Emma Olson is in her third season as the Washington and Lee assistant volleyball coach.
Over Olson's three years with the program, the Generals have registered a 66-18 overall record and a 31-3 mark in the ODAC, including back-to-back ODAC Championships. She's had two players earn AVCA Honorable Mention All-America laurels, four players garner All-Region honors and seven players total 12 All-ODAC citations. The Generals have also had the ODAC Player of the Year each of the last two campaigns.
In the fall of 2021, the team went 26-8 and 11-0 in conference play, winning the conference title and advancing to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. During the truncated 2020-21 season, the Generals recorded the first undefeated season in program history, notching a 16-0 mark overall and 11-0 ODAC record in the spring en route to winning the league championship. The Blue and White also achieved the program's highest ever national ranking, peaking at 22nd. In Olson's first season, W&L finished with a 24-10 record and a 9-3 mark in league play.
Olson came to W&L from Mary Washington where she served as the assistant coach in 2018. She was named the interim head coach at the university in February 2019 and held that role for three months, performing all the day-to-day coaching responsibilities for the program. In her one season as the assistant, the Eagles were ranked nationally and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 21-12 record.
Also in 2018, Olson was the head coach at the CORE Volleyball Club in Fredericksburg. In 2017-18, she was the head coach for the U-14 Virginia Juniors Volleyball Club in Centreville, Va., and she served as an assistant for the U-17 team. She also served one season as an assistant at Briar Woods High School that year, and served two years as an assistant with the Fredericksburg Juniors Volleyball Club from 2014-16.
Olson graduated from Mary Washington in 2017 with a bachelor of science in history. As a player, Olson was the first All-American in program history and led the Eagles to the 2016 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, as one of two seniors on a team that finished 31-4 on the season. She still ranks third all-time in UMW history in career assists, with 3,461 during her four-year career.
Olson earned a master of science in sports management from Southern New Hampshire University.
