From island breeze to Midwest freeze, libero Elena Oglivie dives headfirst into her rookie season with the Rise.
Story by Alex Eisen / Photo by Nicolas Carrillo
In the middle of a weeklong East Coast road trip, Elena Oglivie and her Stanford volleyball teammates had just finished another flight when she nervously checked her phone. The first couple rounds of the 2024 Pro Volleyball Federation Draft had already passed, and she still hadn’t been selected. Her nerves — and hunger — were starting to set in.
“We were in line at Bojangles at the airport when I got the text from my head coach, Kevin Hambly, saying congratulations,” Oglivie recalled. “I was confused because nothing had happened yet. Then, a second later, I saw Cathy George’s name pop up on my phone. I immediately started crying. It has been my childhood dream to be a pro volleyball player.”
George, head coach and VP of volleyball operations for the Rise, selected Oglivie in the fourth round, 29th overall. The two-time AVCA All-American and Pac-12 Libero of the Year from Honolulu, Hawaii, would be staying on the mainland. After years of dedication and unwavering devotion to the game, her path as a professional athlete was finally becoming clear.
Growing up on the island of Oʻahu, Oglivie embraced a rich mix of cultures, with her mom, Helene, having Korean, Chinese, and Hawaiian heritage, and her dad, Septimus, being Panamanian. Family gatherings are filled with diverse foods — Hawaiian dishes at Christmas and Korean food for New Year's — and a variety of cherished traditions.
As the youngest of five siblings, Oglivie has always been close to her family. Her oldest sister, Malie, lives in Hawaii with her four kids, while her brothers, Kawika and Septimus III, also call Hawaii home. However, Oglivie mostly followed in the footsteps of her sister, Ana, who is currently serving in the military and was a collegiate libero at Army (2017-20).
“I did everything she did,” Oglivie said. “She started to play volleyball, so I started to play volleyball. Then I fell in love with it. She is one of my biggest role models.”
The two sisters teamed up to win the Hawaii high school state volleyball championship in 2016 with ‘Iolani School when Elena was a freshman outside hitter and Ana was a senior setter.
“It’s one of my most memorable volleyball highlights, a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Elena said, reminiscing. “We were the underdogs that season and just came out of nowhere. My sister and I had this connection that’s hard for me to even put into words. It was like we just knew what to do and didn’t even have to speak about it. It was also the one time that we were ever going to get to play together. I think that’s what made it so special.”
Elena won another state title in 2018 and was named a three-time Gatorade State Player of the Year for Hawaii. She also played club volleyball for Kui'kahi VBC and was immersed in Hawaii’s volleyball scene from a young age, starting at 6 years old as a setter.
“The volleyball community in Hawaii just feels like family because everybody’s so close-knit,” Oglivie said. “That’s what kind of drew me to going to Stanford — they had a little bit of that culture, that sense of family and community.”
Hambly, who had previously recruited and coached current Rise player Ali Bastianelli at Illinois (2015-16) and led the Stanford Cardinal to back-to-back national championships in 2018 and 2019, embodied the winning tradition and culture that attracted Oglivie.
At 5-foot-10, undersized for a college outside hitter, Oglivie was recruited by Hambly as a potential libero. Despite receiving other college offers to remain in her high school position, she embraced the chance to contribute in a new way.
“It’s a great school and I wanted to be on the court helping my team,” Oglivie said. “I didn’t want to say no just so I could keep hitting, so I made the transition my freshman year.”
After a COVID-19-shortened freshman season that only featured 10 matches, Oglivie was able to focus solely on her development, emerging as one of the most reliable liberos in the country. She drew on her Hawaiian volleyball roots, where the expectation is every player can pass and dig at a high level.
“My sophomore year really felt like my freshman year,” Oglivie said. “But I have to give a lot of credit to Kevin [Hambly]. He instilled in us that growth comes through mistakes. It’s not about making them; it’s about how you respond and bounce back that truly matters.”
Oglivie racked up 2,075 digs (4.192 per set) in 136 matches (495 sets) for Stanford during her five-year tenure from 2020-24. She won the Pac-12 championship twice and played in four NCAA Tournaments (2021-24), reaching the NCAA Regional Final three times.
Making the transition to libero clearly paid off for Oglivie, who also credits Stanford assistant coach and fellow Hawaii native Mike Johnson for helping shape her development.
“He helped me become the player that I am today,” she said. “I give a lot of credit to him. But, overall, Stanford was unforgettable. I'm a little sad and know that I'll miss it for the rest of my life whenever I look back on those college days. It became home for me. The people there just made it that way. It was very community-oriented. I loved every single girl I played with, and it felt like our own family.”
Leaving Stanford behind was even more difficult when Oglivie’s last season frustratingly ended one win shy of reaching the Final Four for the third time in her collegiate career. With no time to mourn, Oglivie reported to Rise preseason training camp the following week.
“I was extremely nervous for that first practice because you don’t really know how your new teammates are going to be with new players coming in,” Oglivie said. “Everyone is fighting for a spot on the roster, or to be a starter. It’s very competitive.”
Oglivie got up to speed quickly, with the support of fellow Rise liberos Jena Otec and Valeria León. The trio, all vying for the same starting position, pushed each other to improve without undermining one another, for the betterment of the team. Oglivie started off observing and understanding the different drills before jumping straight into the action.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to follow you guys this first time because you know what you’re doing,’” Oglivie said. “Then I was just going to do whatever they were doing. They were very welcoming and helped me a lot. They’re literally some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. They have given me so much advice about volleyball, and outside of volleyball too.”
All three Rise liberos earned a spot on the team, with Oglivie and Otec securing places on the active roster. Otec started the first three matches of the season before Oglivie was given her first pro start. Despite not starting, Oglivie still played in six sets through the first three matches as a defensive specialist.
Oglivie recorded four digs and four assists in her first start as the Rise won their first match of the season in a 3-0 sweep over the Atlanta Vibe on Jan. 19. She followed that up with 22 digs in a five-set win over the Orlando Valkyries on Jan. 30 and cemented her spot as the team’s starting libero through the first half of the season.
More than the perfect passes and diving digs, Oglivie is consistent and attentive.
“It’s a lot of reading what the opposing offense is going to do,” Oglivie said about role. “It’s a little bit easier when you have good blockers like we do, but you need to study their hitters and know their tendencies. Sure, sometimes it is luck, but most of the time, you’ve got to be in the right spot where you’re at least anticipating that next shot. And a good libero is going to be great in serve receive as well. That helps take pressure off your hitters.”
As a rookie, Oglivie has brought composure and reliable coverage to anchor the Rise defense. Despite the pressure of competing at the professional level, she’s found a sense of comfort and belonging in Grand Rapids.
“I was scared to come to Michigan because it was very different and a new part of the country that I haven’t really been to,” Oglivie said. “But everyone is just so nice here, and they don’t care who you are. It reminds me of home.”