After becoming the second Regal to obtain an All-American honor four times and to make the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region team four times, California Lutheran University Regals volleyball middle blocker Maci Haddad’s career came to an end this season.

“The volleyball program was just everything. It’s competitive, it’s fun, all the girls are there for the same reason, we are all on the same page, there is so many good things that I saw here,” Haddad said.

Haddad said she found out about Cal Lutheran through a camp she attended during high school, which is where she first came in contact with Head Coach Kellee Roesel and discovered she wanted to play on the Regals volleyball team. 

Haddad used the extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic to play this season and is now in the Graduate School of Education at Cal Lutheran obtaining a physical education credential.

“I knew there was no way I would not finish my four years here, and I already knew I was going to come here for grad school so then, OK, I might as well play volleyball with it,” Haddad said.

Haddad said that she was glad she had the opportunity to play one more year with her best friend Julia Trento, who is also a graduate student at Cal Lutheran. 

Trento said that Haddad is always positive and supportive of those around her. 

“She is so selfless and so giving, she would drop anything to be there for me or anyone in her life,” Trento said. 

Haddad lost her father a few months before coming to Cal Lutheran, around the same time that Roesel lost her husband. Roesel said that they both guided each other through the grief. 

“It’s been a process and we’ve helped each other through that, that is a kid that had every excuse to be a disaster and she chose to rise above it and do something amazing,” Roesel said. 

Roesel said that Haddad is the person who shows up early and stays late and if she is injured or has something else going on, no one would know because she would continue coming in and working hard. 

Trento alluded to the work ethic that Haddad possesses, and how that positioned her as a leader on the Regals volleyball team. 

“She is humble, you would never know that she has gotten all these accolades and awards…she still works just as hard as she did freshman year, if not harder. People would say she is a bright light to the team and a good leader,” Trento said. 

Among Haddad’s accolades are AVCA Freshman of the Year in 2018, leading the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for most blocks per set in her first year, and ranking 11th in the nation for attack percentage this season.  

“She is an inspiration to her teammates, to her coaches, to everyone that she comes in contact with. She’s given me a lot of hope for the future, and a lot of hope for my [own] kid,” Roesel said.