Mayda Garcia’s impact on younger girls wanting to emulate the former McAllen Rowe standout on the volleyball court is something Warriors coach Magda Canales still sees.
“I have girls now on the varsity team that looked up to her six years ago or more. For years they’ve idolized her and all wanted to wear her No. 5,” Canales said. “Mayda just had this presence on the court. She knew what she wanted to do and she would do it.”
Garcia has a similar impact during her four years at Division I Fairfield University in Connecticut and was recently named to the school’s All-Decade squad.
“The past four years have been pretty amazing,” Garcia said. “I enjoyed every moment and the only reason I was able to make that (All-Decade) team was because of the girls that came ahead of me and the tradition that Fairfield has. Many of the girls I played with taught me so much.”
The Stags, who play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, consisting of 11 schools in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, have a long tradition of winning. Fairfield has won the MAAC regular season conference championship 18 times since 1996 and has captured the conference tournament title 11 times since 1997. They advanced to the NCAA tournament six times during the 2010s, including three times during Garcia’s four years as an outside/right side hitter.
In those NCAA tournaments, the Stags fell to Michigan St. in 2016, Texas in 2017 and Minnesota in 2019. Against Michigan State, the 5-foot-9 Garcia played middle blocker, a position she had no idea she would be in as a freshman, being recruited for an outside spot.
“Those NCAA tournaments were crazy,” Garcia said. “As a freshman I knew I wouldn’t see much time right away and then two of our middles went down with ACLs and coach asked me to play middle. At first I thought, ‘how hard could it be?’ But that was a different story. I was struggling against those 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 hitters.
“My teammates where there to help me, telling me to get up as high as you can. You learn to just do your job, even if you weren’t hired for that.”
Canales said it doesn’t surprise her that not only was Garcia asked to play that position, but that she accepted the challenge.
“She was never concerned with what she could do to look good. It was always about what the needs were for the team right now against this opponent,” Canales said. “She played that spot a few times for us and even set for us sometimes. It was always, ‘Ok coach.’ Obviously she was outside and right side for us but she was all over the place and she adjusted at the Division I college level with what seemed like no hesitation.”
Garcia completed her collegiate career with 801 kills and an average of 2.55 kills per set. She had a career high 29 kills against the University of Niagara as a junior and tallied 21 kills in the MAAC tournament semifinals last season.
Garcia had multiple options after graduating from McAllen Rowe, leading the team to two Sweet 16 appearances in the state volleyball tournament. She wanted to get our of Texas, saying that she was eager to see something different. Fairfield, just short of 60 miles from New York City, provided exactly that – from extreme changes in weather to big-city living and all the surrounding attractions.
“I wanted to get out and when I went to Fairfield it was like a home away from home, from down south in Texas to the New York area,” said Garcia, who was named RGVsports.com’s All-Valley Volleyball Player of the Year twice, in 2014 and 2016 as well as the 2016 All-Valley Class 6A Female Athlete of the Year. “I met the girls and coaches and felt I fit in well. They were all so welcoming and that’s something I especially wanted, being so far away from home.”
Garcia graduated with a BA in communications and minors in education and sociology. She is also pursuing a master’s in secondary education and landed a spot as a graduate assistant at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.
“That assertiveness she has since she was young has a lot to do with her success,” Canales said. “I’ll bet they felt her positive vibes, her motivation and her drive right away in college. A lot of us in the Valley followed her through college. To see her and the respect she’s earned from high school to college and beyond is terrific.
“I’m not surprised though. That’s just Mayda.”