Gunderson was born in London, Ontario, to Ayoola and Comfort Akinradewo. Her siblings are Folu and Foluso Akinradewo. She holds a tri-citizenship with Canada, Nigeria, and the United States, and used to audition for commercials when she was little.[4]
Gunderson attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was a three-year letter winner in volleyball and was also on the basketball and track & field teams. She was an All-American selection in 2003 and 2004 and an all-state selection in 2002, 2003 and 2004. She was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Volleyball Player of the Year in 2005. In addition to volleyball, she was an all-state selection in basketball and was a four-time Florida State Champion in track. She made her US international debut before the start of her freshman year at Stanford.[5] She helped the US win the 2004 NORCECA Continental Women's Junior Championship, and then was the starting middle blocker on the U.S. Women's Junior National Team at the 2005 FIVB World Championships.[5]
As a freshman in 2005, she was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific Region Freshman of the Year.[7] She was named an AVCA Second Team All-American and led the squad in hitting percentage (.397), a mark which ranked third in the Pac-10, 13th in the nation and third for a single-season in school history. In 2006, she was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to an NCAA Division I runner-up finish to Nebraska. For the year, she was named a First Team All-American by the AVCA.[8][9]
In 2007, Gunderson was named the AVCA National Player of the Year[10] and was the Honda Sports Award winner for volleyball.[11][12][13] She broke the Pac-10 and Stanford single season hitting percentage record by more than 50 points, as she averaged .499 percentage, a mark that was first in the nation and second since rally-scoring was introduced in 2001. She was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to their second consecutive Division I national runner-up finish to Penn State. As a senior in 2008, Gunderson repeated as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and got her third consecutive Honda Award nomination. She repeated as a First Team All-American and led Stanford to their third consecutive NCAA title match. She finished her collegiate career with the best career hitting efficiency (.446) of any NCAA Division I player.[5]
In 2013 Gunderson's club, Rabita Baku, won the Azerbaijan Super League Championship[18] winning their sixth title in a row.[19][20] She won the league's Best Spiker award.[21]
International career
2012
Gunderson competed for Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics.[22] She earned a silver medal for her efforts.[23]
2014
Gunderson was part of the USA national team that won the 2014 World Championship gold medal when the team defeated China 3–1 in the final match.[24][25] It was the USA's first-ever gold in any of the three major volleyball tournaments.[5]
2016
Gunderson was part of the US bronze medal-winning team at the 2016 Olympics.[5] She started all eight games. She was named in the 2016 Olympic Games Dream Team at middle blocker.[5]
On June 7, 2021, US National Team head coach Karch Kiraly announced she would be part of the 12-player Olympic roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[27]
^Benedetti, Valeria (October 12, 2014). "Volley, Mondiale: Usa batte Cina 3-1". La Gazzetta dello sport (in Italian). Milan, Italy. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
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