NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Adversity is part of sports, but nobody could have predicted what the Old Dominion men's tennis team would face on one late October night in 2021.
It was supposed to be a night of celebration after a big victory.
"We just won the Super Regional that we were hosting here at ODU," remembered fifth-year senior Nicola Vidal. "We were celebrating, basically, so we went to that 7-Eleven to get some drinks."
That's when things took a disastrous turn. Vidal and some teammates were waiting in the parking lot.
"I was sitting on the couch with my wife and the kids were in bed already," recalled Monarchs' head coach Dominik Mueller. "I got this phone call, actually from my assistant coach's wife and I knew immediately something can't be right."
"There was this car parked in front of me," Vidal said. "At some point all of a sudden I hear the wheels scratching the ground and I had no time to react because the car drove right into me."
The car fled. Vidal's leg was broken and his femoral artery cut. Thanksfully, a bystander by the name of Perrin Priest rushed to the scene and went to work assisting the tennis player until the ambulance arrived.
"A guy who has experience, had to know what to do in this kind of situation," Vidal said of Priest. "He came, he put a belt around my leg and then the ambulance came."
Coaches, teammates and friends waited anxiously during the night as updates slowing trickled into the group. They were finally able to see the injured Monarch around 2:00 AM.
"His first reaction was this big smile," Mueller noted. "I think his reaction to what happened to him helped the whole team. His positive outlook made the whole team fight through this."
"Nothing's going to change if I keep thinking about it," Vidal said of his outlook at the time. "I just said 'let's try to move forward, let's try to see what possibilities I have, let's already look forward to the rehab process.'"
That process, of course, would prove challenging, but knowing he would eventually be able to get back out on the court was the only motivation Nicola needed.
"They didn't know if it was 100 percent or 90 percent, but they told me I could be back playing tennis and that gave me the hope," he said. "For basically all my life I've been playing tennis. I never had to stop longer than a couple weeks so it was like a life changer."
The man who struck Vidal with his vehicle was sentenced to five years in prison earlier this month. The ODU senior was able to meet Priest for the first time during the trial, a man who more than likely saved his life.
"I feel like a sense of justice out of it," he pointed out. "Obviously meeting Perrin was really really nice for me. I'm going to be grateful for life to him."
Now Vidal is back on the court and has a full season under his belt since the incident. This past weekend he helped lead the Monarchs to a Sun Belt championship, the first conference title for the program since 2018.
"Thinking about that he's on the court and he had a full season, that he played in a championship match, it just speaks to his character and his determination," Mueller said.
Vidal is one of several ODU players who have overcome recent hurdles. Teammate Luca Maldoner battled back from a torn ACL and assistant coach Yevhen Sirous went to work with his family, who resides in Ukraine, on his mind every day. All of that makes the road map the Monarchs took to the top all the more meaningful.
"It makes it so much more special," Vidal said. "I think we really deserved it and it's like the perfect outcome for a difficult journey."
"If you were here last year around that time when all of the injuries and other things happened to us and you saw the response from those guys, you'll understand why we won this championship," Mueller pointed out.
Old Dominion's season is not done yet. The Monarchs will discover their NCAA Regional site and match-up on Monday.
