When Plans Fail in a Good Way
Richards, Wilson forge powerful duo on and off court
Mike Brohard
Each of them had a plan. It was the same plan, too.
It involved a television and multiple gaming platforms. Just not each other.
“My old teammates moved out because they transferred. I was, oh my gosh, I'm gonna buy a TV and an Xbox because I don't know who this girl is coming in,” Kekua Richards told herself. “I don't know her, I'm probably not gonna wanna hang out with her, so I'm finally gonna need my Xbox, and so then I'm just gonna be in my room all day gaming. That was the plan.”
This is common in college currently. A player rooms with someone, they graduate or transfer out, and when a new players comes in, they get linked together, sometimes sight-unseen.
Richards had the available room. Eve Wilson needed a place to live when she came to the Colorado State volleyball team.
“I had the Switch. I got the Xbox previously too, but I had a TV that was in my living room,” Wilson explained. “I was like, oh, I'm gonna put it in my room.
“I don't know who this girl is. Then I moved in, did that, and then we're like, ‘OK, we have to get a TV for the living room as well, so our Switches are out in the living room, our Xboxes are in our room, and we were like, ‘whoa, we both have this many gaming consoles.’”
Richards and Wilson had a quick Zoom chat, and knowing they were from different backgrounds, they just didn’t believe they would strike up a friendship. They couldn’t see it happening. They didn’t expect their different personalities would mesh so well together, that they would share similar perspectives on life and what is fun.
They didn’t know. But who did was hstlenfinsse and KILLAHkekua – their Fortnite alter egos.
“Fortnite is personally our ... What would you call it?” Richards asks, looking at Wilson.
“Escape?” Wilson’s replied, and they both nodded in agreement.
“Our escape,” Richards closes. “Our relaxing, bonding moment.”
In about two weeks, they stopped perceiving differences and began realizing similarities. True, Richards has a personality which is boisterous, sometimes loud and animated. Wilson is a bit more buttoned up and her volume never reaches Richards’ Spinal Tap levels, but she is expressive with her eyes and smile.
Their upbringings were different, from neighborhoods and culture, even religion. None of those characteristics have ever been a barrier for them but rather bridges to connect with each other on a deeper level.
It’s the type of friendship an outsider might not predict, but when you see them together daily, it all makes sense.
“Honestly, once you get to know them, it's really not that surprising. They both have this unique sense of humor that they kind of banter back and forth a lot,” teammate Erin Debiec said. “So, when you're close and you see that every day, it makes sense and it's pretty funny. From an outside perspective, you can see they're two very different personalities.”
The connection is real, and it came at different moments and gestures.
For Wilson, it was when Richards took the time to cook for her. A steak, and she loves herself a steak. And it was good.
For Richards, it was when Wilson went shopping with her for the house they share. Each agreed items were needed and multiple stops required. When she realized Wilson wasn’t going to be thrifty and didn’t mind dropping a few dollars, she saw an opening.
Even still, they disagree so they can disagree.
“I said that I think we could be friends, and I think that she's not going to be my friend,” Wilson said, forcing Richards to interject.
“That's not what you told me. You said I'm going to make this girl my friend. That's what she said,” Richards added. “That's what you told me. You said I'm going to make this girl my friend.”
Then, as if they were both giving official statements of record, the debate continued.
Wilson: “Let me talk for the record.”
Richards: “Go ahead.”
Wilson: “I said that I think we could be friends and I know that she's not going to want to be my friend so I'm probably going to have to try is what I said.”
Richards: “Get that on record. She tried to be my friend.”
And she’s so glad it worked.
“She's just freaking cool dude. It's just nice. She's just my cool, freaking, awesome nerd,” said Richards, then asked Wilson for permission to talk about religion – ‘Are you OK with that? “Where I'm from we used to think Mormons are very, very strict, they want to do things a certain way. So I thought she was just going to be more of the narc type to be honest. I was going in, ‘I don't think that's really going to work for me.’
“Then I got to know her and she's freaking cool, and she's not a buttoned-up type. She does what she has to do and it's really respectable to be able to see her live through the culture that she's in and her religion and how she lives through it every single day, but that's not her entire personality. She hangs out with us, and she likes to have fun, but she is also not stupid. Whatever she says she's going to do she's going to do it. That's one thing that I love about her.”
It's refreshing having a friendship that you're not constantly competing. I've been in friendships where it's just so fake, you know. I can tell with her she's nothing but supportive.Kekua Richards
Some of those bridges were built sharing a living space. Others were constructed going to each other’s homes. Richards visited Wilson and her family in Sandy, Utah; Wilson went to Pa?ia, Maui, Hawaii.
