Feature: Soccer twins of USC Aiken

Hey Pacers, have you ever walked throughout campus and noticed a familiar face, only twice? Our campus has a few sets of twins among us, but this set of familiar faces are those of Gressa and Willa Olson.

Our very own Olson twins—not to be confused with the famous set—are from Champaign, Illinois. They’re juniors at USC Aiken and play soccer together on the team.

The two credit their passion for soccer to their older sister, who played the sport at both Illinois State and Purdue University.

“We like to thank our parents for our success,” they agreed. “(and) our older sister for leading the way.”

They are the only twins in their immediate family, but they do have other siblings and they think the resemblance is still striking.

“We all look similar and you can definitely tell that we’re related,” said Willa.

Like many twins, they find themselves saying the same things at the same time, which they mentioned “really trips people up.”

Despite having a strong bond, they have personal styles that make them unique. 

“Gressa will wear whatever she wants, whether it’s great or not good at all,” said Willa, an exercise sports science major, about her sister.

“And Willa tries to always look nice,“ responded Gressa, who studies fine arts.

The two also mentioned that they get mistaken for each other all the time by both teammates and referees.

“Willa did get an undeserved yellow card in high school soccer because of something I did,” admitted Gressa.

The twins even admitted to tricking their junior golfers by wearing the same clothes.

“We’re alike in that we’re both creative, hardworking, very thoughtful, both drink lots of coffee,” said Gressa, “but we’re also different because Willa’s a little more organized and I’m a little more easygoing.”