Ajack Malual was rushing to find a school for her senior year. She had entered the December transfer portal window, which was open for just a few weeks, after only one season at Tennessee.

Maryland volleyball coach Adam Hughes was also under pressure, needing to fill several spots vacated by departing seniors. After watching some of Malual’s college film, Hughes got on the phone.

Malual answered. Rounds of encouraging conversation followed and then Hughes extended a surprising offer.

“Why don’t you come here tonight? Why don’t you literally fly in?” Hughes said.

Within about six hours of the conversation, Malual was packing her bags. Shortly after, she committed to the Terps, and nine months later, she’s become Maryland’s premier offensive weapon and an off-court leader.

Malual’s path to College Park was just as frenetic as her transfer portal experience. She’s traveled thousands of miles from hometown Rome, Italy to schools in Hawaii and Tennessee before arriving at Maryland, and spent countless hours improving her skills — all in pursuit of volleyball stardom.

“It’s been a super long journey,” Malual said. “When you’re the [child] of an immigrant parent, having a degree matters a lot. And so, doing that through volleyball was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

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Malual’s parents made sports an early priority for her and her siblings. They dipped their toes into basketball, gymnastics, swimming and even horse riding.

“My mom dreamed of [my sister and I] becoming like Serena and Venus,” Malual said.

When Malual gave volleyball a shot, she immediately knew she wanted to pursue it. She honed her craft with youth clubs and grew to excel at the technical skills Italian clubs prioritize.

By age 15, Malual was living by herself in Milan and playing in several club competitions. She was selected to Italy’s U18 National Team and played in 2019’s U19 World Championships with an Italy team that reached the finals.

Malual’s volleyball life was moving incredibly fast, sometimes too fast for her to contend with.

Being away from home with pressure to perform as a young athlete was already mentally taxing. Adding Italy’s strenuous high school curriculum to the picture caused Malual to burnout.

She did her best to persevere, but then came the COVID-19 pandemic, just months after a grueling summer with the national team.

“I was losing myself. I didn’t even know who I was anymore besides my volleyball,” Malual said.

Malual took a much-needed break from the sport. While she did, she still kept in touch with friends she’d made from various teams over the years.

One of those friends was Greta Corti. The pair were teammates at Unione Yamamay Busto Arsizio in the 2018-19 season. Corti later played for Chaminade University, a Division II school in Honolulu.

Corti encouraged Malual to return to volleyball and told her to reach out to the Chaminade staff.”Malual got in contact with coaches, sent over some of her film and not long after, she arrived at Chaminade’s campus.

Life in Hawaii brought plenty of culture shock, but she was particularly intrigued by the large selection of cereals on store shelves.

“We all, as Europeans, want to see the American supermarket because the aisles have so many bad things,” Malual said. “It’s just curious to see.”

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Though the lifestyle required adjusting, Malual’s abilities did not. Playing at a lower level allowed her to focus on rebuilding her muscle mass and enjoying her life apart from the sport.

Malual averaged 2.01 kills per set in her first season at Chaminade. That year, the Silverswords made the NCAA tournament, where Malual provided 12 kills for her team in a first-round upset over No. 1-seed Alaska Anchorage.

In her sophomore year, Malual’s kills per set jumped to 3.35, fourth highest in the Pacific West conference. She made the All-Pacific West Conference First Team and the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Third Team.

Malual knew she was ready to make the leap to Division I. She transferred to Tennessee, but ended up playing only 15 sets in the 2024 season. Entering her senior year, she felt a change of scenery was necessary.

On her visit to College Park, Hughes treated Malual to a meal at Iron Rooster, also inviting sophomore middle blocker Duru Gökçen to give Malual a chance to meet a teammate.

Gökçen, a fellow international player from Turkey, struck up a conversation with Malual about European politics and world perspectives.

“I think that’s what makes them special, both of them, is just their worldly knowledge and experience,” Hughes said. “It was a moment I won’t forget.”

By the season’s beginning, Malual became a beloved veteran presence in a locker room full of young and hungry players. The team has seen her grow into a leader for Maryland, both on and off the court. Her lifelong devotion to the sport has been paying off.

“We get closer because we allow ourselves to be vulnerable,”Malual said about the Maryland team. “And then when things go right, we can celebrate each other.”

Leading the team in points and kills, Malual has had an incredible start to the year as a Terp.

“I just needed a team, coaches that believed in me, teammates that believed in me and a program that believed we could get there,” she said.