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Volleyball
at #25 North Carolina
Danielle Duhl Senior Profile
DURHAM, N.C. -- GoDuke.com recently sat down with Los Angeles, Calif., native and redshirt junior Danielle Duhl to reflect on her four years at Duke.
GoDuke.com: What has been your favorite place to travel with soccer?
Danielle Duhl: I think I have enjoyed going to Clemson the most, that’s been my favorite facility and place to play.
GoDuke.com: Do you have a road trip memory that stands out since you have been here at Duke?
DD: I’d say recently the trip to Miami and Louisville was our best, most fun road trip. I would also say the road trip my freshman year that we took to Virginia for the Elite Eight… that was awesome. We made a music video on that trip so that was really fun.
GoDuke.com: What is one lesson that playing soccer has taught you that you can use for the rest of your life?
DD: Probably that you can’t control things that have already happened.
GoDuke.com: Do you have a spot at Duke that you really enjoy going to?
DD: I’m a really big fan of the Link in the library, that’s kind of my place.
GoDuke.com: What’s something special about being a Duke women’s soccer player?
DD: I think that there is definitely an aspect that I don’t think I will fully realize until I am off the team, that it really is a family and you really know the ins and outs of every single girl and that’s not a typical friendship you have had anywhere else in your life. So there will always be that bond that is definitely different.
GoDuke.com: What’s one thing you’ll miss most about soccer, Duke, or Durham?
DD: Definitely the teammates and being out on the field every single day. I think I try to remember that a lot as a senior that it really is very fleeting. I really like Durham; I’m not from a smaller town so I really enjoyed being here as a college student. I feel like the Duke students really run the town, which is a cool aspect.
GoDuke.com: Upon graduation, what do you hope to do?
DD: I took a job offer from my internship this summer, so I will be in New York working.
GoDuke.com: How was it traveling from a big city like Los Angeles to Durham and that transition? Would you rather live in a small town or a big town?
DD: I would definitely rather live in a big town, because I think that is what I naturally enjoy is that buzz. But there is definitely something to be said for smaller towns and they are much more relaxing. Coming back from New York this summer I was ready to get back to Durham and some more peace and quiet. In the future, I definitely see myself back on the west coast where it’s not too buzzy but still a very happening place.
GoDuke: For you as a player, a lot of times you would come in and provide a sort of spark to the team and not be scared to get physical. Is that kind of how you have always been, have you always been a physical player?
DD: Yeah I definitely have always been a physical player. I kind of was the reverse when I first started, I was sort of too nice a player and that really got pushed out of me- I wasn’t going to make it if I was going to assume that I was going to get the foul called for me or that if I didn’t touch anyone I would somehow win the ball. And then I would say at age 14 I started to get in there and get the ball. I’m definitely one of the more handsy, grabby players. But I’m very very passionate about it and I take winning 50/50 balls personally so that is kind of what you get.
GoDuke: You missed the 2012 season due to injury. What did you learn from that experience and how did that make you grow being out a whole season?
DD: It was definitely the biggest learning experience of my entire life. I would say that tearing my ACL was absolutely my biggest fear growing up. I had seen a lot of teammates and players do it before me, So when it happened, and it happened in my senior year of high school, and making that transition to college as an injured player was extremely difficult to feel like you are a part of the team and to feel like you are contributing at all. But I think that if I learned anything, it is that it really takes everybody doing all the little things in order to be successful. So I’d like to think that even with less playing time, as a senior having that freshman year behind me and knowing what players did for me on and off the field, is something that I try to provide now that I’m on the older side of that. And I walk out on the field every single day reminding myself that I am out there and I’m playing and I love that. I hope that provides an energy to the team that being out on the field doesn’t always affect.
