DEARBORN — Growing up here, Mayssa Bazzi always had a love affair with sports as well as great confidence in her abilities. But even though she knew she was one of the best volleyball players in the city while at Dearborn High School, she never thought she’d one day see her picture in the pages of perhaps the most famous sports magazine on the planet, “Sports Illustrated.” “It was actually really a big surprise because you grow up reading it and looking at those people as role models and never expect to see yourself in it,” said Bazzi about seeing herself in the magazine.

Mayssa Bazzi

Bazzi, a junior libero at Wayne State University, was featured in the magazine’s “Faces in the Crowd” section, which honors outstanding young athletes across the country. While her team’s success has always been first and foremost, she was nonetheless proud to be represented in such a prestigious publication for her efforts on the volleyball court. Bazzi had one of the best seasons a Wayne State player has ever had in 2007, setting a school record for most digs in a season with 656. A dig is a volleyball stat used to keep track of how many times a player stops a spike or other hit by getting both hands underneath it to pop it back up into the air She also set the single-game record for digs with 52 against Lenoir-Rhyne. But when head coach Ernie Gilbert informed her of the record, she was a little bit happier about a different result. “My coach told me after the match and I was pretty excited,” said Bazzi. “But I was more excited that our team won a very close match.” Wayne State didn’t win quite as much as Bazzi hoped in 2007 as they struggled to a 10-15 record, but everything has gone smoothly so far in the off-season. The team has been together for many informal off-season workouts as they wait for the school to hire a new coach to replace the now-departed Gilbert. Most importantly for Bazzi, however, is the fact that she now feels at home on the court and off the court in her role with the team. She was forced to play other positions, including the front row at Schoolcraft (MI) College earlier in her career despite being only 5-foot-5. But she did it for the good of the team. Now that she’s back where she belongs at libero, she feels like she can do what comes naturally on the volleyball court and that has made the transition to a higher level of competition much easier. Bazzi almost didn’t make it to Wayne State, however. She sat out two years due to two bad ankle sprains suffered at Schoolcraft and thought her volleyball career might be over.

Bazzi

“It was a sad time in my life for me when I couldn’t play,” she said. “Rehab wasn’t difficult but it was frustrating. I had friends calling me up to play in tournaments but I couldn’t play.” She went to Henry Ford Community College during that time stretch to try and find out what she wanted to do with her life career-wise. She eventually applied to Wayne State for pharmacy school and was accepted. Soon after she hit campus, her ankle began feeling better and she began to play volleyball again for fun, so she decided to give college volleyball another shot. She called up coach Gilbert and asked to be on the team and was happy to find out that Wayne State indeed had a spot for her. But there was one final hurdle she had to clear before she could play again. Bazzi, who is a Muslim, was used to wearing her hijab and pants on the court instead of the usual volleyball shorts. The officials at Wayne State made a rare petition to the NCAA to allow her to wear her usual clothing, much as the Schoolcraft officials did earlier. Bazzi was free to play and feel comfortable for Wayne State as she had in the past. But things haven’t always gone smoothly when traveling to other schools. One referee in Hillsdale, Michigan was not aware of the fact that she would be wearing a scarf and had a request for her before the game. “I’m one of the captains and the ref asked me during one of the captains’ meetings about it,” said Bazzi. “You’re taking that off, right?” the referee asked. Bazzi also recalls a match in South Carolina during which she was on the receiving end of some curious stares from members of the crowd. But through it all Bazzi has kept a positive attitude, and she strives to represent herself and her culture as best as she can on the court. “I’m actually happy that I wear (a hijab) because I think that there are a lot of people that aren’t familiar or have been around anyone that’s Arabic or of the Muslim religion,” she said. “I try to set a good example and make people aware that I’m not very different.” Except when it comes to her volleyball skills, of course. And now, thanks to “Sports Illustrated,” people across the country are well aware of how good Mayssa Bazzi is at the sport she loves.