Big West Freshman of the Year Mahalia White Diagnosed with Lymphoma

After a standout rookie campaign that brought her Big West Freshman of the Year and All-Big West First Team accolades, UC Davis outside hitter Mahalia White has announced she has Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In an Instagram post last week, White shared her diagnosis.

View this post on Instagram

Hey all, it’s me! So 2018 is gonna be a big challenge for me. For those of you who don’t know, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, called Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, the day right after my birthday (Dec. 3rd) (Happy Birthday to me am I right 😜) During my first season of college volleyball, which was a great season might I add lol, I was experiencing a lot of back pain but I had thought that it was just due to all the extensive activity that I was doing. Right after season, I got an MRI and cancer was definitely not something that I expected. I’ve been in and out of the hospital a lot this past month and tomorrow I am starting my first chemotherapy. With that being said, the cancer is curable and can be treated, but it will be a long and challenging six months. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fighter and I attack anything (mainly volleyballs, but cancer too now) that’s in my way! 💪🏾 Love, support, and prayers would definitely be appreciated 😘😘😘 P.s. you already know I’m still me and I had to flex in the picture even though I look busted😜💪🏾

A post shared by Mahalia White (@mahaliawhite_) on Jan 4, 2018 at 12:22pm PST

The Canoga Park, California native, earned six Big West Freshman of the Week nods during a season that saw her pound down an Aggie freshman record 398 kills, an average of 3.55 per set, while hitting at a .246 clip

During conference play, the rookie upped her contributions to 4.19 kills per set and a .298 hitting effort, including six 20-plus kill matches and a season-high 27 against Long Beach State.

White’s announcement has already brought an outpouring of support from her school, fans and others across the nation with the hashtag #TogetherforMahalia.

The Aggie community is all here for you. We're rooting for you Mahalia! #TogetherforMahalia https://t.co/Q2YdoBKUJZ

— UC Davis Athletics (@UCDavisAggies) January 10, 2018

#Shoutout, thoughts, and prayers to #BWCWVB Freshman of the Year Mahalia White (@UCDVolleyball) in her battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.#TogetherofMahalia | #GoAgs | #FightBig ??https://t.co/BXsCxwabe7

— Big West Volleyball (@BigWestWVB) January 10, 2018

On behalf of the entire Cal Poly Volleyball program, our thoughts and prayers are with you Mahalia! #TogetherforMahalia #BWCWVB @UCDVolleyball

— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) January 11, 2018

We're standing with you Mahalia! ???#TogetherforMahalia https://t.co/46XwUoy6Cw

— UC Davis W Golf (@UCDavisWGolf) January 10, 2018

Whoa! I'll be adding you to my prayers Mahalia. Glad your spirits are high but you know as hard as you hit volleyballs, we're gonna be supporting you fighting this even harder. Hang in!

— Evan Barnes (@evan_b) January 5, 2018

Thank you to everyone who’s been very supportive of me. It means the world to me to have this overwhelming amount of love ❤️ I love everyone ?????

— mahalia white (@mahaliawhite_) January 6, 2018