Kimi Olson - Volleyball Coach - Michigan State University Athletics

Kimi Olson

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
kolson@ath.msu.edu
Phone Number:
353-1756

The Olson File
Previous Coaching Experience:
Head Coach at Eastern Michigan University (2015-18)
Assistant coach at College of Charleston
Assistant coach at University at Albany

2013 AVCA “Thirty Under 30” Recipient
2003 NCAA Champion at USC

Michigan State added Kimi Olson as the program’s Associate Head Coach in early 2019. She joined the Spartan staff after a successful four-year run as the head coach at Eastern Michigan University.
   In 2018, Eastern Michigan reached new heights under Olson’s tutelage, winning its first Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship in program history and first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament, where it fell to No. 3 Illinois, which went on to participate in the Final Four.
    In total, the Eagles made MAC Tournament appearances in three of her four seasons at the helm, and also saw several student-athletes earn impressive accolades. In 2018 alone, Cassie Haut was named MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, while Alyssa LaFace became the first EMU player since 2002 to be named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region team, while also earning a spot on the All-MAC First Team along with Haut and Jordan Smith. Over four seasons, she coached five All-MAC honorees, as well as 22 Academic All-MAC selections.
    Olson has compiled 12 years of experience coaching and competing at the Division I level between EMU and her previous stops as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston and University of Albany. A rising star in the collegiate volleyball coaching ranks and a tenacious recruiter of student-athletes, Olson was a 2013 recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) “Thirty Under 30” award.
   In her five seasons at College of Charleston, the Cougars posted a 131-39 record and a 70-8 mark in conference play. As a group, they won five conference championships and earned three NCAA Tournament bids. Additionally, the 2012 squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after the program’s first-ever victory over a ranked team, defeating No. 23 Miami in five sets.
   Olson arrived in Charleston following two years on staff at the University of Albany where she was responsible for recruiting. While there, she helped lead the Great Danes to a 45-18 overall record and a 22-0 mark in the America East Conference, earning an NCAA Tournament bid in 2008.
   Olson is a 2008 graduate of the University of Southern California, where she was a four-year letterwinner. The former Kimi Freeburg helped the Women of Troy to a perfect 35-0 record in 2003 as USC captured the NCAA title. During her career, USC compiled a 102-22 overall record and an impressive 58-14 mark in Pac-10 play while making four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and Final Four runs in both 2003 and 2004. She captained the squad as a junior and a senior.
    Olson and her husband, Jon, have three children and reside in East Lansing.

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