Grayce Olson has medically retired with one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, the UCLA women’s volleyball junior pin hitter announced via Instagram on Tuesday evening. 

“For well over two years now, I have been dealing with a knee injury that has significantly impacted my physical health,” Olson said in her post. “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.”

The pin hitter added that personal matters forced her to step away from the sport in January before she ultimately decided to end her career. 

Olson appeared in 27 of the Bruins’ 29 games in 2024, starting 25 times. The junior ranked second on the team with 249 kills – only behind junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette, an All-Big Ten First-Team honoree – and recorded a career-best .241 hitting percentage last season. She reached double-digit kills 12 times in 2024, recording a career-high 20 against then-No. 20 Penn State on Oct. 24.

Olson was previously named to the 2022 Pac-12 All-Freshman team and accumulated a career-best 289 kills across 108 sets in 2023 – trailing only 2024 Paris Olympian Iman Ndiaye for the team lead.

A graduate of Foothill High School in Pleasanton, California, Olson was named the 2021 Northern California Section California Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year and an AVCA High School First Team All-American. Routinely ranked one of the top amateur recruits before arriving in Westwood, Olson played her freshman year under then-coach Michael Sealy before serving as a go-to offensive option during coach Alfee Reft’s first two campaigns at UCLA. 

Olson marks at least the Bruins’ sixth departure after a 14-15 campaign in 2024. She finished her NCAA career with 702 kills and a .220 clip across 282 sets.