Utah native Olivia Ruy brings power four experience to Utah State

With serious shake-ups within Utah State University’s volleyball team occurring last offseason, new head coach Keith Smith and his coaching staff needed to find players who could help bring stability to the team. For the Aggies, one of the most valuable pieces for that role has been junior outside hitter Olivia Ruy. For Smith, making sure Ruy would become an Aggie was one of his first goals as USU’s head coach. 

“She was my first call. I got hired on a Thursday. We didn’t tell the team until Saturday. I did a team Zoom, and she was a part of it, and literally, the Zoom hung up, and I called her right after that, so that was number one priority — to keep her,” Smith said. “It was highly important because we lost 90% of our offense, either in the portal or to graduation. Part of what was so important was her experience, part of it was talent, part of it was that she’s just kind of a special, motivated human.” 

Ruy entered the season as one of the Aggies’ most seasoned veterans, playing at different Power Four schools until finding her way to USU. Even before college, Ruy spent years playing among the highest levels of volleyball in the nation. From a young age, Ruy knew that volleyball would be her lifelong passion. 

“Growing up, I would be peppering with my dad in the living room, and I loved it, but when I was eight or nine, a family friend was playing volleyball, and I went to their tournament. While I was there, I just kind of fell in love with it. I knew immediately that was what I wanted to do,” Ruy said. “I hopped on a rec team, and then I just went into the club season the next season, so I haven’t stopped since I was nine on my club team.” 

A Salt Lake City native, Ruy quickly moved up the ranks of the volleyball world, finding herself among the premier teams of club volleyball in Utah. 

“By the time I was 12, I was on a traveling competitive team, and they kind of funnel you into collegiate athletics. I played for Club V in Salt Lake City, and it’s a very competitive club. It’s a club that colleges consistently recruit from, and that helped me realize I could play in college,” Ruy said. “In high school I was also on a really good team. We were ranked in the nation, and we were getting a lot of looks at national tournaments — we’d have coaches on our court during games.” 

Out of high school, Ruy would commit to play volleyball at the University of Arkansas. Knowing she wanted to be in a big conference, she would head to the SEC, where she would take on some of the powerhouses of the sport. 

“I loved Arkansas. That was my first visit, and then I went on three or four other visits before I committed, and nothing really compared. I mean, it is an SEC school. A big reason I went was for a coach named Macey Gardner,” Ruy said.  “She played at Arizona State [University] under Jason Watson, the Arkansas coach. She played my position, and she was unreal at volleyball. I felt that she could really push me. I also knew that I wanted to leave home and have a new experience that way.” 

After two years in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Ruy would make the decision to enter the transfer portal. She would find herself at the University of Maryland. 

“It was an emotional decision to leave Arkansas because I did love it, and I loved the people that I was around, the culture, but I felt like the program was kind of going to go a little bit of a different way than I wanted it to,” Ruy said. “I ended up at Maryland because there were four other girls that were coming in with me, and three of them were also SEC pins. I felt really confident that we would be a really good team, and we would be able to turn some heads and kind of change the trajectory of Maryland volleyball.” 

Ruy would only play one season at Maryland before entering the transfer portal again. This time, connections from home would lead to USU. Players such as Ava Napierski and Ava Nakai grew up playing with Ruy, and they would have a major impact on Ruy’s decision to come back to Utah. 

“Back in December, when Ruy was in the portal, it was Rob [Neilson] and Chloe [Hirst] recruiting her at the time. I hopped on a call with Chloe because she knew that we knew each other from Club V. She asked me questions about her and whether she would fit in,” Napierski said in a phone call with The Utah Statesman. “I immediately said, ‘I think Olivia Ruy could come to this team and wouldn’t skip a beat. She wouldn’t be hesitant on the court,’ and that’s exactly what’s happened. She wasn’t hesitant at all. She immediately came in and played her volleyball, and I think that created a great connection with the team.” 

Despite former head coach Rob Neilson’s departure for Brigham Young University, Ruy felt that USU was still the best fit for her, especially under the direction of Smith. 

“I committed under Rob right before he left, kind of knowing that there was a good chance that he was going to leave and then stayed committed and met Keith. I think that Keith was pretty much exactly what I needed as a player,” Ruy said. “I was really lacking in some confidence and really trying to get out of a little bit of a rut that I had dug myself into when I was at Maryland, just in performance, and Keith was a coach that believed in me. He was a coach who had a really good vision for the program.” 

With so many new faces on this year’s team, her relationships with others have helped bring the team together. 

“The biggest impact she’s had is her leadership. She believes in us, and she believes in herself and the coaches. She has bought into anything coach Smith says, and with any feedback, she tries to implement it. Off the court, she’s bought into our relationship — she’s bought into being a good person for you and wants to leave you better off than she found you,” Napierski said. “Her relationship building has helped this team much faster. The more new people there are, the harder it is for the team to connect, but I don’t feel that was the case at all with this team, and I feel like Ruy was a big factor in that.” 

For Smith, the example she sets for the team has been extremely important for creating the culture around the program. 

“Her leadership is seen every day just by her actions. You know, lead by example. She’s not afraid to talk and say stuff too, but for the most part, she just comes in and does her job every single day, and when she says things, no one feels attacked because she’s such an awesome human outside the gym, too,” said Smith. “She is one of the most disciplined athletes I’ve ever been fortunate enough to work with. If she isn’t doing something well, she stays late and does extra work, which sounds basic, but not everyone does it all the time. She does it all the time, consistently. I think she’s going to be a huge part of starting our culture — or continuing that culture, if you will.” 

While the Aggies’ season hasn’t started out quite as hoped, Smith feels like Ruy’s experience will be irreplaceable as the team heads into conference play. Smith also expects that her role on the court will grow as the season progresses. For now, the team is quite clear about how important Ruy has been to this team, especially amongst all the change the program has seen.