Thana Fayad

Classroom

Fayad graduated in the Spring of 2020 with her degree in communication studies.

She has continued her education and is now working towards a Master of Arts in Leadership Studies, where she carries an overall GPA of 3.70. Fayad is expected to graduate in May of 2021.

Character

Fayad has overcome great adversity in her playing career at San Diego, suffering two ACL injuries on her left knee which sidelined her for back-to-back seasons.

After a successful freshman campaign, Fayad sat out her entire sophomore season after suffering the first injury in a spring practice. She worked diligently to rehab for eight months, only to suffer the same fate again in 2018. Fayad appeared in one match in 2018—the final one for the Toreros—USD’s third-round matchup with Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament, after a teammate went down with a similar ACL injury.

Fayad worked diligently and tirelessly to get back on the court with her team, acting as a staple on the bench while cheering on her teammates. When Fayad finally returned to competition, she had a standout season.

Community

Along with her teammates, Fayad has participated in a wide variety of community service activities in the greater San Diego area. Fayad and the Toreros have organized a Dig Pink Match fundraiser for the Side-Out Foundation in each of her four years at USD. The event promotes breast cancer education and awareness in the community. She helped USD fundraise to support The Side-Out Foundation and its Dig Pink initiative that go toward a clinical trial specifically for patients with stage 4 breast cancer, the most advanced form of the disease and the least funded area of research.

Fayad has also volunteered at the Pancake Peeps organization in 2018 and 2019, where she helped make and serve pancakes for children, families, and people living in homelessness.

In 2020, Fayad participated in a general giving campaign to become better educated about stage IV breast cancer. Fayad and her teammates participated in a team walk-a-thon fundraiser whereby participants raised money by collecting donations or pledges for walking a predetermined distance on the beach. The campaign raised $2,000.

Competition

In her career at San Diego, Fayad has appeared in 57 matches and 215 sets for the Toreros. She has collected 13 double-doubles in her career with 589 kills and 454 digs. Fayad has a career average of 2.74 kills per set and 2.11 digs per set.

Fayad has collected 692 points, an average of 3.22 points per set. After being sidelined for two seasons due to injury, Fayad earned All-WCC first team honors in 2019 after amassing 298 kills (2.87 per set), 260 digs (2.50 per set) and 352.5 points (3.39 per set) and leading USD to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In her final season, Fayad was named to the 2020-21 All-WCC preseason team prior to the modified 2021 spring season.