BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or otherwise known as POTS, is a condition that causes fatigue, dizziness, fainting, and increased heart rate while transitioning from sitting down to standing up. 
 
When you stand up, gravity can cause you to feel lightheaded for a moment due to blood settling in your arms and legs. When a person with POTS stands up, their blood vessels can expand causing their blood pressure to drop leading to a longer period of time feeling lightheaded. This issue can eventually lead to the person fainting or passing out.
 
Aubrey Hutzler is a freshman catcher on the Campbell Softball team who struggles with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. She is from Van Alstyne, Texas having attended McKinney High School and John Paul II High School. Hutzler's competitiveness is how she grew to love the game of softball. She grew up watching her older brother Marshall play baseball and began playing softball at the age of 8. 
 
While POTS is not a life-threatening condition, it does greatly affect Hutzler with daily living and playing softball, especially at the catcher position. She first experienced symptoms when she was 14 when she began having these occurrences where she would faint doing everyday things like getting up off the couch or out of a chair and she would black out almost every day.  
 
It took doctors about three months to diagnose Hutzler with POTS. After first being diagnosed, she wasn't sure if she would be able to play softball again because she struggled with simple things daily like walking up the stairs and getting out of bed and even getting in and out of the car seemed impossible. Though feeling very drained, Hutzler pushed through and has been able to play the sport she loves while dealing with this condition. 
 
Hutzler was diagnosed after she batted .417 with an on-base percentage of .553 in her freshman season at 6A McKinney high school in McKinney, Texas. While dealing with POTS, she was still able to put up impressive numbers and have success throughout her high school career. She batted .457 her sophomore year at McKinney then .542 and .529 her junior and senior years at John Paul II. She helped John Paul II to back-to-back district championships in 2021 and 2022 then a Texas Division 1 TAPPS State Championship in 2021 and runner-up in 2022. Hutzler earned all-district and all-state honors both years at John Paul II winning team MVP her junior year and defensive MVP as a senior. 
 
Hutzler has yet to make her collegiate debut for the Fighting Camels but she is eager to play and will soon enough have the chance to show Camel Nation what she can do. 

Reference:

Pots: Causes, symptoms, diagnosis & treatment. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16560-postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome-pots