One of the first things Kylie Miraldi learned as a student at San Jose State University was the meaning of dehydration. Miraldi, the nutrition major, is studying dietetics. Miraldi, the athlete, experienced the physical symptoms. But it was Miraldi, the Christian, who’d face the spiritual showdown against the condition.
Miraldi had decided to apply at the college following a campus visit in 2008. She was certain San Jose State was the college for her. She wanted to play Division I volleyball. She wanted to stay in California, and the fact that Sarah McAtee, who Miraldi has played volleyball with since she was eight years old, was also bound for San Jose State and would be her teammate, was confirmation – or so she thought.
San Jose is a rich, vibrant cultural and historical city with entertainment, professional athletics and palm trees for miles, a dream for any college kid. But try and find a church; any church, any denomination. San Jose has consistently ranked as one of the most unchurched cities in the United States over the last decade, a fact Miraldi overlooked.
She was three hours away from Grass Valley, the place where she grew up surrounded by family, friends and her church. The relationship she had built with Jesus Christ, the relationship she had become dependent upon, the relationship encouraged by her parents, disciples of the Lord, had been stripped away. Miraldi felt one million miles away from Him.
“I felt so thirsty for God,” said Miraldi, describing her first semester. “I remember lying in my bed crying and thinking, ‘If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.’ I’d been separated from Christians for far too long.”
By the time Fellowship of Christian Athletes Bay area representative Rigo Lopez arrived on campus Miraldi’s freshman year, she confessed she felt “devastated” about church. Lopez met Miraldi and invited her to the weekly FCA Huddle on campus.
“She was 18 years old, confident but caring. She loved the Lord,” remembers San Jose State/FCA Huddle leader Clay Elliott. “I was very impressed by her maturity and her spirit. As a freshman, I was blown away.”
By the end of the huddle, Miraldi was the first to grab a clipboard and sign up. She left the meeting and shared the news with her father, who confessed it was through FCA that he committed his life to Christ during his college years.
Dean Miraldi is an athlete too, playing seven seasons in the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles (1981-84), Denver Broncos (1985) and Los Angeles Raiders (1987).
“He always kept Christ and sports together,” said Kylie. “He became a Christian through college, but it was a long process. His faith really became his own when he was in the NFL. So, he’s experienced the highs and lows of what it’s like to play with Christ and without Christ.”
Her mother, April, played volleyball at Pepperdine and UCLA.
“They gave us a lot of responsibility and ownership of our faith at a young age and throughout high school, in hopes that when we left for college it was already our own faith,” said Miraldi. “More importantly, they just made faith such an every day part of our life that Christ was always with us at all times.”
Identity Crisis
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” — Colossians 3:23
While her faith was knocked on its heels, Miraldi’s game was literally knocked off its feet when she suffered an Achilles injury, followed by surgery and nine months on the shelf. Discouraged, she prayed, God, why me? Volleyball is such a passion of mine, what are you doing? Why are you taking it away from me?
“It took me a long time to accept this, but volleyball had become my God — it was my identity,” said Miraldi. “It was where I put a lot of my self into and my self-worth. So God took it away from me and brought me to my knees, until there was nothing else to lean on but Him.
“It was a brutal and terrible experience, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, but at the same time I’d wish it on everybody because it was such an amazing turning point in my faith.”
Miraldi would need hope and faith for what was to come next.
While she was beginning to connect off the court, Miraldi’s Spartans were beginning a period of disconnect on it. After finishing third in the conference (13-18 overall, 7-9 conference) her freshman year, transfers and graduates left the team depleted and inexperienced.
“I was very nervous coming in to the year,” said Miraldi, who was named team captain as a sophomore. “I had been out all spring. I remember at one point looking around me and I had five freshmen on the court with me, and they’re all very talented and great players, but that year of experience from your freshman year to your sophomore year, there’s no way you can hurry that experience.”
