It was smooth-sailing for the Blue Devils on their home court this weekend.
Duke hosted the College of Charleston Saturday afternoon for the last game of the Duke Invitational, beating the Cougars in three sets (25-17, 25-22, 25-9) to cap off an undefeated two-day stretch for the Blue Devils. Duke had a double-header Friday and coasted to a 3-1 win against Howard (20-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-12) and a 3-0 win against Miami of Ohio (25-15, 28-26, 25-16). There’s a lot for head coach Jolene Nagel to be excited about after this weekend, but the emergence of freshman outside hitter Rachel Richardson might be at the top of the list.
Richardson tallied 10 kills against the College of Charleston Saturday, the most the Ellicott City, Md., native has had in her short stint as a college volleyball player.
“She’s older beyond her years as far as freshmen coming in,” Nagel said.
Richardson showed her abilities to find kills from numerous rotation spots Saturday. Regardless of if she was in the front or back row, she picked her hitting angles wisely and ended with a whopping .692 hitting percentage.
“I have to give all glory to God first because I wouldn't be here, couldn't do this without him. So definitely, that was a blessing,” Richardson said. “And then also just really feeling that motivation from my team, like 110%, I wouldn't be as good as I am [and] I wouldn't feel as motivated as I do if it weren't for them.”
And if her 10 kills weren’t enough at face value, one of them was the game-clinching point at the end of the third set and two of them came in Duke’s last seven points of the second set during a time when the College of Charleston threatened to steal the set.
“I think it's taking a step back out of the game and realizing not every single game is the end of the world and just starting to play relaxed and realizing I'm here because I want to be here,” Richardson said of her late-second-set burst. "I'm here because I get to be here and I get to be here with my new favorite other 15 people.”
Richardson’s performance could be the beginning of her career as another one of Duke’s steadfast offensive options, but junior Gracie Johnson also deserves her fair share of credit for leading the team in kills against the Cougars.
She joined Richardson in kicking it up an extra gear when the second set came down to the wire, delivering four aces in the waning points to set up Lily Cooper’s set-clinching block.
“She’s just a really fun athlete to watch and everything. She works very hard. I think she’d work herself into the ground if we would let her,” Nagel said.
Johnson has become one of Duke’s go-to options over the past two years, but in addition to developing her skills thanks to lots of beach volleyball, what’s different now is the mental side of her game, Nagel says.
“I just think she’s matured and understands how to handle the bad plays as well as the good plays a little bit better than she used to because she wanted to be so perfect,” Nagel said.
The combination of her, Payton Schwantz and Ade Owokoniran gives Duke a potent blend of talent and experience at outside hitter—experience that extends throughout the roster, with six of the seven starters being upperclassmen. Nagel pointed out that many of the juniors and seniors on the roster have seen significant time since they were freshman, and that’s led to the heightened chemistry and commitment with this 2021 squad.
The new identity Nagel speaks of is already bearing fruit. Duke has not won its first five games since 2006 and has not started out 6-0 since 2002.
Outside of Richardson and Johnson, Owokoniran and middle blocker Lizzie Fleming made their presence known throughout the tournament, with Owokoniran ripping 13 kills against Miami and Fleming pacing the Blue Devils throughout the weekend with 24 kills.
Duke won’t have long to celebrate its hot start, as it heads to Ann Arbor, Mich., this Friday and East Lansing, Mich., the next day for matchups against No. 23 Michigan and Michigan State, respectively.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Jake Piazza is a Trinity senior and was sports editor of The Chronicle's 117th volume.