In her first year at Seattle Pacific University, freshman Megan Omlid has quickly become a top player for SPU’s volleyball team, appearing in 98 sets over 26 matches and leading the team with 343 kills.
Born and raised in Washington, Omlid has played volleyball since the first grade, and her time at Lakewood High School solidified her love of the game. She became a varsity starter all four years, and captain for three of them. She also competed three times on the first and second Northwest All-Conference women’s volleyball teams.
“In high school, that was the first time where I thought I wanted to keep playing and playing in college was an option. My sophomore, freshman year of high school I was like ‘okay I’m gonna actually start the recruiting process because I don’t want to stop playing after this.’ Now I’m here and I want to play for as long as possible,” Omlid said.
Although volleyball is a large part of Omlid’s life, she also has a passion for animals and switched her major from exercise science to physiology to fulfill that.
“I kind of wanted to go into sports. Then I was here for a few weeks and was like, ‘hm I don’t know if I want to do that anymore,’ so I switched it. I love animals and I had someone talk to me saying they were surprised I wasn’t going into veterinarian school, so I thought more about it and switched to physiology so I’d have more options of maybe going into sports or vet school,” Omlid said.
As both an athlete and a student, Omlid spoke on how personal identity can get mixed up into one’s identity on the court. She has been thankful for the coaches at SPU who let her keep those two sides separate.
“I think that a lot of times it’s hard not to mix them. Throughout club and high school I felt it was too mixed, almost in an unhealthy way. Like, if I wasn’t performing in volleyball, then I was not happy the next day. But I think the coaches do a great job of separating your worth from your performance. That really helped me a lot this season,” Omlid said.
Omlid plans to excel as both a student and an athlete. With the help of her coaches, she is ready to work toward her dream while still bringing life to the sport she loves.
“I had no expectations coming into playing here. That helped me in a way because my mom has always said ‘all you can do is your best.’ and that kind of helps me know that it doesn’t matter how I perform as long as I am trying the hardest I can at the moment,” Omlid said.
