Grove City-based athlete Morgan Geddes says she never wanted to play volleyball. Only after heavy encouragement from her mother did the 5’11’’ fourth grader agree to try the sport, playing for Grove City Parks and Recreation and the Chapel Hill sand volleyball program.
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“That first practice, I loved it, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Geddes says.
Grateful for her mother’s insistence, Geddes says volleyball has made her who she is today, teaching her to strive for success in many facets of life.
“I was always this awkward, really tall, really skinny kid, and that was so different from everyone else around me,” Geddes says. “(Volleyball) helped me make friends, and I think that’s the part that has really been my favorite.”
After a long journey of hard work, passion and dedication, Geddes is now living her dream as a professional volleyball player.
Defeating doubt
Growing to 6’2’’ before her freshman year at Central Crossing High School, Geddes says she was uncoordinated and untrained as high school volleyball tryouts loomed. However, her potential didn’t go unnoticed.
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“I remember going to open gyms as this awkward little eighth grader who was getting ready to go into high school, and I didn’t know what to expect,” Geddes says. “I guess it worked because they put me on varsity, and I was not expecting that.”
Playing for Central Crossing, Geddes says she discovered her home position of outside hitter, a player who functions as the team’s “garbage man” by correcting mistakes and initiating different plays.
Indiana University Athletics
Geddes also joined a club volleyball team at Elite Volleyball Training Center (VBTC) as a high schooler. There, she says she had more serious opportunities to train and develop skills.
“If you weren’t doing it right, it was like the whole gym stopped and everyone watched you until you did it right,” Geddes says. “That prepared me so much for college, so at the time I was terrified, but now I look back and I really appreciate it.”
Club volleyball practices were filled with lifting, drills, technical work and feedback, and Geddes says she gradually improved. She soon made the highest-level team at Elite VBTC which came with resources to connect with college volleyball recruiters.
“I was like, ‘Woah, I’m 15 years old. What’s happening?’” Geddes says. “I just remember calling all of these coaches, and I was always out of breath when I was on the phone with them because I would pace, and I would clean my room because I was so nervous… my room hasn’t been that clean since that process stopped.”
As a sophomore, Geddes tagged along on a tour of Indiana University with a teammate who was being recruited by the school. There she met IU Head Volleyball Coach Steve Aird, who brought unexpected news.
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“I sat down in his office, and I was hugging a pillow because I was so nervous and really, really sweaty,” Geddes says. “Steve was like, ‘We want you,’ and everybody was like, ‘Are you sure?’”
Aird offered Geddes a full athletic scholarship, which she accepted after falling in love with the university’s campus.
“Those years of club – it was a lot of work, and it was a lot of doubt, and it was a lot of me being really hard on myself because I didn’t feel perfect,” Geddes says. “Even though most of the time I don’t feel like a good enough player, I’m still here and someone believes in me.”
Imposter syndrome
Transitioning to college volleyball was like starting over, Geddes says.
“I had thought I was training a lot in high school, and I was doing all the right things,” Geddes says. “I would describe getting through college as relearning entirely how to play the game of volleyball.”
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This intense period of growth was amazing, she says, with countless opportunities to learn and make lifelong connections with her new teammates.
“These are the girls that I’m going to have in my life forever – these are my sisters,” Geddes says. “It was tough a lot of the time, and we went through that together, and we are just so close now.”
Geddes says one of her greatest accomplishments as a college athlete was making USA Volleyball’s Collegiate National Team, a program offering unique opportunities to select college talent.
After attending a tryout for the program, Geddes says she was notified that she made the team during spring break of her junior year.
Retouched Reality
“I was freaking out. People probably thought I was crazy, but I was excited, so I didn’t really care,” Geddes says.
As part of the Collegiate National Team, Geddes traveled to California for one week of training with volleyball players from across the country, as well as Team USA. Playing with Olympians, Geddes says, made her feel like an impostor.
“It was so cool to watch them practice and see them… mess up because you see them on TV and (think), ‘Holy crap, they’re so good, they’re not real, they’re not human,’” she says. “(But), everybody gets aced, everybody hits a ball out of bounds, it’s not the end of the world if you do that.”
After five successful years at IU, Geddes graduated in 2024 with a degree in exercise science.
Big play
Upon her graduation, Geddes says she simply wasn’t ready for a 9-to-5 job. It was an easy decision to explore professional leagues, she says.
Retouched Reality
It wasn’t long before Geddes was extended an offer to play for a professional volleyball team in Örebro, Sweden. She had just one day to accept, which she did without hesitation.
“I don’t ever want to give it up,” Geddes says. “I’m just going to keep going and see how much I can keep achieving until my body decides to give out.”
The next thing she knew, Geddes was signing a contract and applying for a visa.
“That process happened so fast,” Geddes says. “I was just excited to go live somewhere else and just experience anything I could experience, and it just so happened to be Sweden.”
Geddes was situated in Örebro within months of earning her degree, joining her new team halfway through its season in December 2024. Geddes played in Sweden’s Elitserien league, the highest conference of professional volleyball in the country, for the 2024-25 season and collected serval wins and medals.
As she looks ahead to the 2025-26 season, Geddes is excited to travel to Switzerland to join the VBC Cheseaux volleyball team for its next season.
Despite the day-to-day athlete lifestyle and cultural shocks, Geddes says she has no regrets.
“I’m getting to play the sport that I love,” Geddes says. “This is my job now, this is the only thing that I’m here to do, but I love the sport, so it doesn’t feel like that.”
Geddes says volleyball has once again forced her outside her comfort zone, allowing her to embrace this new experience she never would have explored otherwise.
“The biggest thing for me looking back … I would have been nicer to myself,” Geddes says. “You can’t be good in a day, it just doesn’t happen. You have to learn, you have to grow, you have to develop, and you have to give yourself time to do those things.”
Frances Denman is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com
