University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Meghan Froemming
October 29, 2019 | Volleyball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Meghan Froemming has long looked up to her older brother, Nick, a collegiate swimmer. The work he put in, those daily morning and afternoon swims, they made an impression on the Georgia volleyball freshman.
A middle blocker/right-side hitter from Marietta, Ga., Froemming won four state championships at Walton High School, where she was a teammate of Bulldog redshirt sophomore Dalaney Hans. She was also club ball teammates (and great friends) with fellow freshman Alexa Fortin.
During a Quick Chat before practice Tuesday, Froemming talked about being here with Fortin, admiring her brother, playing lacrosse and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:Â
Frierson: How has your adjustment to college been? Have you learned how to do things like study on planes or in hotel rooms?
Froemming: I do definitely think I've struggled more in college with focusing my time on studies instead of socializing. It's very easy to get carried away with roommates and stuff like that, especially in the hotel rooms (on road trips) and stuff like that. I'll want to go talk to the other girls instead of studying, but I think for the most part my classes aren't too rigorous right now so I've been able to manage it.
Frierson: I know you and Alexa have played volleyball together and been friends for a very long time, so what is it like being here together and sharing all of this with her?
Froemming: Yeah, it's super neat. I never imagined that that would be the case but it's awesome because she's one of those friends that has always been there for me. Being so close, we weren't always together through school and all of that time together, we just played club together, but being here together, it has been awesome and we've grown even closer.
Frierson: I saw where your brother, Nick, is a swimmer at Denison. Were you ever a swimmer and are you forever grateful that you don't have to do the early-morning swim and then the afternoon swim every single day?
Froemming: [Laughs.] Oh, yes. I used to get bored with swimming when I went to his meets so I was like, "Mom, sign me up so I could swim in the free periods and entertain myself." So I picked up swimming for a little bit and then I decided that it was not what I wanted to do because I was still playing other sports.
I definitely am grateful that I don't have to wake up at 6 in the morning and jump into a freezing-cold pool and swim laps.
Frierson: I have so much admiration for Georgia's swimmers because of how hard they work day after day.
Froemming: My brother's been a big role model all of my life. I always wanted to follow in his competitive footsteps. He's always been good with swimming because he's very competitive and he could find that motivation (to grind out hard practices).
He's always liked swimming because while it's a team sport it's just you in that lane swimming for your team, while I've always loved being on a team where you're all putting something in to come out with a win.
Frierson: What other sports did you play?
Froemming: I did the basics that everyone does: I started out with gymnastics and dance and then I moved out of that quickly into soccer, and I played soccer for a good bit but I didn't love it. Then they wanted me to be the goalie and I did not like that.
I started playing lacrosse because a lot of my neighbors and family friends were in it and I stuck with that for the longest time, before volleyball. I joined volleyball in six or seventh grade and I fell in love that, and then I couldn't choose between lacrosse and volleyball.
They're very different sports, as you can tell, and I really enjoyed the physical aspects of lacrosse but then in volleyball there is just a certain satisfying experience when you hit that ball and no one can stop it.
I played both of those up until my sophomore year when I tore my ACL, and at that point I had been looking at schools and contemplating what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. I'd had some hardships with volleyball and I knew that I kept pushing through them for some reason and there was a reason I was not going to give up on it. I had a heart-to-heart with my mom one time and she was like, "You've gone through so much and yet you don't want to give it up, so I know there's a reason you want to stay with it."
Through all the stuff that happened, I knew that volleyball was what I wanted to do. When I tore my ACL in lacrosse that was upsetting and I knew I was done with the sport, so that really made the decision to pick one or the other because I didn't want to do both all the way through school.
Frierson: What did having that kind of injury in high school teach you?
Froemming: There were a lot of lessons — I kind of just had to focus on the mini-victories, as I like to say. I remember I was able to take my first shower by myself and I was able to move my leg by myself, there were just a lot of things and you had to find the positives in them because it would be really easy to focus on the sad parts.
Frierson: If you could go anywhere in the world on somebody else's dime, where would you like to go and who would you take with you?
Froemming: I'd probably want to go to Greece, that's somewhere that I've always wanted to go. I'd take six or seven of my best friends from home that we all played volleyball together and we've been inseparable for most of our lives and then Alexa, too. All of them bring me such joy that I'd love to share that experience with all of them and have a lot of fun.
Frierson: You were a part of four volleyball state championship teams in high school, so what is it like to go through that? Is there pressure to keep going after the first couple?
Froemming: There was pressure but it was very exciting. We had a great group of girls, underclassmen and upperclassmen — I played with Dalaney (Hans) a little bit and she was an awesome mentor — and it was a great experience. Getting to have that high a competitive team, especially at a young age coming in as a freshman, there was that standard to meet.
It was really fun and I think it made me a more competitive person because you had to compete for every spot you wanted on that team. Every minute counted and every game counted.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Froemming: I don't know why but I think dancing would be a cool thing. I was always intrigued by people that could dance, not just ballet but like hip=hop and other stuff like that. I think I was always intrigued by some of my friends who chose that path — I always thought it was cool.
If I could be really good at it and people would be like, "wow, she's a good dancer." There are just so many cool things you can do. I watch all of the dance shows and I think it's really cool what they do.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
