McKale Center was packed Sept. 20, when the Arizona Wildcats’ volleyball team opened Pac-12 play with a win over rival Arizona State.

More than 2,600 fans were in the stands, the largest attendance for a UA volleyball match since 2015.

It wasn’t only fans who filled the seats. Athletes from other UA teams were there, too.

For a few members of the women’s basketball team it was a little more personal than just supporting another Arizona sports team.

Tee Tee Starks and Aari McDonald came to watch their roommate, Shardonee Hayes, in her first match back after suffering a concussion. The redshirt sophomore didn’t waste any time getting back in the swing of things after missing four matches in two weeks. She set a career-high with nine kills on 14 error-free swings for a .643 hitting percentage.

Hayes’ roommates were among the first who heard she had been injured through a group text.

“I got hit in the head four times while blocking in the first two games (of the Borderland Invitational) at New Mexico State,” said Hayes. “I was fine, but then totally random in practice before the last match, my teammate came off the block and the ball hit me in the same spot. After it happened I kept practicing; I felt fine. But, when I stopped playing I was really dizzy and knew something was wrong.

“It was my first concussion and Tee Tee had one before. She was helping me by telling me how to get through it and always checking on me to make sure I was OK. Tee Tee told me to rest. She knows I do overthink things or I’m busy all day. She told me to rest to make sure I heal properly.”

Starks and McDonald didn’t know Hayes well when they signed on to live together. However, it didn’t take long for them to get close.

A few short months into living together, they’ve already settled into their roles: McDonald is the jokester, Starks is the mature one, and Hayes is the quiet one.

“I call Tee Tee the mom; she is the oldest,” said Hayes. “The way she talks to us is like a mom. She always reminds us of things and tries to give us advice. It’s like, yeah, you are the mom of the house. Among the three of us, they are more outgoing. Aari is always trying to make us laugh.”

While all roommates have disagreements, with this trio it is so rare that they could only come up with one. And, even with that one they ended up laughing.

“One time we had a little situation,” said Starks. “Their (volleyball) trainer is Emily and for the longest time I was intimidated by Emily and I told Shar that. But Shar told Emily that I said she was mean.

“So Emily confronted me the next day and was like ‘Hey, Miss Tee Tee, you told Shar that I was mean.’ I was like ‘Oh my God, I did not say that. I’m going to have to talk to her when get home.’ I was so embarrassed. But, she was just poking fun at me, it was no big deal.”

No fights over being messy?

“No, we’re always cleaning up something,” said Starks. “I’ll come home from class on Mondays and (Shardonee) will be in the kitchen scrubbing the counters. We are all tidying up. We like our place to be clean.”

And, not too many fights over the remote deciding if they should watch basketball or volleyball. They spent much of August watching the WNBA playoffs every night.

Hayes likes basketball — she was even recruited to play for the Wildcats before volleyball coach Dave Rubio snatched her commitment.

McDonald played volleyball, and Starks said that while she likes it, she’s still learning the game.

“At home I ask her (Hayes) to show me her volleyball techniques,” said Starks. “I’m not very good at volleyball. But I try to re-enact some of the things she does at home—she doesn’t help me, she laughs at me.”

Starks and McDonald like volleyball so much that when Hayes didn’t play during the Wildcat Classic, they came to watch her teammates play. And when Hayes isn’t in town, they watch matches online and send her videos of it.

At the end of the day, it’s sports that has helped connect the roommates.

“I think it helps a lot (that we’re athletes),” Starks said. “When it’s a hard day, we make each other laugh or we might cook dinner together. We definitely understand that school and athletics come first.

“We support each other in that way.”

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