Meet The Freshmen: Olivia Mikkelsen
September 13, 2019 | Volleyball
Olivia Mikkelsen was the third of the three Husky freshmen to commit to being a Dawg. A native of Nine Mile Falls near Spokane, Mikkelsen helped Lakeside High School win the 1A state title as a sophomore alongside her older sister, Lexi. Washington came into the recruiting process during her junior season and for the competitive and driven Mikkelsen it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. Mikkelsen talked to GoHuskies about the recruiting process, the challenges of a shoulder injury during her senior year, and Rubik's cubes.
GoHuskies.com: What has the past month been like for you settling in to this new team and city?
Olivia Mikkelsen: Definitely overwhelming, and I use that word a lot, but it's a good kind of overwhelming. It's all so new. I expected to be learning a lot, meeting a lot of people, making friendships and figuring out who I'm supposed to be on this team and what my role is. It's all been so great and the team is so awesome and supporting and that's been my favorite part. Learning and trying to take in everything that Keegan is telling me.
GH: What are some of the things you're working on on the court?
OM: Setting is so broad, and it's just a whole other world and I was so used to doing the same thing and being good at what I was good at, and being comfortable, but there's so much that I had no clue about. What I'm doing, what kinds of movements I'm making, Keegan does such a good job of focusing on small things, and they're all simple but he talks about simple concepts versus complex behaviors, it's just a whole new world. I can get so caught up in what I'm supposed to be doing setting and the movements I'm making that I forget to be an encouraging cheerful teammate, so it's a lot going on in my head, and I'm excited to get most of it down so I can have the competitiveness come out again on the court.
GH: How has it been getting to know Ella May Powell and learning from her since she has gone through it all once?
OM: I'm so glad to have Ella, we have a good relationship I think. She just is there to help me and support me. I'll look at her when I'm struggling or something and she'll just kind of give me a nod like 'you've got this' and it brings my confidence up because I look up to her a lot. I watch her in setter tutor and try to learn from her. She's awesome.
GH: How has it been getting to know the other freshmen? Did you know them well from the recruiting process?
OM: They committed earlier and I committed later so they were a little bit closer with each other but then we got super close during LEAP and it was so much fun, we have so many memories. I'm so glad that I really like them cause they're just so fun to be around. I'm really lucky with those two girls cause they're so much fun. It's been fun to experience this new thing together and share some struggles.
GH: Will you guys be rooming together when school starts?
OM: The three of us are going to room in Mercer with another random senior who doesn't play sports, so it will be an interesting dynamic (laughs) cause we're pretty close and then she'll be this super smart senior, we're kind of apprehensive about it.
GH: When did you first start playing volleyball? Did you play many sports growing up?
OM: Actually I played soccer and that was my thing, and basketball, a lot of action and a lot of running around. And I hated volleyball because it was so slow, like missed serve, shanked pass out of bounds, and I never wanted to go. But I think club 13s year I started to really like it, my team and my coach, and from there I just fell in love with it. In high school, playing with my sister was so fun. She's one year older so that was awesome playing with her for three years.
GH: Were you always a setter?
OM: I was yeah. I liked hitting but my mom just thought ever since I was little that I had good hands so she could see me as a setter. My sister was a hitter so that relationship was fun.
GH: What do you like about your hometown?
OM: I love where I'm from. Everyone knows everyone. You can't go to the grocery store without running into someone. It's so supportive and I just don't even realize how many people back home are rooting for me and it just feels so good to have them behind me. Teachers that follow you ever since elementary school who keep in contact, I just like that small community. It's a cute little town.
GH: Where else were you looking before Washington came into the recruiting picture? When did you first talk with the coaching staff?
OM: I visited Bakersfield in California, and Idaho, Seattle Pacific and Central, those were kind of my choices. I remember it was before we went to Long Beach at the end of May my junior year. I think I had emailed UW and they watched me at a tournament, and I talked to Tui on the phone first. It was after school and I said, 'We get out of school at 2:00 and you can call me at 2:05' and I was just looking at my phone waiting for the call and my heart was beating so quick, I was so nervous, but she was so nice. I was like 'Thank you for calling me, it's crazy that you even know my name!' I just never had considered it to be honest, but she was so nice on the phone. And I talked to Keegan a little later and he flew down to the Long Beach tournament for like two hours to watch one game and flew back. After that he called me and I was standing on the beach in Long Beach, and I was supposed to make a decision quick and I visited UW the next Friday just a couple days later, and just thought I absolutely cannot pass up this opportunity.
GH: Is there anyone that really helped you on your way to becoming a college athlete?
OM: Of course, my family and closest friends, but my club coach for the last three years, her name's Nicole Rayborn, I owe it all to her. She made me and worked with me, she was such a good coach and I really appreciate her and our relationship. And Jamie Lee was a recruiter who helped get my name out there, and she played volleyball with my mom in high school so that was a full circle thing.
GH: Since your mom played volleyball, did she convince you to stick with it when you didn't like it at first?
OM: Yeah, she just loved watching us in sports and she would like anything we did. But I think one of her regrets was not playing in college, I think she could have walked on at WSU. She really supported us in trying to pursue those dreams with all the time and money spent, and she said you might as well work super hard and try to pay for your school.
GH: You also had a great track career as a thrower?
OM: Yeah, I loved track, it was just totally different, an individual sport and you get out of it what you put into it. I loved my coach, and that was a lot of the reason that I did it. His name is Jim Pettet and he was a big mentor in my life too. With my shoulder injury I just wasn't going to do it as a senior, but I ended up throwing shot put and just kind of being a leader on the team and helping other kids and getting conditioning in, and my coach really appreciated that I think, and I was glad that I did it.
GH: How did the shoulder injury happen and how tough was that to recover from?
OM: I injured my shoulder wake surfing and tore my labrum at the end of September and then I got surgery at the end of October. Gosh, that was so hard, probably the worst thing to happen to me, and I don't want to be dramatic because everyone gets injuries but it was so hard. The process just felt so long, missing my whole senior year, and my confidence went down not being able to be comfortable playing my sport. I ended up seeing a counselor and trying to figure that thing out. But looking back I'm kind of glad that it happened just so I could see how to overcome that kind of thing and get through the struggle. Figuring out your identity without sports was huge.
GH: What was the feeling like coming out wearing the uniform for the first matches in Hawaii?
OM: Warming up the nerves were still there. I tried to play it cool a little bit but I was nerding out inside. There were so many people in the stands in the Hawaii match, that was so cool. Media day, too, putting on the uniform, I felt like I didn't really belong in the uniform yet because I hadn't played but I don't know, it's just crazy.
GH: You showed off your juggling skills on media day and you apparently know a few more tricks? What else do you enjoy in your spare time?
OM: I don't like to be bored I guess so I'll find something … I'll watch a lot of YouTube videos like how to solve a Rubik's Cube, how to do card tricks, I just think it's fun to be able to do stuff like that. I try to entertain with card tricks. I like longboarding and surfing and playing piano. I miss playing piano at my house. My mom said that's her favorite thing about me being home is listening to me play piano. I've been liking reading lately. I'm reading a good book right now, Big Little Lies.
GoHuskies.com: What has the past month been like for you settling in to this new team and city?
Olivia Mikkelsen: Definitely overwhelming, and I use that word a lot, but it's a good kind of overwhelming. It's all so new. I expected to be learning a lot, meeting a lot of people, making friendships and figuring out who I'm supposed to be on this team and what my role is. It's all been so great and the team is so awesome and supporting and that's been my favorite part. Learning and trying to take in everything that Keegan is telling me.
GH: What are some of the things you're working on on the court?
OM: Setting is so broad, and it's just a whole other world and I was so used to doing the same thing and being good at what I was good at, and being comfortable, but there's so much that I had no clue about. What I'm doing, what kinds of movements I'm making, Keegan does such a good job of focusing on small things, and they're all simple but he talks about simple concepts versus complex behaviors, it's just a whole new world. I can get so caught up in what I'm supposed to be doing setting and the movements I'm making that I forget to be an encouraging cheerful teammate, so it's a lot going on in my head, and I'm excited to get most of it down so I can have the competitiveness come out again on the court.
GH: How has it been getting to know Ella May Powell and learning from her since she has gone through it all once?
OM: I'm so glad to have Ella, we have a good relationship I think. She just is there to help me and support me. I'll look at her when I'm struggling or something and she'll just kind of give me a nod like 'you've got this' and it brings my confidence up because I look up to her a lot. I watch her in setter tutor and try to learn from her. She's awesome.
GH: How has it been getting to know the other freshmen? Did you know them well from the recruiting process?
OM: They committed earlier and I committed later so they were a little bit closer with each other but then we got super close during LEAP and it was so much fun, we have so many memories. I'm so glad that I really like them cause they're just so fun to be around. I'm really lucky with those two girls cause they're so much fun. It's been fun to experience this new thing together and share some struggles.
GH: Will you guys be rooming together when school starts?
OM: The three of us are going to room in Mercer with another random senior who doesn't play sports, so it will be an interesting dynamic (laughs) cause we're pretty close and then she'll be this super smart senior, we're kind of apprehensive about it.
GH: When did you first start playing volleyball? Did you play many sports growing up?
OM: Actually I played soccer and that was my thing, and basketball, a lot of action and a lot of running around. And I hated volleyball because it was so slow, like missed serve, shanked pass out of bounds, and I never wanted to go. But I think club 13s year I started to really like it, my team and my coach, and from there I just fell in love with it. In high school, playing with my sister was so fun. She's one year older so that was awesome playing with her for three years.
GH: Were you always a setter?
OM: I was yeah. I liked hitting but my mom just thought ever since I was little that I had good hands so she could see me as a setter. My sister was a hitter so that relationship was fun.
GH: What do you like about your hometown?
OM: I love where I'm from. Everyone knows everyone. You can't go to the grocery store without running into someone. It's so supportive and I just don't even realize how many people back home are rooting for me and it just feels so good to have them behind me. Teachers that follow you ever since elementary school who keep in contact, I just like that small community. It's a cute little town.
GH: Where else were you looking before Washington came into the recruiting picture? When did you first talk with the coaching staff?
OM: I visited Bakersfield in California, and Idaho, Seattle Pacific and Central, those were kind of my choices. I remember it was before we went to Long Beach at the end of May my junior year. I think I had emailed UW and they watched me at a tournament, and I talked to Tui on the phone first. It was after school and I said, 'We get out of school at 2:00 and you can call me at 2:05' and I was just looking at my phone waiting for the call and my heart was beating so quick, I was so nervous, but she was so nice. I was like 'Thank you for calling me, it's crazy that you even know my name!' I just never had considered it to be honest, but she was so nice on the phone. And I talked to Keegan a little later and he flew down to the Long Beach tournament for like two hours to watch one game and flew back. After that he called me and I was standing on the beach in Long Beach, and I was supposed to make a decision quick and I visited UW the next Friday just a couple days later, and just thought I absolutely cannot pass up this opportunity.
GH: Is there anyone that really helped you on your way to becoming a college athlete?
OM: Of course, my family and closest friends, but my club coach for the last three years, her name's Nicole Rayborn, I owe it all to her. She made me and worked with me, she was such a good coach and I really appreciate her and our relationship. And Jamie Lee was a recruiter who helped get my name out there, and she played volleyball with my mom in high school so that was a full circle thing.
GH: Since your mom played volleyball, did she convince you to stick with it when you didn't like it at first?
OM: Yeah, she just loved watching us in sports and she would like anything we did. But I think one of her regrets was not playing in college, I think she could have walked on at WSU. She really supported us in trying to pursue those dreams with all the time and money spent, and she said you might as well work super hard and try to pay for your school.
GH: You also had a great track career as a thrower?
OM: Yeah, I loved track, it was just totally different, an individual sport and you get out of it what you put into it. I loved my coach, and that was a lot of the reason that I did it. His name is Jim Pettet and he was a big mentor in my life too. With my shoulder injury I just wasn't going to do it as a senior, but I ended up throwing shot put and just kind of being a leader on the team and helping other kids and getting conditioning in, and my coach really appreciated that I think, and I was glad that I did it.
GH: How did the shoulder injury happen and how tough was that to recover from?
OM: I injured my shoulder wake surfing and tore my labrum at the end of September and then I got surgery at the end of October. Gosh, that was so hard, probably the worst thing to happen to me, and I don't want to be dramatic because everyone gets injuries but it was so hard. The process just felt so long, missing my whole senior year, and my confidence went down not being able to be comfortable playing my sport. I ended up seeing a counselor and trying to figure that thing out. But looking back I'm kind of glad that it happened just so I could see how to overcome that kind of thing and get through the struggle. Figuring out your identity without sports was huge.
GH: What was the feeling like coming out wearing the uniform for the first matches in Hawaii?
OM: Warming up the nerves were still there. I tried to play it cool a little bit but I was nerding out inside. There were so many people in the stands in the Hawaii match, that was so cool. Media day, too, putting on the uniform, I felt like I didn't really belong in the uniform yet because I hadn't played but I don't know, it's just crazy.
GH: You showed off your juggling skills on media day and you apparently know a few more tricks? What else do you enjoy in your spare time?
OM: I don't like to be bored I guess so I'll find something … I'll watch a lot of YouTube videos like how to solve a Rubik's Cube, how to do card tricks, I just think it's fun to be able to do stuff like that. I try to entertain with card tricks. I like longboarding and surfing and playing piano. I miss playing piano at my house. My mom said that's her favorite thing about me being home is listening to me play piano. I've been liking reading lately. I'm reading a good book right now, Big Little Lies.
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