One year ago Mahalia White had the world on a string.

The outside hitter from Chatsworth Charter High burst upon the UC Davis volleyball scene by leading the team in kills, pacing the Aggies to a 16-14 record while earning Big West Conference Freshman of the Year and all-league honors.

Her 398 kills were a freshman school standard.

But something wasn't quite right. White played through a sore back.

"I thought that all came with volleyball … soreness," White explained. "But halfway through the season I released it was more of a pain. But I was too scared to say anything because I still wanted to play."

Late in the 2017, the Aggies won four straight matches. You know who was pacing the surge.

"I wanted to play for my team because we started to do so well," Mahalia remembers.

As soon as the season ended, White finally visited the doctor.

Just like that, all the accomplishments of her first year in Davis meant nothing.

On Dec. 4 last year, Mahalia White discovered she suffered from stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma.

"It was pretty crazy. When I was initially diagnosed with cancer, the first thing I thought about was my mom because she had just fought — and won — her cancer battle. Then five months later, I got my cancer diagnosis.

"It was scary, but yet I knew I had a family that's really supportive and 'I will get through this.' But in that first, initial thought … I was sad and scared because I let it go on so long."

That day at the doctor's, "I was like 'I need to call my mom and tell her what's going on.'"

Mahalia recalls her mom Patsy being a rock on the phone: "She didn't cry. My mom is such a strong woman, very optimistic.

"I was crying and she told me later 'We cannot have two people crying.' She immediately gave me such good advice. 'We're going to make it through this. I know you're a stronger woman than I am … and I immediately thought 'I don't know about that.'"

But mom and dad Martin, twin brother Matthew and older brother Michael, 22, rallied around their precious Mahalia.

"We approach this just like we did with me," Patsy once told The Sacramento Bee. "We take it one day at a time and keep a positive attitude. I tell Mahalia, 'If I can get through it, so can you.' But you hate to hear this about your child. I would rather get my cancer back than learn that my daughter has the disease."

Patsy has two sisters who are breast-cancer survivors.

"Even though it was hard, with tough patches, I knew I could make it through," says White, who earlier this year took to social media to keep her fans and friends apprised of her improvement. "I know cancer is bad, but I was confident enough to get through it. I saw it as just a fragment of my life that I could get through with my my mom, my family and my UC Davis family."

With so many people backing her fight, Mahalia says she knew her disease didn't stand a chance.

It was arranged by staff and school administration that White could stay on campus during her treatment through UC Davis Medical Center. Teammates, coaches and acquaintances provided rides to Sacramento, deliveries and encouragement as White bucked up.

And of course there were frequent visits from Mom.

Fast forward to this week…

White's cancer is in remission. She plans on celebrating on Dec. 4 with a kind of a fly-in-the-face-of-cancer party. The real rejoicing comes another year down the line when she prays to hear she's cancer free.

While White awaits her return to the court, she's been helping volleyball head coach Dan Conners wherever she can and, according to Conners, "she's been terrific this season."

"I really like this experience," Mahalia says of being an ad hoc administrator/coach. "I'd rather be on the court, but coaches tell me things to do to help my teammates. I still feel I have a big role on the team. I like the fact that I'm getting feedback from people on the team, all the while helping them learn on the court."

UC Davis is 9-7 and 1-3 in conference.

White says her absence is giving other players a chance to step up and excel, but they shouldn't get used to filling in at her old spot at outside hitter. White expects to be back on the court next fall.

In fact, she briefly had designed on returning this year.

"We didn't want to rush her," said Conners.

With family, teammates and medical staff concurring, White acquiesced.

White says her cancer and extended chemotherapy made her bones brittle for a while, but quickly added:

"They aren't brittle anymore, but it is a long recovery process. I was pretty impatient for awhile … I just wanted to throw myself out there on the court and see what happens."

She eventually came to heed the "slow down" warning…

"I finally decided to come back next year when I feel I'll be playing better and, obviously, have more strength and playing at a better (level) than I was my freshman year."

What? Better than her freshman year?

Holy smokes, look out Big West Conference.

Notes: White's story is inspiring, and as such she's been asked to provide witness for area cancer-awareness and funding organizations. Her story has been featured throughout the Northern California print media and she's been asked to join several Sacramento morning TV shows. …"It's very exciting to know that people — some I don't even know — have my support," White notes. ...She is an organizational studies major. …Mahalia was named for the iconic inspirational singer Mahalia Jackson. Her name means "genuine." Copy that.


— Former Davis Enterprise sports editor Bruce Gallaudet writes "Inside Aggie Nation" weekly for UC Davis Athletics. He can be reached at bgallaudet41@gmail.com. HIs "Aggie Corner" column is published each Friday in The Davis Enterprise.