The razzmatazz around Sunday’s Amalie Arena stopped just after the award ceremony that saw the notched-up Texas Longhorns. The second-seeded team in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball made the No. 1 seeded opponent, Nebraska Huskers and its fans silent on that day. Riding on the shoulders of the women wearing burnt orange, the sailing was astounding. Both individual and team prowess made a show out of that. 

However, among the bunch of the Texas Longhorns ladies, Asjia O’Neal stood tall with her record-breaking five aces in the showdown of 12 aces total by the team. The NBA legend Jermaine O’Neal’s daughter shrugged off when being asked about the pressure after the match. Rather, her journey to the date might answer such a question. 

Asjia O’Neal’s desperation to continue with her volleyball love

Asjia O’Neal’s junior stint with the Texas Longhorns is going flawlessly. However, the middle-blocker faced a question mark in that stint in 2019 when she was a red-shirt freshman. Her continuous longevity issue in the practice session raised several eyebrows.

Asjia’s congenital issues with her heart prompted her to assess the reason for the said uphill battle. Upon checking, Asjia was recommended that she should have undergone regular check-ups to pace with her volleyball love affair. To ease the problem, her Texas Longhorns mates used to wear heart monitors in practice sessions to assess Asjia’s hard run.

However, in 2020 she had to go to an open-heart surgery after discovering a tricuspid valve leak. The bedridden 23-year-old champion revealed in her IG post, “7 years ago I started my volleyball journey and had my first open heart surgery. “

Reportedly, in 2013, Asjia O’Neal’s heart issue came to light for the first time. As her doctor mentioned, the leak in the mitral valve changed the pathway of blood circulation in her heart.

For that, her heart had to labor more to flow the blood correctly. With her time in the volleyball arena, the issue worsened. However, her heart operation in 2013 mended the issue for shortly. But it came out as huge as in the meantime, Asjia’s volleyball long paid the Texas Longhorns nicely. 

Final time being of Texas Longhorns 

In the Texas Longhorns color, Asjia O’Neal earned a nomination in the All-Big 12 first-team in 2020, just after her operation. Also, that year, the Texas Longhorns achieved the runner-up title in the national volleyball title with Asjia’s MB role. Asija O’Neal’s achievement doubled with her AVCA Honourable Mention All-American. She repeated that feat later again. 

Read more: NCAA Volleyball Fans Form Dream Team for 2024 Season, Can Texas Longhorns Still Defeat Them?

Also, in 2021, Asjia’s story gained her the Honda Inspiration Award, making her the beacon of hope. This year saw her exemplifying a legend of the game by bagging the most blocks count at the school level. With that, the Joe Burrow-owned Columbus Fury drafted her for the upcoming Pro Volleyball Federation. So her Sunday performance panned out as a beautiful gesture to py her sincere encomium to the Texas Longhorns that stood after her in her dark days. 

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