Texas Fight: Asjia O'Neal
11/10/2022
Asjia O’Neal could have gone anywhere in the country to play volleyball. Playing high school volleyball in Southlake, Texas, O’Neal was the PrepVolleyball No. 2 recruit going into her senior year. College volleyball offers came from every direction, but the choice was simple.
Being a part of UT was a no brainer for me and I knew I wanted to come here immediately after my visit. After five years, I step back and think how blessed and grateful I am to have received a scholarship and education from the best university in the world.Asjia O'Neal
Through the ups and downs of battling a heart condition she was born with, O’Neal never let it stop her from pursuing her dreams to play volleyball at the highest level.
“I was born with a leak in my mitral valve in my heart and it was repaired for the first time when I was 12. During my first year at UT, I noticed that my health was starting to decline. It was really hard to get through workouts, and during my yearly cardiology appointment, the doctors noted significant changes.”
Many EKG tests, stress tests, x-rays, cardiologist appointments became a normal part of O’Neal’s life, and often times she spent more time in doctors’ offices than on the court, but her passion and love for volleyball outweighed the fear of her condition. Even multiple heart surgeries could not get in O’Neal’s way of becoming one of the best volleyball players in the country.
Being told it was in her best interest to quit playing the sport she loved was not something O’Neal ever wanted to hear from her medical team, so she fought to receive another opinion. The medical team at Cleveland Clinic assured her she could continue to play volleyball, and the Texas staff continued to monitor her heart through all team workouts, practices and competitions to ensure all precautions were set to allow O’Neal to continue to lead their team. Even with all of these precautions, her heart was still not allowing her to feel her best. November 9th was a day O’Neal would never forget, the medical team at Cleveland had found another issue with her heart and proceeded to tell her she would need another open-heart surgery. As persistent as O’Neal was, she was committed to safely competing so she would not have to miss the rest of the 2019 regular season and NCAA tournament. Although the season did not end as she and the Longhorns had hoped, O’Neal proved to herself that she would not allow the battles with her heart condition to take her away from her passion. After a successful second open-heart surgery, O’Neal was cleared in April of 2020.
I try to look back on my experiences when I'm having a tough day, whether in school or in practice, and try to just be grateful for my opportunity to be here, doing what I love and to be healthy. At the end of the day your health is the most important thing. So being able to have this new, fresh, healthy body and continue to play at such a high level here at UT has been amazing.Asjia O'Neal
Almost one year later, O’Neal was recognized for her strength and resiliency and was named the Honda Inspiration Award Winner. The Honda Inspiration Award is given to a deserving female student-athlete in Division I, II or III who has experienced extraordinary physical and/or emotional adversity, injury and/or illness, or experienced extraordinary personal sacrifice during her college enrollment as a student-athlete and yet returns to athletic success.
Aside from being an inspiration on and off the court, O’Neal is one of the best middle blockers in the nation. Heading into the postseason, she currently leads the University of Texas volleyball team with 90 blocks, 7 solo blocks, and leads the country in hitting percentage at .474. As for what O’Neal’s goal is for the remainder of the season,
“The expectations are always the same. We always want to win a national championship. This year it just feels a little different, we have a really good culture and team camaraderie. I'm really proud of the team that we are right now. I’m really excited to see how we finish out this season.”
As the No. 1 Texas Volleyball team continues their run for an NCAA title, O’Neal will continue to inspire and lead with her strength and resilience.
