It seemed as if the ball was going to trickle over the boundary line.
Hannah Pukis had just backset it over to Mimi Colyer as the tandem of freshman attempted to end a back-and-forth rally between Oregon volleyball and USC.
The Ducks were leading 14-12 in the fifth set, needing just one more point to complete a three-set comeback on the Trojans. Despite it looking long, Colyer’s return nestled just inside the margins.
The team rushed over to Colyer for a giant group hug. Her shot meant Oregon had pulled off a reverse sweep for the second time in a week. The win extended their streak to 11, and Colyer had 29 kills, setting a new career high.
Since she’s arrived on campus, she has been an asset to the team and has made an immediate impact, which isn’t always the case for a freshman. Colyer didn’t need time to adjust to the speed of the collegiate game because she’s always been around competition. It’s what her family dynamic was predicated on.
“I’ve always been around competition — like, healthy competition,” Colyer said. “Through growing up in sports, I’ve been able to see competition as a good thing, and to make sure I’m always in the right headspace to compete.”
She’s the daughter of two former collegiate athletes at Long Beach State. Understandably, competition was at the root of her family’s dynamic. Simple occasions like spending time at the house or on family outings easily turned competitive.
The competitiveness that comes from her relationship with her family is present in her play at Oregon — it certainly helped Oregon comeback against USC. It started when she was little, and it’s the first choice of activity when everyone is home. Since everyone plays different sports, they couldn’t keep up with each other on the court or the field. What they did have in common was that competitive energy and it found its way into family game night.
It became so popular within the Colyer household that on special occasions, like New Year’s Eve, instead of watching the countdown on their television, they would be posted in the family game room.
In 2020, that task became tougher as they couldn’t invite any extended family over because of the pandemic. They were starting to get antsy.
“We created the Colyer Olympics,” Nicole Colyer, Mimi’s mom, said. “We did a bunch of funny games, but everyone kept it competitive.”
There were some nights where people wouldn’t talk to each other, but in a house full of athletes, it’s hard to keep things gentle.
Sitting on the phone, talking to Mimi’s mom, she’s sifting through the game closet, listing off different games that they play together. She told me about this game they loved to play called “Who’s the Goat” where you pick who’s going to be the best at random challenges and then you vote by throwing a small rubber goat at the winner.
“It got to a point where Mimi would beat us at everything, so we would throw all of the goats at her,” Nicole said.
The motivation and determination that she has during game nights manifested itself in sports. She started out playing club soccer until she found volleyball. She played locally until she realized that this was the sport she wanted to focus on.
Before arriving in Eugene, Colyer was the 43rd ranked recruit in the country. The Lincoln, California, native finished her senior season with 607 kills and a .564 hitting percentage, the second-highest in the state.
“I’ve coached some of the best players out of the Sacramento area, and I’ve never seen anyone that was as good at taking information and putting it into action,” Lincoln coach Jeff Deter said. “Her ability to apply what was taught was amazing and her length and height, along with the ability to control the ball, is exceptional.”
When Deter took over the coaching duties at Lincoln High School, he was told that he was going to have one of the best players in the area. After the first week of practices, he realized that Colyer was going to be special.
“It was because of how fast she learned, and she was like that with everything. She will learn something from every situation.” Deter said. “When she was hitting against her teammates that weren’t as skilled, she would get more creative because she understood that pounding the ball every time wouldn’t benefit her.”
Colyer always wants to learn. She’s able to take away something from every coach and chooses what she wants to add to her arsenal — a skill that’s helped her adapt to each new environment she faces.
Now that she’s in this new stage of her life with starting college, moving to a new state and playing at a new level, she’s adjusting to it nicely.
She’s won eight Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards, the most in conference history. She’s been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and AVCA All-Region Freshman of the Year. She’s broken school records, despite being on campus for less than a year.
She doesn’t show emotion during the game, which keeps opponents on their toes. Colyer doesn’t let nerves get the best of her, and she’s only concerned about growing into the best athlete and person that she can.
Colyer is one of the best players in the nation, and she’s just getting started. As a freshman phenom, she’s still showing signs of growth. While she continues to get better, the team will follow in her footsteps.
“She’s a fighter, for sure, and a competitor,” Oregon volleyball head coach Matt Ulmer said. “The more that comes out, the better we’re going to be.”
