Photo by: Tim Cowie/DavidsonPhotos.com
Songaila Finds Her Own Way to Excel
9/23/2026 12:17:00 PM | Volleyball
Davidson volleyball standout went from off the radar to squarely on it
There's a common thread of quiet determination that weaves itself through the athletic career of Davidson's Meile Songaila.
If an opportunity presents itself, even slightly, she's proven she'll make the most of it. She'll do it in her own way, and, if necessary, she'll beat the expectations, too.
A junior outside hitter, Songaila has emerged as a key player on the Davidson volleyball team, which, in some ways at least, could have been described as improbable a few years ago. Songaila's now one of the Wildcats' top scorers, scoring 3.13 points per set for a team that opens Atlantic 10 Conference play at Dayton this weekend.
"I think she has a chip on her shoulder every day, and I love that about her," says Davidson coach Chris Willis. "She's going to show everybody that, 'I belong out here and that I can excel every moment that I'm on the court.'"
Songaila has done that since arriving at Davidson as essentially a walk-on adding depth. But once she joined the rotation out of necessity when starters were injured, Willis couldn't remove her. And it wasn't just her stats, which were fine. There was just something about No. 15 that was difficult to quantify.
She was unique and crafty, so Willis just put his clipboard down and rolled with it.
"Sure enough, it just keeps on piling up," he says. "She keeps on piling up the great outcomes, the scoring. You just go, 'Okay this is her style.' She's very different than our other pin hitters, and it's really hard to defend when she consistently uses the entire court, goes off hands, mixes up shots. …That's what we noticed. She just figured out how to score, and ultimately as coaches, that's what we want to encourage our players to do, to be creative and go out there and figure out what works."
SONGAILA'S PATH
In some ways, it's not difficult to connect the dots on Songaila's success.
She's the daughter of standout athletes. Her father, Darius, was a basketball star at Wake Forest, who played eight NBA seasons. Her mother, Jackie, was a four-year high school state champion in tennis — and three-time track state champion — who excelled on the court at Wake Forest.
Once Meile found volleyball as a seventh grader, she was on an upward trajectory in the sport, a standout who was headed places. She was recruited by Division I colleges early in high school and led her team to a state championship her senior season as the Most Valuable Player.
All of that tracks, but there was also a time when Songaila thought her volleyball career was over.
It was the summer before her senior year at Kings Mountain High, about 50 miles southwest of Davidson, and Songaila was dealing with severe lower back pain. Tests revealed deteriorating discs, inflamed discs and a stress fracture. Doctors said the best treatment was four months of rest.
In other words, she was injured at the prime recruiting time for her class and would have to miss the club volleyball season.
Songaila made the difficult decision to step away from the sport she loved, at least in terms of playing it long-term. She stopped communicating with college coaches, rested and set her mind on playing her senior season at Kings Mountain with all her friends as, essentially, one last ride, just for fun.
But while thinking she'd lost her chance in the sport, she actually found it. She describes her senior high school season as "freeing."
"It was just really nice to not have the stress of trying to get recruited," she says. "Going through high school, that's really all that's on your mind, and it was the first time I wasn't really thinking about that. It ended up being the best season I'd had."
Though Willis had recruited her previously, Songaila was no longer on the Wildcats' radar. But the college itself was on hers for other reasons. She had considered attending either Davidson or Wake Forest to pursue biology and pre-med, and she had ultimately decided on Davidson.
Knowing that Meile ultimately still wanted to play in college and that a coach would want to know someone of her caliber was on campus, her mother and Kings Mountain's coach, Heather Pasour, did some behind-the-scenes work. Pasour reached out to Willis to let him know that Songaila was the kind of player who could help the Wildcats.
Willis remembered Songaila and agreed to take a look. He checked the film and invited her for an informal visit.
Meanwhile, Songaila and the Mountaineers were rolling. They cruised to a 34-1 record and won the 3A state championship, defeating Orange 3-2 in the final in Raleigh. She was named the MVP, and three days later, Willis called.
"Are you ready to be a Wildcat?"
She quickly responded, "Yes!"
"It was literally something I thought I had to let go of, and I ended up getting to have that opportunity," she says. "I didn't want to admit to myself that I still wanted to do it, but it worked out."
FULL CIRCLE
Now, Songaila is no longer the newcomer hoping for a shot or even the A10 All-Rookie Team member. She's a confident veteran, comfortable in her role and calm in the crucible.
"She just has such a consistent and steady presence on the court, which I really appreciate as a setter," says teammate and close friend Kinsey Smith. "I know I can always count on her to score."
Earlier this season, Songaila had a bit of a full-circle moment. She helped the Wildcats defeat Wake Forest and was named to the Wake Forest Invitational All-Tournament Team.
And she also had a busy summer interning at a lab in Ireland, studying the impact of insulin pens. The only perceived downside was she was unable to play much volleyball in Dublin.
But as she hits her stride this fall, it's clear some time off didn't hurt. Then again, Songaila has been down that road before.
