Allison Davis receives CAC honors for women’s lacrosse

By Gemma Spicka- Proffit

Senior Writer

Senior Allison Davis was awarded CAC Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week last week. The recognition came after she scored four goals against Kean and five goals and an assist against Roanoke, leading her team to two victories. 

“It was really awesome to see my hard work being recognized,” said Davis, “but the most important thing is that I couldn’t get my goals without [the team] working as a whole unit…I feel like it’s an award for our whole attack.”

Davis believes that one thing that has contributed to the team’s success this year is that many of the players on the starting attack are seniors.

“Having a lot of our girls be really experienced this year and having been working together for four years – it’s finally coming together really well,” explained Davis.

There are also twelve freshman who joined the team this year. Davis is grateful to her coaches for “bringing in new, strong people every year.” 

“Everyone is strong. We help [the freshmen] get better every day as they help us get better every day. Once we leave next year, they’ll still be able to be able to fill in just as well,” said Davis. 

The women’s lacrosse team will kick off their first conference game this Saturday, Mar. 30 at Salisbury. 

“I’m really looking forward to Saturday,” said Davis. “Salisbury is our biggest rival, and we have never beaten them in my four years. This is a super exciting game that we’re all looking forward to.”

One of Davis’ goals for this season is to make it to the NCAA tournament. The team has made it for the last three years, so she hopes to finish her college career strong by doing it again. In order to get there, the team will need to perform well throughout the season, especially when it comes to games against previous conference leaders, York and Salisbury. 

Being a senior adds an extra layer of stress during the competing season. Davis is a math major with a data science minor, so she is looking for a job that includes programming after she graduates this May. Although the job search has been “pretty tough,” she remains optimistic.

Playing a spring sport also affects seniors in another unique way. 

“The NCAA tournament goes after school ends and after graduation, so the past three years we’ve had to stay over,” said Davis. “One of the NCAA games lands on the day of graduation, so there’s a possibility that we could not be able to walk.” 

However, when this happened in the past, the team has jumped at the opportunity to hold an alternative graduation. 

“In my sophomore year…the seniors couldn’t go to graduation, so we hosted our own graduation for them in one of our backyards,” reminisced Davis. “It was really cute. They got all dressed up with their cap and gown. It was even better in a way because you’re not sitting out in the hot for so long, and it was just more intimate with our close friends.” 

In her free time, Davis loves to attend concerts. She and her dad listen to a lot of the same music, so they often attend shows together. 

“I’ve been to Firefly twice,” said Davis when asked about her favorite show she has ever attended. “It was just me and my dad, so we camped out together and went to four days of show. It was so much fun.” Up next on her concert schedule is her favorite band, The 1975.

Davis also makes time for volunteering. She coaches a rec team over the summer in her hometown, and she helps out with the clinics that her coach hosts in Fredericksburg as much as she can. 

“I really like sharing my love of the game and teaching the girls,” said Davis. “The ones who are brand new to the sport and have no idea – it’s just really fun to see them learn and develop their skills. With the older ones, it’s fun to try to develop strategies and how to play in tournaments… I hope to inspire them to want to play in college too.”

“I used to not think I would be a good coach because I’m a reserved and quiet person and to be a coach you have to be very loud and energetic,” added Davis. “Once I did it, I was like ‘okay, I actually really like this’ … I hope to continue coaching after I graduate.”

Davis also volunteers with the women’s lacrosse team around Fredericksburg. Some of the team’s annual volunteering activities include spending time at the food bank and participating in a canned food drive. 

“I think it’s really important that all our teams at Mary Washington try to get out and do stuff because we’re such a big part of the students at this school,” said Davis. “I think it’s great that we get so many people involved.”