As the best and only team in the state, the Lady Cavaliers are back in action this year traveling all over the south to compete. This year’s team consists of a competitive, hardworking group of girls led by senior captain Susannah Pazdan and junior captains Maria Varat and McKoy Crawford.

Lindsay Hinton is in her first year as coach. Currently, she is finishing her last semester at Limestone College. Although young, she has multitudes of knowledge about the game because of her experience playing goalie for Limestone. Deena Benedict is the assistant coach. She previously coached the JV team at Christ Church as she is a Church alumnus herself. Coach Benedict gained her experience from playing field hockey in high school and her first year of college before an injury prevented her from further pursuing the sport.

Despite suffering tough losses against Charlotte Latin and Asheville School, junior Maria Varat is optimistic about their future. “We have great potential and are already competing better than we were this time last year. We hope to put up a good fight against competitive teams like Charlotte Country Day School and Asheville High.”

The teams’ tough practices help to prepare them for future games. Practices consist of stretching led by the captains, running, sprinting, scrimmaging, and various drills. Coach Benedict helps to keep the girls in line and motivates them to work hard. Field hockey is not all work with no play, though. The girls have fun together and enjoy various perks. Freshman Victoria Haskins says her favorite part about field hockey is “definitely the popsicles we get to enjoy after an intense practice or game.”

Varat wants to remind students to come out and support the team. “We have an awesome warm up CD so everyone should come out and listen and stick around for the game.”