It was game point.

Mason started his approach, screaming for the ball. All blockers on the other side of the net rushed over to block him. Just as he started jumping, he saw his teammate slam the ball to the ground. The crowd roared. Everyone started rushing the court.

They had just won the National Championship. 

I bet you’re wondering how he got there. So let’s start from the beginning. Mason Durst grew up in the outskirts of Northern Chicago. Men’s Volleyball is not common everywhere, but lucky for Mason it was in Illinois. He started playing in 6th grade, after being diagnosed with a heart disorder that prohibited him from playing contact sports. He mentioned that it was especially popular in his area, and many of his friends decided to play with him as well, to which he said: “I think that’s part of the reason I stuck with it.” He played with these friends through middle and high school and even made new friends through the sport while playing on club teams in the winter. 

Senior year of high school Mason helped his team make it all the way to state. They traveled to Hoffman Estates to participate in the state tournament where they faced many other teams throughout the weekend. Mason was playing outside hitter, as he did for his entire volleyball career. He was amazed when they made it to the championship game. He had never been this close to winning a game this big and this important. He played hard and, in the end, Mason led his team to victory as they just became the State Champions for Illinois. 

This was not the last time Mason would win a huge title though. Just that same year he would travel to Kansas City, Missouri to play at Nationals. This time it was with his club team, still in the Chicago area but not all of the same guys that he had just won state alongside. After three days of volleyball in this new huge arena, Mason would end up at the championship game once again. He walked into the gym with one court and hundreds of seats. Once again, Mason had won the championship game, but this time he was a National Champion. 

After these two amazing seasons, Mason thought playing volleyball for a college was his next big step. Ultimately, though, Mason chose his academics over athletics and accepted admission to the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Mason came to this decision after realizing that “playing D1 was too big of a commitment” but this did not mean that he was done with volleyball. Mason had a friend that played on the Wisconsin Men’s Club Volleyball team that had told him all about it. Instantly, Mason was sold. 

Mason nervously arrived to tryouts alongside his roommate Nate. After the second day, they both found out that they made the B team. Mason was excited that he was able to play with Nate again, as they were on the club team together when they won Nationals. After a semester filled with tournaments, the team finally headed down to Phoenix, Arizona to play in the college club volleyball National Championships. This Nationals did not go as well as the previous one for Mason, as they lost their first game in the gold bracket. Mason was not done though. He came back to tryouts the next year and this time made the A team. Nate stayed on the B team and told me “I was sad not to be playing with him anymore, but was super happy for him. He definitely deserved it”. Mason had mixed feelings as well as he said “A lot of my friends were on the B team” but still was excited for this new opportunity. 

Mason made a huge impact on the A team and was one of the top outside hitters. Then at the end of the season, the teams traveled down to Kansas City, Missouri where Mason would play in the National Tournament once again, just this time with a new team. They came in ranked 4th in the nation but were determined to beat that. 

Coming back to Kansas City, Mason only had one goal on his mind. He was going to win Nationals… again. They started off the first day going 2-1, Mason played in every game. Then through the second day, they went 3-0 and continued to play at a high level. Then came the third day. Win or go home. This is where they lost it last year. The first game of the gold bracket came and ended in a win. They had already done better than the previous year. They went into the next game knowing they had to play a solid California team. Mason continued to play and helped them win the game, which put them into the semi-finals. Nearing the end of this game Mason came down and hurt his ankle. He had to be subbed out on the spot. He did not know what was going to happen for him now. The team ended up winning that game and there he was once again heading to the National Championship game, Mason knew that he needed to play through this injury. 

So, while they were waiting to play Mason found an ankle brace and made sure to keep his ankle moving. He walked into that same stadium that he had just two years before and knew he had to repeat history. Mason was nervous to play on his hurt ankle, he did not know how he would do. He admitted, “I took it pretty easy in warmups because I didn’t want to hurt myself even more.” But as soon as he got in the game, he felt invincible. 

“After the first point and after the first set I remember feeling like we couldn’t lose.”

And they didn’t. “I was in the game during the last point. I was next to Sam when he got the last kill,” Mason recalled, and that brings us back to where we started. The crowd roared. Everyone started rushing the court. They had just won the National Championship. 

Mason was at an all-time high, surrounded by all of his friends cheering and congratulating him. His hard work paid off too because, after the celebration, he was named Second Team All-Tournament at Nationals. This day will forever be remembered, and he has a metal and plaque to prove it. 

Next year Mason gets to come back to Kansas City for Nationals, and he plans to win it all again. After all, he has never lost a championship in Kansas City, Missouri. The only thing he hopes to change next year is to be promoted to First Team All-Tournament.