‘On the other side,’ FSU’s Lebdaoui prepares for junior season

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Arnold alum and Florida State soccer player, Olivia Lebdaoui prepares for junior season after her second ACL injury.

In her junior season at Arnold High School, Lebdaoui led the Lady Marlins to the Class 4A State Title game. That marked the farthest run in program history.

What was supposed to be a senior-year redemption run turned into a season on the sideline after she tore her right ACL in practice.

The future was still bright for the Panhandle soccer star set to play at Florida State University.

Lebdaoui was still coming off injury in her freshman season with the Seminoles. In her nine games played, she scored one goal against Florida Gulf Coast University for a 5-0 victory.

“I can slowly see the ball curling in,” Lebdaoui said. “I don’t even remember what I did after. I just see like the pictures of me, like running and hugging my teammates and everyone in the background is jumping up and down.”

Tragedy struck again in the summer following her freshman season. Lebdaoui tore her left ACL and meniscus. That injury took her out of the game for another ten months.

Her driving force during her recovery has been her memories of playing the game.

“It does put things into perspective for me now,” Lebdaoui said. “When I’m feeling like, oh my gosh, recovery is so long, it’s so hard, whatever it’s like. But you can be back there like you’ve done it before. You can do it again.”

Even though Lebdaoui was limited to the sidelines she had a front-row seat to the 2023 season. The undefeated Lady ‘Noles’ secured the program’s third national title.

“Got a little star for the national championship star,” Lebdaoui said. “It’s fun because it’s not just one game. It’s the whole season. We had an undefeated season, so it was a fun watch.”

While Lebdaoui wished for a different year without injury, she said she’s a better player because of it.

“It just teaches you to work harder,” Lebdaoui said. “I’ve put in a lot of time trying to get back on the field and that work doesn’t stop just because I’m back, just because I got cleared.”

Her doctors gave her the O-K in March. She still has to take extra precautions even though she’s fully cleared.

“I’m a year out now from my last one [surgery], and it’s just something that I just got to keep working at, keep strengthening,” Lebdaoui said. “It gets to the point maybe where I don’t have any of those restrictions.”

Lebdaoui is ready to finally be back on the field playing at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

“It’s been well over a year since I played a game on that field,” Lebdaoui said. “I’m hoping to get a couple of minutes in there. I have my family coming to it, and so I want to see that I want them to see me out on the field and a little full circle moment.”

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