From her distinct name to her ability to pound a leather volleyball to her passion for music to her choice of body art, San Diego outside hitter Thana (pronounced TA-nay) Fayad is comfortable in her own skin.
 
"She's a very confident young woman," said USD head coach Jennifer Petrie.
 
The Toreros (20-5) are set to face BYU (22-3) tonight inside Jenny Craig Pavilion in a match that will have big implications for the 2019 West Coast Conference title and likely help determine seeding for the NCAA Tournament. USD's kills leader and second in digs, Fayad has played a significant role in the Toreros' outstanding season.
 
Yet almost two years ago, the senior from Victoria, British Columbia, couldn't help but wonder if her volleyball career was history at the age of 19.
 
"Nobody can say I didn't think about quitting, multiple times," said Fayad.
 
To realize the root of Fayad's doubt two years ago all you have to do is look at her left knee, which bears the scars from not one but two anterior cruciate ligament surgeries barely eight months apart.
 
In April 2017, after a successful freshman season, Fayad landed awkwardly on her left leg after a kill in practice.
 
"I came down and felt a loud pop in my leg," said Fayad, sitting in the JCP after practice this week. "It was the only time I've ever cried in practice."
 
Initially, Fayad was in denial when told she had torn her ACL.
 
"I always believed I worked hard to be strong enough not to suffer that kind of injury," she said. "It was a shock to me."
 

Using the patellar tendon from her left knee, the ACL and meniscus ligaments were repaired and then came the arduous rehab. Hours in the training room. Hours in the JCP, rehabbing on the sideline while her teammates practiced, watching others play the game she loved.

 
Eight months later, her knee seemingly healed, Fayad was executing a routine passing drill when her left leg twisted awkwardly.
 
A doctor told Fayad the repair this time likely would only require arthroscopic surgery but there was a chance she'd need the ACL to be reconstructed a second time. Turns out Fayad had to undergo a second ACL repair.
 
After missing the entire 2017 season, Fayad missed all of 2018, save for a few minutes in USD's final match of the season. Two seasons, gone.
 
Regarding her second rehab, Fayad said, "I was going to have to work 10 times as hard (as the first rehab) to assure myself 100 percent it's not going to happen again."
 
She gives major credit to assistant athletic trainer Patrick Langit for pushing her through rehab.
 
"Patrick's my savior," said Fayad. "I can't thank him enough."
 
As for those doubts that her career might have been over, Fayad said she just couldn't limp away. Asked what kept her going, she said, "My desire to prove to myself (she could come back) and to make those who were supporting me all throughout my injury, to make them proud. My parents were just as devastated as I was. My mother cried when I told her I re-tore (her knee). That's not something anybody wants to go through."
 
Something else pushed her, too. The sound of her father's voice, telling her time and again throughout her youth, "Fayads don't quit."
 
"That's not who I am," she said.
 
She thought of her father's example.  
 
A construction contractor, her father supported five children by waking up at 5 a.m. on bitterly cold winter mornings and heading out the door for work.
 
"There wasn't a second thought to working hard for them, to give back to them what they gave to us," said Fayad.
 
The reward has been a remarkable 2019 season after spending nearly two years on the sideline.
 
"Her perseverance is so impressive," said Petrie. "It's not only the rehab but to sit on the sideline and watch. It inspired her to be hungry, to be back and compete. A lot of people, it would hold them back."
 
Numerous San Diego players – Lauren Schad, Laurel Abrahamson, Amy Degroot and Lisa Kramer— have played professional volleyball. When her career is complete at USD, Fayad will likely turn in another direction. She longs to sing.
 
Her down time during rehabbing her knee injury gave her the opportunity to focus on her music. She has performed at multiple local cafes and entertainment spots. As for her genre, she says "People have told me I have a soulful voice."
 
Her style, she says, is similar to Irish singer Hozier, renowned for his hit "Take Me to Church."
 
Her body is decorated with meaningful tattoos. A Buddhist Sanskrit down her left shoulder translates, "Everything happens for a reason." She inked the message after suffering her knee injury.
 
She has a lotus flower on the inside of her left forearm.
 
"Lotus grow from murky water into something beautiful," she said. "It shows that something good can happen form a negative experience."
 
There's a moon and sun on her left shoulder. A quote on her left rib cage reads, "Everyone dies but not everyone lives."
 
"Honestly," said Fayad, "most of my tattoos could be constant reminders that nothing is guaranteed in life. You've got to live every day like it's your last."
 
On the inside of her right wrist is her Gemini zodiac sign. Her mother carries a replica of the sign on her body.
 
As for Fayad's play on the court this season, Petrie said, "She's been phenomenal, far surpassed anybody's expectation. I think she never takes it for granted being out there. She's eager. Every day this season has been a gift."
 
Fayad has decided that she will use the first season she missed because of her knee injury as a redshirt season and will play for the Toreros again next year.
 
"I'm 100 percent," she said. "But next year I'll be more polished, have less mental weight on my shoulders having come back from such a devastating injury. There were a lot of eyes on me being out for so long. People were probably thinking, 'Will she ever come back?'"
 
She's pleased with her comeback.
 
"I think I've done well," she said.
 
But she's not satisfied.
 
Said Fayad, "There's more to my game that can be improved upon."