Asjia O'Neal ready to lead the Columbus Fury, PVF into the future
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Fury returns to Nationwide Arena on Monday evening riding a two-match winning streak and are unbeaten in its last four sets of competitive volleyball. The last time the Fury took the court at home, they claimed a thrilling 3-1 victory against the Omaha Supernovas.
Columbus added to its winning streak by downing the Vegas Thrill 3-0 on Saturday evening.
A driving force for the Fury has undoubtedly been middle blocker Asjia O’Neal who has the unique distinction of being the first overall draft pick in the Professional Volleyball Federation. Not only is she the face of the Fury, but the league as well.
The daughter of former NBA star Jermaine O’Neal, Asjia seeks to be a driving force for this new professional volleyball league and to write her own story as a professional athlete.
“Yeah I definitely feel like there is a sense of responsibility for myself,” O’Neal said. “Being the first pick, a lot of people have expectations from me and they want me to accomplish all those things especially in our organization. It’s really cool to have that responsibility, I think that’s just a testament to where I’ve put myself so far in my college career that they believed I could do it at this level.”
It might not take long for the PVF to catch on. Crowds have shownup across the league’s seven markets and there are three cities scheduled to receive expansion teams in 2025. Dallas, Indianapolis, and Kansas City all look to join the league in the coming season and will grow the games popularity even more in those respective markets. “Hopefully we are just consistently selling out arenas,” said O’Neal of the league’s growth.
“I’m really excited to help be at the forefront of this league and hopefully continue to help it grow and succeed as the years go on.” She hopes to close the gap in pay between the PVF and their male counterparts. “Girls are able to make even more money and hopefully we are starting to reach our male counterparts, I know there’s a big gap but the sky’s the limit and people love women’s sports right now, so i’m really hoping we get to see that.”