Meet Maddie Jenner.
A senior attacker and draw taker on No. 6 Duke women’s lacrosse, Maddie has been a reliable force for the Blue Devils ever since the season opener her freshman year, when the Annapolis, Md., native scored two goals and had four draw controls against Villanova. Maddie’s numbers on the draw were second to only one other player on the field, her older sister Olivia.
Olivia, who was a senior captain at the time, already had an impressive resume at Duke. As the ninth-ranked player in the country before entering Blue Devil territory, head coach Kerstin Kimel’s program was getting something good when she hit the field her freshman year. Olivia ended up living up to the buzz around her when she accumulated 110 draw controls and started 19 of 20 games in her first season.
Maddie committed to Duke in 2016 just before Olivia’s sophomore season. With a background as the All-USA Today and Baltimore Sun All-Metro Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year in her junior year of high school, Maddie was destined to be a collegiate star, and she proved herself capable of that when she finished high school with 137 goals and 59 assists.
While the younger Jenner didn’t see as much time on the field as her sister once coming to Duke, she still notched the second-best draw control season total for a freshman in program history. And that summer, she was a member of the U.S. women’s U19 national team that won gold at the World Championships.
When she returned to Duke for her sophomore season, she started in all matchups, and within the nine games of the shortened season, she accumulated 96 draw controls to rank second in the nation in draw controls per game.
Maddie only got better from there, becoming a Tewaaraton Award nominee in her junior season. This nomination came after she notched an impressive 187 draw controls through the season to lead the nation in draw controls per game, as well as break Duke’s single-season record for total draw controls.
Now, Maddie’s start to the season shows precisely the playing ability that she’s developed over the years. As a senior leader wearing the same shoes as her sister wore three years ago, Maddie is going nowhere but up. She demonstrated that with a career-best game in draw controls against Elon Sunday afternoon, finishing the day with 19.
The Blue Devils have a demanding schedule ahead of them, with games against Syracuse, North Carolina and Boston College coming up. Duke’s date with the third-ranked Orange is only three weeks away, and with stars on the draw such as Syracuse’s Katelyn Mashewske to compete with, the Blue Devils will need Maddie to continue executing her A-game to carve their way to victory.
Maddie has the capacity to do that, and her early career-best showing previews that she can become the nation’s leader again in draw controls. As long as the All-American is on the field and continues playing how she currently is, the Blue Devils may very well have the successful year that the group yearns for.
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