Codd Striving as a Sophomore for Blue Devils

By Samera Eusufzai, Duke Athletics Communications Student Assistant

DURHAM – Katie Codd, a sophomore on the Duke women’s tennis team, refused to let the slow start to her collegiate career deter her pursuit of excellence. Instead, this season, she embodied the Duke Difference through her resilience, work ethic, and confidence to rise in the rankings to as high as No. 52 in the nation.

While she explored dance, gymnastics, and swimming throughout her childhood, Codd settled down with tennis at 12 years old. Since then, she continued to hone her skills as she entered Duke ranked 14th nationally and No. 4 in her home state of California. Codd’s talent caught the attention of many of the top tennis teams in the country, but ultimately chose to be a Blue Devil.

Codd entered Duke with high expectations for athletics and academics as a potential Economics/Finance major, and like most freshmen, devoted the year towards maturing and developing new mindsets. As the lone freshman on the squad, the Blue Devil women’s tennis team she joined was a very experienced group with three graduate students, two seniors and one junior coming off winning the 2022 ACC Championship.  

When she reflected on last season, Codd said, “it was definitely tough for me because I ended up not doing very well in the fall season. That dictated how I wasn’t in the lineup for the spring season. It was hard to manage my expectations because I really wanted to be able to play in the lineup and obviously, I didn’t really get that opportunity. But through it all, I just had to stay positive and keep in mind that there’s three more years. There’s so much time and so many opportunities to be able to work into the lineup.”

Codd did not let her setbacks bring her down. Instead, she was honest in its impact upon her mental health, but more importantly, determined to return the following season stronger than ever. Rather than allowing her short-term struggle to define her character, she gained a long-term perspective regarding her future at Duke to spur her resilience.

“Last year, my confidence was at an all time low and everything piled on top of each other,” said Codd.  “I wasn’t able to play my game and I [thought], ‘Oh, I’m not good enough.’ But then just being able to play again and to see the results come and to be able to practice really helped me to…