For as long as she can remember, volleyball has been part of redshirt sophomore opposite hitter Adonia Faumuina’s life. The sport runs deep in her family — both of her parents were club coaches, and her uncles, aunts and grandparents played as well.

“Volleyball has just been a staple in our family ever since I can remember. There’s a lot of history within my family that has played the sport and just led to me also finding a love and passion for the sport,” Faumuina said.

The Southern California native, who played for Long Beach Poly High School, started getting recruited in eighth grade and received collegiate offers as early as her freshman year. With the choice between Texas, Oregon and USC in a pandemic-interrupted recruiting process, Faumuina opted to stay home.

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For Head Coach Brad Keller, recruiting Faumuina was a no-brainer.

“She was the only athlete where I called her up because people were committing and she was taking her time,” Keller said. “And I basically said, ‘What the hell are you doing? Are you going to commit or not? Because I know you want this, and I want this.’”

Today, the opposite hitter is a key player for Keller and the Trojans. She sits second on the team in kills so far this season, only behind graduate outside hitter Ally Batenhorst, and fourth in blocks. Her role is only expected to expand; Keller predicts dominant future performances from her, believing that Faumuina has the ability to completely take over matches.

However, Faumuina’s journey to becoming a mainstay for USC was everything but straightforward.

Faumuina, who has the ability to play setter and opposite hitter, entered her freshman year in 2022. However, she only played in three matches that year — nagging back pain delayed her from making her collegiate debut. Not knowing what was wrong with her back, Faumuina was never fully healthy, but she worked every day to get back on the court.

“We didn’t know what was going on with my back, but I still went to rehab every single day, recovery every single day with my trainers, [just] trying to figure out what’s going on with my back,” Faumuina said.

For someone whose entire life had involved playing volleyball, it was difficult to be away from the game.

“Freshman year was probably one of my darkest times in my life, because all I knew was volleyball and that not being there for me, not being able to play was really hard,” Faumuina said. “I was really in a dark place.”

Despite the mental toll of being sidelined for so long, Faumuina stayed true to her values. Growing up in a Polynesian home — Faumuina identifies as Samoan and Tongan — serving others is rooted deep in her culture and her family. That dedication to serving others is what she demonstrated throughout her freshman year despite her physical and mental battles.

Not being able to serve her teammates on the court, she was on the bench providing a constant stream of support. To her teammate, senior setter Mia Tuaniga, these efforts did not go unnoticed.

“Her first two years, she wasn’t able to play because she was injured, and facing that as a freshman coming in is hard because you have a lot of expectations as a freshman on what your college career is going to look like,” Tuaniga said. “And every game, she was the loudest one on the bench. She was the one leading the cheers. She was the one coming up with cheers.”

Despite being injured, she brought energy to the bench and helped her teammates in any way she could. Whether it was leading cheers on the sideline or giving her teammates snacks and Gatorade, Faumuina did not let her injury get in the way of fueling her team.

“From a young age, I just learned that it’s not always about me, it’s always about the people around me,” Faumuina said. “So it’s always about serving others.”

After her college debut continued to be pushed back, Faumuina decided to redshirt and start fresh in 2023. However, Tuaniga, then a sophomore, went down with an injury ahead of an impending match against UCLA.

Faumuina, redshirting but healthy enough to play by then, did not hesitate to say yes when Keller asked her if she was ready to play. Burning a year of eligibility to play out of her strongest position, Faumuina debuted in the last regular season match of the season against crosstown rival UCLA.

“There were big expectations. No one even knew I was injured, and the last time [Faumuina] set a ball was probably, like, two years before that,” Tuaniga said. “So for her to come in with the energy that she had and the servantship that she has, she’s a huge light in this program.”

With a 39-assist performance, Faumuina led the Trojans to a victory against UCLA.

“I knew I had to step in because I saw Mia go down and I would literally do it again in a heartbeat, because I would do anything for this team,” Faumuina said.

One week later, her 40 assists helped USC defeat High Point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans would fall to Ohio State in the second round.

“She sacrificed herself for the team,” Keller said.

After a tumultuous freshman year, Faumuina’s time as part of USC’s core was still far ahead.

By the time her second year at USC began, the cause of her back pain was no longer a mystery. It was a stress fracture in her lower back that would sideline her for six months. The recovery lasted well into the season — meaning she needed to redshirt her sophomore year.

Despite being away from the court for another season, she remained ready to serve her team if needed.

As 2023 came to an end, USC was once again in the NCAA tournament. By then, Faumuina had already been cleared to play, and she was eager to do so. With a match against No. 4 Pittsburgh looming, she was willing to burn another year of eligibility to help her team. However, this time she received some different advice. Her teammates reminded her to take advantage of her time at USC, and her coach agreed.

“Adonia was out all year with a back injury, and was cleared right before Pitt and she came to me and she wanted to play, and I basically said, ‘No, you’re not forfeiting two years in a row of eligibility for this.’” Keller said. “That tells you who Adonia is right, like, ‘I’ll play one match to help my team out, just to help the cause.’”

USC lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Pittsburgh.

Following two years of supporting her team off the court, Faumuina finally got the opportunity to consistently help them on the court this year. Faumuina returned to volleyball in the first match of 2024 at Pepperdine with nine kills and two blocks, her first match since 2022.

“I was low-key nervous, but really excited because this is something that I haven’t done in two to three years, and I haven’t been away from playing volleyball for that long, so being able to play again and with my teammates right now is such a blessing, and just seeing how far we’ve all come.” Faumuina said. “It’s just a blessing to be able to play again because I never thought I would have.”

Keller is certainly glad to have Faumuina back.

“She is growing exponentially, and she is becoming the player that I know that she is,” Keller said.

Faumuina’s growth has undeniably shown up on the stat sheet. After having double-digit kills in only four of the first 15 matches of the season, she’s had 10 kills or more in nine of the 15 matches since. She also recorded a career-high 20 kills against Northwestern on Nov. 21.

The energy she brings to the bench is still there, even though she is healthy enough to play. During matches, Faumuina can be seen cheering on her teammates and inciting the audience to reflect equal enthusiasm.

But it’s not only how she serves the team on the bench that stands out to her teammates and coaches.

Assistant Coach Megan Moenoa has known Faumuina since she was 10 years old, having played for the same Long Beach volleyball club. For her, Faumuina is best described as selfless, regardless of the scenario.

“When I was a senior at the time playing, she was just starting out her career there, and since that time, all the way up until high school, and then now, she’s just been one of the most selfless people that I’ve ever been around,” Moenoa said. “Off the court, on the court, as a teammate. I think that the word that would best describe her is just extremely selfless, very thoughtful, great listener.”

To freshman outside hitter Jadyn Livings, Faumuina is energetic, supportive and kind. Faumuina was one of the first teammates to reach out to her when she joined the team this year and since then has consistently shown her kindness. She remembers one time she was having a difficult day, and Faumuina prayed with her as soon as she saw she was upset.

“That speaks volumes about everything, because she was in the middle of doing something, but saw that I was sad and dropped everything just to sit there, make sure I was okay and pray with me,” Livings said.

But to Faumuina, it’s all second nature and her teammates see it.

“She gives without any gain. And I think that’s really something special about her,” Tuaniga said.

As USC heads into the NCAA tournament, Faumuina can be expected to be a key player on the court, but her off-court contributions may still be the most important of all.