Fredriksson’s history speaks high volumes

By Aaron Graff

It took one Saluki volleyball player nearly two months longer to arrive in Carbondale than the rest of the team.

Freshman outside hitter Nellie Fredriksson comes from Sweden, where she became the youngest player to play in the Elitserien League. The Elitserien is the highest volleyball division in Sweden.

“I’ve been playing in it since I was 14,” Fredriksson said. “It gets kind of old.”

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Fredriksson said when she started, the closest player in age to her was 17, but there were players that were older than 25. She said some were getting paid, but she couldn’t because she was still in school.

She was the captain of the junior national team from 2007 to 2013 and played in eight matches for the Swedish senior national team. She was named the best Scandinavian spiker in 2009 and 2010.

Fredriksson said she dreamed of playing at the collegiate level in America because her former Elitserien teammate Whitney Turner expressed to Fredriksson how much she learned. Turner played for Northeastern University from 2003 to 2006, where she was ninth all-time with 1,085 kills.

Fredriksson said it’s a higher playing level than the Elitserien League because she is learning new techniques. She said she only learned how to hit and pass in Sweden.

“It’s more intense,” Frediksson said. “You have two [matches] a day. We don’t have that. We only have one, and then we wait another week and we have one more. Here, it’s like game, game, game, game.”

Fredriksson said when coach Justin Ingram made the recruiting trip to Sweden, it made her 100 percent sure she wanted to come to SIU.

“I think it’s important, in some cases for sure, to not just engage with the student athlete, but also the folks,” Ingram said. “It’s valuable for them to see who their daughter is going to be trained by.”

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Ingram said the trip cost about the same as a trip to somewhere else in America, but SIU administration had to approve more because it was out of the country.

“That’s impressive on their part, to trust that making a trip over there is going to be worth it for one athlete,” Ingram said. “We’re pretty ecstatic about the support level of SIU and our ability to do things like that.”

Ingram said Fredriksson was close to committing last fall, but once the season started they lost some communication. He said once he had a recruiting opportunity in January, he made the trip.

“Our current team is the most important thing,” Ingram said. “Recruiting is next after that. We needed to make sure the team was good in the fall, and that’s what we did.”

Ingram said international athletes tend to arrive later than American’s because it’s a longer process. International students have to send their transcripts and apply like any other student, but they also have to apply for visa’s, which takes extra time.

The team has five international athletes, including sophomore setter/ hitter Meg Viggars from England. Viggars said her transition was scary at first, but she got used to it quickly.

“I love being away from home,” Viggars said.

Fredriksson said she is homesick.

She said she misses her family and speaking her own language. She said she tries to text her loved ones at home every day, but it’s hard because of the time commitment and the time difference. Fredriksson hopes to Skype with her family every Sunday.

Fredriksson said arriving late was a disadvantage because she had to adjust quickly to a new sleeping schedule.

“I have a headache still,” Fredriksson said. “The time difference was really hard at the beginning. Sweden is seven hours before us.”

Fredriksson said her teammates and coaches here have helped make the transition by welcoming her, and she isn’t afraid to ask them when she needs help.

“I think it’s always important to speak to internationals,” Viggars said. “Especially when you are an international, so they know what it’s about and what America is like.”

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