For some Blue Devils, this weekend’s tournament is the first of a long slate of games to be played this year. For a few, though, Southern California is a welcome home, a chance to play in front of friends and family at the collegiate level.
No. 25 Duke opens its season in the LBSU/CSF Baden Invitational, starting with a Friday doubleheader against Saint Mary’s at 4 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton at 10 p.m. at the Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif. On Saturday, the Blue Devils visit Long Beach State at 8 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.
“We’re ready to play someone other than ourselves. The team had a tremendous preseason,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We’re just so excited to play. All that anticipation will be there too."
Junior Alyse Whitaker and sophomores Cadie Bates and Nicole Elattrache will play within 90 minutes of their hometowns, and senior Emily Sklar also voyages back to play in her home state—likely for the final time in her career. With all three opponents comprised mostly of Californians, Whitaker said she would likely see several familiar faces on the other side of the net.
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One of the reasons Duke plays in the tournament is the same reason it will also be traveling to the Kansas Invitational next week—Nagel generally assembles a schedule that gives her players a chance to play in front of their hometown fans.
“We try to get back to where these kids are from at least once [during their college careers],” Nagel said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue it with the NCAA tournament and the RPI and all that. It’s hard, but we’ll do that twice this year.”
First up on the Blue Devils' agenda is a date with Saint Mary’s, which features just one upperclassman and no seniors on its 11-player roster. Before losing six seniors last year, the Gaels went 9-19. Duke will look to avoid Alexis Salmons, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker who led Saint Mary's in hitting percentage and was one of two Gaels to make the 2014 WCC All-Freshman team.
After the afternoon matchup, Duke will jump back into action against first-year head coach Ashley Preston and her Cal State Fullerton squad. Like the Blue Devils, the Titans are a mature group, losing just one senior from last year and now grooming nine upperclassmen—three seniors and six juniors.
Cal State Fullerton lost three freshmen to transfer after last season, however, including two to perennial contenders Southern California and Tennessee. After winning just two conference games last year, the Titans have only two players who stand 6-foot-1 and one player at 6-foot-2, which should make things a little easier for senior outside hitters Sklar and Breanna Atkinson.
What is bound to be an advantage, though, will turn into a weakness the following day. Senior Christina Vucich—Duke’s tallest player—is 6-foot-4, and Long Beach State has three players that tall and one at 6-foot-5.
“I anticipate them to be a very physical team,” Nagel said of the 49ers. “Where we might have an advantage, we’ve got a lot of returners that have been together for [awhile]. I feel like we’re a little older than we’ve been in the past couple years.”
The defending Big West Champions lost seven players from last season, but return Big West Player of the Year Jenelle Hudson, Big West Freshman of the Year Ashley Murray and three-time national champion Brian Gimmillaro, now in his 31st season as head coach.
In 1997—the only time these programs have met—Long Beach State swept three sets against Duke with the help of a young setter named Misty May, who went on to win three Olympic gold medals on the beach. The team's current setter, Hudson, posted 16 double-doubles last season and could create hitting opportunities for teammates that could pose issues for Nagel’s squad.
The Blue Devils will avoid a meeting with Alabama, the fifth team in the tournament. The Crimson Tide advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2014.
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