GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) -- As the North Carolina A&T State University volleyball team gears up to head to their invitational, they'll have a big part of their team missing.
Their team offensive player of the year, 22-year-old Fatimah Shebazz, suddenly passed away Sunday from a brain aneurysm.
“I love you, and I’m thankful that I got to spend time with you. People were asking for a miracle. And when she passed, it wasn’t the miracle that we wanted, but the miracle was that we were able to be with her and spend time with her, and I got to be a part of her life, and that’s hugely important,” said Hal Clifton, NCAT head volleyball coach.
Shebazz collapsed on the volleyball court during their Big South Conference quarterfinals game.
“The event was life-threatening, very serious. Over time, we found out the bad news,” Clifton explained.
Shebazz, or ‘T,’ as her teammates called her, had suffered a brain aneurysm that ultimately took her life.
“Bright, talented young lady. It hurts, and it hurts deeply,” Clifton said.
Shebazz was the team’s right-side hitter, 2021 Aggie ESPYs offensive player of the year and spark that lit up the court.
“She was a fierce competitor. And that energy and excitement that she brought on to the court was just contagious to our team,” Clifton recalled.
She also had a contagious sense of humor.
“Fatimah did things that people don’t ever see. When my own children would be on campus, Fatimah would play volleyball with my son. She would help my daughter with homework,” Clifton said. “She always made it a point to reach out to all those players around her.”
After earning an undergraduate degree in liberal studies from A&T, She decided to come back this semester to finish her master’s degree.
“She was thinking of going into law school. She was working on her grad degree because she really wanted to help people,” Clifton explained.
It gave her another opportunity to play alongside her 2020 Conference Championship team.
The team hopes to bring home another banner by winning the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Now, the team will be playing through a loss, giving them a deeper purpose to compete in the game Shebazz enjoyed leading her team in.
“She loved competition, so we’re ready to play in her honor, and we’re ready to represent this university and our volleyball program and our athletics on a national stage in her honor, and we’re going to go fight for her,” Clifton said.
The team is going to compete this Saturday, Dec. 4 in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship tournament against the University of Connecticut.
They say they are still planning a tribute for Shebazz. There is no word on funeral arrangements for the 22-year-old.
Shebazz is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio.
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