They had shared stories. Creating their own in those spaces proved transformative.
“Well, it was beautiful first of all, and it was just so cool. I think the same thing, we had come from different backgrounds and then being able to just see it firsthand and being in her childhood home …,” Wilson said. “We always kind of talked about like what our houses looked like or whatever and just seeing it and then hanging out with her family it just gave me such a better view of her culture and her upbringing. It was just really fun, and she got to show me all the places that she liked when she was growing up.”
To top it off, Wilson added, Richards’ mom gave her a history lesson of the island. They went to Haleakala National Park to see the volcanic landscape. They traveled the road to Hana. She drank from the Kaua’ula Stream.
“Her mom knows the history of all of it,” Wilson said.
Richards was expecting to feel a bit awkward in Utah, but because of Wilson’s parents, she never did, welcomed into their home with open arms immediately. They are the people she looks for at every game, and the first people she talks to after a match.
They share a lot as close friends do, but one of those things is not the volleyball court. The only is when Wilson serves and Richards enters the front row. They also share the distinction as the only middle tandem in the Pac-12 which ranks in the top 10 in both hitting percentage and blocks per set. They are a do-it-all duo.
Wilson has 145 kills this season while hitting .347. Richards has 124 at a .310 clip. Wilson has 83 blocks, 13 solo; Richards has 81, 10 solo. They are a big reason while the team ranks second nationally in blocks per set (3.08) and lead the Pac-12 in both hitting percentage (.233) and opponent hitting percentage (.150).
Nobody appreciates it more than does Debiec, who, no matter what rotation the Rams are in she can count on a terminal middle at her disposal.
“That's the best thing I could ask for. Having two huge middles, they're genuinely key pieces of the offense,” Debiec said. “I can feed either one of them any time. They'll get it done.
“I think from an offensive perspective, they're always ready to go and always doing well. But then from a defensive perspective, they impact the game just as much. Truly, either one could be out there and they'll make it. The other team has to watch out for both middles.”
Around the midpoint of the 2025 campaign is when they started to become the dynamic duo. Richards was getting her first real action, having dealt with injuries the two years prior. By the end, she had posted 143 total blocks to sit eighth all-time in a single season.
Wilson had to find her spot, too. Coming from High Point, where she had played in the middle and on the pin, she held a similar role early for the Rams. When she was moved to the middle permanently, she and the team had a bit of an upsurge. It helped Wilson become centered.
“I think being just a middle, especially working through the spring is just a middle and then the whole summer as well with the team, it just really helped to just settle into the things that I'm working on,” she said. “Like being able to focus in on a lot more details than just like all the general things.”
Whether they are on the attack or trying to stop one, they produce big moments and momentum swings. Those moments of celebration give the fans a glimpse of what makes them different.
Richards is emphatic, loud and animated. Wilson refers to her friend as demonstrative. When it is Wilson celebrating, it comes with a smile as she joins her team. Both are big moments which bring out emotions differently on the court. Both valued in their own way.
“I think Kekua has this huge energy and we all kind of rally around that. She just has a big presence, and we do feed off of that quite a bit,” Debiec said. “But Eve is so consistent in the way she plays that she brings this different type of stability that we also kind of need too. So, I think using both means an advantage for us.”
The combo of Wilson and Richards loves to watch the other do their thing when it’s their time on the court. They also take keen joy in watching match tape, not for the play they made, but how they celebrated on the side when the other did.
The combo of KILLAHkekua and hstlenfinsse is also tied together. No matter the setting, they like to kill things – volleyballs in real life, random avatars in a fantasy world while wearing skins they’ve created to match Dune, Stranger Things, Family Guy, Halo or occasionally Star Wars. During the season, those sessions are pretty much limited to Sundays. In the offseason, it’s game on all the time.
“We spend too much money on it, OK,” Richards said. “It's nice. It's refreshing having a friendship that you're not constantly competing. I've been in friendships where it's just so fake, you know. I can tell with her she's nothing but supportive.
“I'm never jealous of her or anything like that. I just want to see her succeed, especially when we're in games. If she does better I feel like if it were anybody else I'd be pissed. But when it's her, I'm excited.”
Further proof it’s always great when a plan – even unexpected -- falls perfectly into place.
Support Colorado State Athletics: Tickets | Ram Club | CSU NIL Marketplace