"You're really going to end up where you're meant to be," she says, thinking of her path to Davidson. "I'm such a firm believer in that. You just have to kinda let go sometimes for it to work out."
For more on Songaila's story, stay tuned for a video feature in the coming weeks.
If an opportunity presents itself, even slightly, she's proven she'll make the most of it. She'll do it in her own way, and, if necessary, she'll beat the expectations, too.
A junior outside hitter, Songaila has emerged as a key player on the Davidson volleyball team, which, in some ways at least, could have been described as improbable a few years ago. Songaila's now one of the Wildcats' top scorers, scoring 3.13 points per set for a team that opens Atlantic 10 Conference play at Dayton this weekend.
"I think she has a chip on her shoulder every day, and I love that about her," says Davidson coach Chris Willis. "She's going to show everybody that, 'I belong out here and that I can excel every moment that I'm on the court.'"
Songaila has done that since arriving at Davidson as essentially a walk-on adding depth. But once she joined the rotation out of necessity when starters were injured, Willis couldn't remove her. And it wasn't just her stats, which were fine. There was just something about No. 15 that was difficult to quantify.
She was unique and crafty, so Willis just put his clipboard down and rolled with it.
"Sure enough, it just keeps on piling up," he says. "She keeps on piling up the great outcomes, the scoring. You just go, 'Okay this is her style.' She's very different than our other pin hitters, and it's really hard to defend when she consistently uses the entire court, goes off hands, mixes up shots. …That's what we noticed. She just figured out how to score, and ultimately as coaches, that's what we want to encourage our players to do, to be creative and go out there and figure out what works."
SONGAILA'S PATH
In some ways, it's not difficult to connect the dots on Songaila's success.
She's the daughter of standout athletes. Her father, Darius, was a basketball star at Wake Forest, who played eight NBA seasons. Her mother, Jackie, was a four-year high school state champion in tennis — and three-time track state champion — who excelled on the court at Wake Forest.
Once Meile found volleyball as a seventh grader, she was on an upward trajectory in the sport, a standout who was headed places. She was recruited by Division I colleges early in high school and led her team to a state championship her senior season as the Most Valuable Player.
All of that tracks, but there was also a time when Songaila thought her volleyball career was over.
It was the summer before her senior year at Kings Mountain High, about 50 miles southwest of Davidson, and Songaila was dealing with severe lower back pain. Tests revealed deteriorating discs, inflamed discs and a stress fracture. Doctors said the best treatment was four months of rest.
In other words, she was injured at the prime recruiting time for her class and would have to miss the club volleyball season.
Songaila made the difficult decision to step away from the sport she loved, at least in terms of playing it long-term. She stopped communicating with college coaches, rested and set her mind on playing her senior season at Kings Mountain with all her friends as, essentially, one last ride, just for fun.
But while thinking she'd lost her chance in the sport, she actually found it. She describes her senior high school season as "freeing."
"It was just really nice to not have the stress of trying to get recruited," she says. "Going through high school, that's really all that's on your mind, and it was the first time I wasn't really thinking about that. It ended up being the best season I'd had."
Though Willis had recruited her previously, Songaila was no longer on the Wildcats' radar. But the college itself was on hers for other reasons. She had considered attending either Davidson or Wake Forest to pursue biology and pre-med, and she had ultimately decided on Davidson.
Knowing that Meile ultimately still wanted to play in college and that a coach would want to know someone of her caliber was on campus, her mother and Kings Mountain's coach, Heather Pasour, did some behind-the-scenes work. Pasour reached out to Willis to let him know that Songaila was the kind of player who could help the Wildcats.
Willis remembered Songaila and agreed to take a look. He checked the film and invited her for an informal visit.
Meanwhile, Songaila and the Mountaineers were rolling. They cruised to a 34-1 record and won the 3A state championship, defeating Orange 3-2 in the final in Raleigh. She was named the MVP, and three days later, Willis called.
"Are you ready to be a Wildcat?"
She quickly responded, "Yes!"
"It was literally something I thought I had to let go of, and I ended up getting to have that opportunity," she says. "I didn't want to admit to myself that I still wanted to do it, but it worked out."
FULL CIRCLE
Now, Songaila is no longer the newcomer hoping for a shot or even the A10 All-Rookie Team member. She's a confident veteran, comfortable in her role and calm in the crucible.
"She just has such a consistent and steady presence on the court, which I really appreciate as a setter," says teammate and close friend Kinsey Smith. "I know I can always count on her to score."
Earlier this season, Songaila had a bit of a full-circle moment. She helped the Wildcats defeat Wake Forest and was named to the Wake Forest Invitational All-Tournament Team.
And she also had a busy summer interning at a lab in Ireland, studying the impact of insulin pens. The only perceived downside was she was unable to play much volleyball in Dublin.
But as she hits her stride this fall, it's clear some time off didn't hurt. Then again, Songaila has been down that road before.
"You're really going to end up where you're meant to be," she says, thinking of her path to Davidson. "I'm such a firm believer in that. You just have to kinda let go sometimes for it to work out."
For more on Songaila's story, stay tuned for a video feature in the coming weeks.
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