation for being there at all.

"I'm just excited to compete with my best friends and do what we love together. Whether we're in practice or playing, I'm just really excited to do that. I think our team has so much potential and so much room for growth, so I'm very excited to see what our team does this season."



Fortune and head coach Mike Lozier

The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday, September 26, when they take on the #16 Grand Valley State Lakers in Allendale, Michigan. Fans can find the full NMU volleyball schedule here, stay in touch by keeping up to date at nmuwildcats.com, and subscribing to the official NMU Volleyball social media channels.