Minium: For ODU's Fred Chao, tournament at George Mason is a trip down memory lane

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – When he steps on the volleyball court at George Mason University Thursday evening, ODU Head Coach Fred Chao will be flush with emotions.

He graduated from Mason and then coached there for two decades. He has coached women's volleyball at Old Dominion since 2019 but there is always a special feeling for your alma mater.

ODU faces off against Mason tonight at 6 in the George Mason Invitational. ODU will also play Quinnipiac and Navy this weekend in Fairfax.

Chao helped build the Mason men’s volleyball team into a competitive force while also serving as an assistant coach for the women. And the court still bears his imprint.

There was no one to design the floor when Mason was renovating its volleyball facility in 2009, so he did it on his laptop computer. He used a program called Word Art.

“It took me a couple of days,” he said. “I was making a lot of rectangles and would see how they fit together.

“I had to decide where to put George Mason and Patriots.”

And his trip there will bring back a ton of memories.

“It’s going to be very special,” he said. “That’s where I poured myself into the game as a player and a coach. That’s where so many of my ideas about volleyball and what it means to be a part of a team, that’s where it was really forged.”

For that, ODU owes George Mason a hearty thank you. Chao was hired by Dr. Wood Selig, ODU’s Director of Athletics, to begin the school’s volleyball program from scratch in 2019.

Chao did not promise miracles. We will compete hard in our first season and gradually become a program that can win championships.

On that, Chao has kept his word. Every year, the Monarchs have improved.

ODU's first match was held on January 22, 2021 against George Mason. Although the crowd was limited in size because of the pandemic, the several hundred people in attendance celebrated wildly during ODU's 3-0 victory.

"That was a day I'll never forget," Chao said. Beating his alma mater brought tears to his eyes and his heart full of mixed emotions. 

ODU finished 7-11 that winter and then 13-13 in the 2021 fall season. The Monarchs were 12-16 in 2022 against a very difficult schedule, but made it for the first time to postseason play in the Sun Belt Tournament.

ODU was 14-17 in 2023 against an even more difficult schedule and won its first match over a Power 5 team, beating West Virginia, 3-0, in Morgantown. Again, the Monarchs advanced to Sun Belt Tournament play.

The Monarchs are 5-2 and a whisker away from 7-0 heading into the Mason tournament. There was a 3-0 loss to Virginia, in which the Cavaliers won the first two sets, 26-24. 

ODU lost to Princeton in a tournament at Villanova last weekend, 3-2, before rallying the next day to beat Villanova, 3-1. 

"This year feels different," Chao said. "It feels like we are a more established program. Before we were a program trying to jump up and down and introduce ourselves.

"We're not introducing ourselves anymore."

ODU's successful recruiting surely reflects the growth of the program. While senior Myah Conway (99.5 points, 88 kills, .359 attack percentage) is the team's best player, and junior Ashlynn Belcher leads with 189 assists, Chao brought in eight newcomers, many of whom have contributed right away.

Graduate student Hailee Blankenship is second with 75.5 points and third with 59 kills and freshman Emma Schelah is second with 94 assists. Blankenship also leads the team with 12 service aces.

"This is the year we believe we can display the work we've done and play on a higher level," Chao said.

"It's comforting to know that we can attract players willing to come to us in their fifth year because of our growth as a program."

Chao has done more than just succeed on the court. Every volleyball player who enrolled at ODU and departed has graduated and the team perenially has one of the best academic records among the University's 18 athletic teams.

And he's helped build a fan base and alumni support that is the envy of other Sun Belt volleyball programs.

"Fred is so good with our alumni and supporters," said Jena Virga, Executive Director of the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation. 

'He is so comfortable around people. He's a genuinely good person who makes you feel relaxed. He raised a lot of money and helped build a great fan base for his program."

And he's built close relationships with his players. He is at times hard and demanding and other times, is a surrogate father.

"He was such a good coach but he is a better human being. We could talk to him about anything," said Madeline Rudd, who was the first player to commit to ODU volleyball and like most of her teammates, had a sterling academic record.

"He was sometimes hard on us, but in the right way. When you're coaching female athletes, you can lose them if you scream and yell. He was always under control. Sometimes we were scared of him, but he got his point across without yelling.

"He will always be in my life. He will always be my coach. He will be at my wedding. I don't have anyone to marry yet but when I do get married, he will be there."

Rudd is working for the Wake County Emergency Squad in North Carolina but hopes to enroll in the the physician's assistant program at ODU's Eastern Virginia Medical School next fall. Many of ODU's volleyball players have majored in health science programs.

Chao has placed her in charge of maintaining contact with the dozen or so volleyball alumni. ODU will have its first alumni gathering on Oct. 11 when the Monarchs host App State.

ODU has yet to win a match in the Sun Belt tournament. Chao said getting to the Sun Belt championship is the team's goal.

"That's one of our targets for sure," he said. "We've talked about it a lot. We've messaged it.

"Any time in practice that the team takes a complacent turn, we always quickly remind them of the effort it's going to take to be successful in the postseason."

"I'm happy with where the program is," Chao added. "The support we've gotten from Dr. Selig, from the University, our fans and everyone in athletics, has been phenomenal.

"We feel like we are improving all the time."

And that's in no small part because of Chao. 

Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram