"Playing volleyball became miserable"- UCLA Bruins' Grayce Olson retires from sport following physical and emotional struggles

UCLA Bruins Volleyball player Grayce Olson recently announced her retirement amid injury concerns. Olson joined the Bruins Volleyball program in 2022 and, since then, has been a regular member of the side.

In her three seasons at the program, Olson played a total of 282 sets and contributed to 702 kills and 23 assists. Besides, the Pleasanton native also impressed with her defensive capabilities and accumulated 265 digs to her name.

During her time, she was also selected to the 2022 Pac-12 Freshman team. Notably, she was also the player with the second-most kills on the Bruins roster in the 2024 season, just behind Cheridyn Leverette (435 kills).

However, Olson's Volleyball endeavors are coming to a halt after these successes, citing an injury. In an Instagram post, Olson stated that a long-standing knee injury has been giving her immense pain and has forced her to conclude her volleyball stint with a year still to go in her collegiate career.

Olson also said that her love for the sport is slowly diminishing due to this injury and the resulting pain. She wrote:

"For those of you who do not know, for well over 2 years now, I have been dealing with a knee injury that has significantly impacted my physical health. The day to day pain has taken not only a physical toll, but more importantly, a mental toll. My love for the sport slowly went away, and to be honest, playing volleyball became miserable for me."

"After much prayer, discussion with doctors, and guidance from the people I love most, I have made the decision to medically retire from playing volleyball," she added further.

In her post, Olson also expressed pride in wearing the UCLA Bruins jersey and said she would be available to help her teammates for the upcoming season.

Grayce Olson shared her thoughts after registering an impressive performance against the IOWA Hawkeyes

Grayce Olson opened up about her performance against the IOWA Hawkeyes last season (November 27) when she bagged 14 kills in the match.

In a press conference, Olson shared this performance was necessary for her as her last few matches were not that good. Additionally, she said that she tries not to look at her stats during the matches. She said (via UCLA Athletics, 1:50 onwards):

"I felt good, it was kind of like time coming, the last few matches have been kind of tough for me. Stats wise, I try not to look at that while I'm just trying to compete so, I was glad my team going to win."

Grayce Olson's last few matches before the IOWA Hawkeyes clash included 18 and 12 kills against Illinois and Indiana, respectively.