The inexperience showed up in the standings. The San Jose State Spartans women’s volleyball team lost their first 16 matches of the season. As the losses piled up and the frustration intensified, Miraldi kept telling herself, this is not my identity. This is not my self-worth. My faith is in Christ, You define me. You are giving me the ability to play.
“It became a pursuit of the ultimate goal – for God’s glory,” she said. “Remembering who I’m playing for and why I am playing. I focused on that a lot. It got me through the season.”
Kylie focused on Colossians 3:23, a Bible verse her father would share with her whenever she would compete. “Be a Colossians 3:23 player,” he would say. “Anoint the court with your sweat and give it to God in sacrifice.”
‘It redefined me’
The Spartans finally snapped the streak two months into the season, beating Louisiana Tech in five sets. At halftime of the match Miraldi ran off the court and into the bathroom, where she remembers crying out in prayer. God I can’t take another loss. I can’t take this anymore. Please, take this burden from me. Give us a win.
“Maybe that’s not what I should have been praying for, but that’s just how I felt and my human nature came out,” she confessed.
The match went back-and-forth before the Spartans wiggled past La. Tech. The win marked career-best 16 kills for Miraldi, she hit .520 (16-3-25) in the match.
“That was just such a kiss from Jesus,” said Miraldi.
After the win the season went in reverse. The Spartans lost their final 11 matches, finishing 1-27 (1-15 conference). “I don’t think I lost 27 games in all four years of high school volleyball playing combined,” she said. “It was devastating. Losing was not something I was accustomed to and refused to grow used to.”
The futility set the school record for fewest matches won in a single season (one) and fewest games won (18 of 101). Miraldi battled to remain strong as a captain, a teammate and a competitor.
“It took a lot of venting to my sisters, my family; they are all so supportive,” she said. “Clay and Kelly Elliott from FCA, going over to their house often for dinners; Kelly has been a great mentor to me. She always reminded me of the things that are important in life. While athletics is important, it’s about being good stewards of the things given to us that ultimately matters – and how we shine Jesus through our actions and our play.”
The long, frustrating season ended with a thud on November 21.
“As hard as it was, the lesson I’ve learned, the friends I’ve made through that time and the dependency I developed upon Christ redefined and sharpened me. I am stronger,” Miraldi said.
This fall marked a new season, a fresh start, a clean slate; the injuries, the losses were behind Miraldi and her Spartan teammates, right? Wrong.
Playing in the first tournament of the 2010 season, Miraldi landed on her ankle and suffered a dislocation. She said when she looked down and saw her foot at a 90 degree angle, she reached down and “popped it back into place.”
“God likes to knock me off my feet,” she added.
Doctors told her a magnetic resonance image (MRI) was unnecessary. The healing process would take time – a long time. At best, Miraldi could expect to return at midseason.
Later that night at FCA huddle, the group prayed for Miraldi. A couple days later another friend stopped by her room and prayed over her injured ankle. The following day the San Jose State athletic trainer requested an MRI for Miraldi’s medical records.
Miraldi walked in as two doctors and the team’s athletic trainer stared at the x-ray. The ligaments and tendons were attached. She was back on the court in two weeks.
Heart, Mind, Body and Soul(s)
Meanwhile, off the court, Miraldi is winning souls. She is an FCA Rhodes scholar, a member of Jesus’ dean’s list. According to Elliott, only a handful of athletes were attending FCA Huddle when Miraldi arrived at San Jose State. The group has grown to almost 40 student-athletes.
“I attribute a lot of that to her leadership,” said Elliott. “There is a spirit in this young lady that is the Lord. She is known around the team and around the campus as the Christian, and she knows it. She has a genuine depth in her faith walk. She is very steady on and off the court.”
Miraldi, always the captain, always humble, deflected the attention, giving the credit to her small group. “FCA has been the backbone of my faith throughout my time at (San Jose) State,” said Miraldi. “Without FCA I’d probably still be a little bit of a mess.”
That deserves a kiss – maybe a hug too – from Jesus.
