Show and Tell

It’s an important game in an important conference match for the Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team, and Nancy Ma has just blasted the ball over the net and down the line for a crucial point.

Her teammates celebrate by jumping up and down, pumping their arms and thrusting clenched fists into the air.

Ma just smiles and nods her head approvingly.

She is always calm, even after turning in yet another spectacular play.

What the Matadors’ top outside hitter has to say is said entirely with her athletic ability.

Ma, 23, an exchange student from China, speaks very little English. She communicates with her teammates by using hand signals and head gestures.

A native of Hunan province, about 500 miles north of Hong Kong in eastern China, Ma is taking basic English and courses such as photography and music appreciation that require little knowledge of the language.

She likes America, is thrilled to have a scholarship and ecstatic to play volleyball after a four-year hiatus due to a knee injury.

If only she wasn’t so homesick. She gets teary-eyed when speaking of the family she left behind.

Her parents, Xiu-Qin Cao and Zhi-Liang, own a factory in her hometown of Kai Feng and her sisters, Hui and Li-na are in high school.

“I get very emotional when I think of them,” Ma said through an interpreter. “I wish I could see them or that they were closer.”

She doesn’t miss her hometown as much as her family. Ma enjoys modern appliances and homes in America that are luxurious compared to those in Kai Feng.

“Everything here is totally different,” she said. “Things are so . . . new. In my city there is a lot of history.”

Before she is through at Northridge, Ma could make a little history of her own. The 6-foot-1 sophomore is powerful, dynamic, has a great touch and an uncanny ability to anticipate a play.

In a Big Sky Conference preseason coaches poll, the Matadors (2-29 last season) were picked to finish eighth and last in the league. Instead, Northridge was undefeated in conference play heading into a match Thursday night at Cal State Sacramento.

“She’s a very smart player who just sees what the defense allows her very easily,” said Montana State Coach Dave Gantt, who watched Ma collect 25 kills against his team. “And you can tell she doesn’t get rattled by anything.”

Said Northridge setter Heather Hofmans: “She’s the kind of player you go to when you’re down and you need to turn things around. We needed that kind of player on this team. She is such a boost.”

Ma started playing volleyball when she was 11 years old. She was the star at Kai Feng Fourth School, the Hunan province champion during her three seasons on the team.

After completing her high school education in 1990, Ma was chosen to train in the Chinese junior Olympic program. She moved to the headquarters in Beijing and appeared headed for the country’s national team.

But after a year in Beijing, Ma severely injured her right knee in a match when she collided with an opponent at the net.

She thought it was the end of her competitive volleyball career and was devastated.

Ma had surgery, moved back home with her parents and two younger sisters, and enrolled at nearby Zheng Zhou University.

“It was very difficult because I love volleyball,” Ma said. “I missed it so much.”

Ma came to Northridge through a student exchange program the school has with China.

The on-campus Chinese Institute has a relationship with colleges in China and provides opportunities for students to attend Northridge.

Ma wanted to experience a different culture, learn English and obtain a degree in kinesiology.

She signed up for the program and applied for a student visa to study in California.

Northridge Coach Lian Lu knew Ma was once a top junior player in China, but he wasn’t sure if she could make a comeback.

“She was good, but retired,” said Lian, a native of China. “I thought no more volleyball for Nancy. She had not played in four years.”

Ma arrived in Northridge at the end of July and attended her first team workout in August.

“She was sore at first and it was tough for her to get back into the swing of things,” Hofmans said. “But not only has she come along, it’s like she took a magic pill. She’s great.”

Ma lives with Northridge professor Li-Pu Larson and her family near the campus. Larson, who is Chinese, also tutors Ma.

But even after Ma learns to speak better English, she might not have much to say. She is shy, and uncomfortable in the spotlight.

“She’s so shy she doesn’t even speak in Chinese,” Lian said. “She just doesn’t speak. But her arm swing is so quick.”

Ma plans complete her volleyball eligibility at Northridge and obtain a degree toward her ultimate goal.

“I want to be a really good coach like Coach Lian Lu,” she said.