Utah women's basketball player Diana Rolniak beats the odds


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Video courtesy: University of UtahIn this video, University of Utah women's basketball forward Diana Rolniak (now a junior) discusses her fight from the removal of a tumor on her pituitary gland over the summer of 2011 to getting back on the court the following season.

Rolniak and Utah coach Anthony Levrets discuss the discovery of the tumor, when Rolniak was a freshman. The initial diagnosis was not serious, and Rolniak played on. However, in the winter of 2011, Rolniak began to sense changes in her pituitary functions. She says that despite being 80 percent blind in her left eye and 20 percent blind in her right eye, she played through the symptoms last season.

Rolniak talks about how her experience affected her life on and off the court. She was not sure if she could continue to play basketball for the Lady Utes. Rolniak had emergency surgery in July to remove the tumor, then worked hard in rehab and trained sufficiently to be cleared to get back on the court. Coach Levrets admires Rolniak's commitment and fight to remain a contributing member on the Lady Utes basketball team.

Contact Greg at grose@deseretdigital.com or follow him on TWITTER @GRoseDDM.

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