Sweet Briar honors its senior field hockey players

The Vixen Field Hockey team took the field for the final time this season yesterday afternoon against the Panthers of Ferrum College. It was Senior Day and time to celebrate the team’s six graduating members: Rachel Rogers, Erica Orr, Taylor Fischer, Jess Kennedy, Chelsea McKinney and Alison Davis.

Rachel Rogers is a four-year member of the team and played in her 43rd game yesterday. She knew Sweet Briar was the place for her from the start. “When I walked onto campus, it immediately felt like home,” she said. That feeling has translated into a lot of involvement at the College. She’s president of Taps ‘n’ Toes and vice president of Aint’s ‘n’ Asses. Beyond that, she’s also a member of Earphones and BAM. A dance major, she puts her skills to good use teaching after-school dance classes. From Providence Forge, Rogers looks forward to wherever life takes her after graduation.

Teammate Erica Orr is a chemistry major from Detroit, Mich. She’s a four-year athlete, having spent three years on the varsity softball team, but this is her first year on the field hockey team. Like Rogers, she’s a member of Earphones. In addition, she’s president of the Young Democrats, vice president of the Chemistry Club and historian for the Softball Club. Following graduation, she plans to attend the Officer’s Training Program and hopes to become a pilot for the United States Air Force.

Like Orr, Jess Kennedy was a member of the Vixen softball team and just finished up her first year playing field hockey. Her favorite memory from this year is traveling with the team to Pennsylvania and getting to visit Coach Lott’s family apple farm. On campus, she’s secretary of the softball club. A biology major from Deep Run, she chose Sweet Briar because of the sense of sisterhood she found on campus. Kennedy plans to go to North Carolina after graduation to attend surgical tech school.

Another senior softball player joined the field hockey team this fall: Taylor Fischer. From Buena Vista, Fischer serves as the president of Sweet Briar’s Psi Chi chapter, president of the Softball Club, vice president of SAAC, and as Sweet Briar’s student representative to the ODAC. Like teammate Rachel Rogers, Fischer is also a member of Earphones and BAM. She wants to use her knowledge of psychology to analyze criminal behavior.

Although she didn’t know much about field hockey when she arrived at Sweet Briar, Chelsea McKinney has just finished her second season for the Vixen team. She is an environmental studies major from nearby Lynchburg. She works as a field research technician for the environmental department and is a member of LatinX and the ballroom dance club. She puts her leadership skills to good use as president of Aint’s ‘n’ Asses, vice president of the Softball Club and treasurer of the Sustainability Club. She looks forward to attending graduate school after Sweet Briar.

Although academically a junior, Alison Davis used her final year of eligibility playing for the Vixens this year. A music major from Fredericksburg, Alison is involved with the Softball Club, Paint ‘n’ Patches, the Junior Banquet Committee, Sweet Spirits, Sweet Peas, and she serves as the treasurer for Young Democrats. While graduation is still another year away for Davis, she hopes to one day become a teacher or continue her education and earn a master’s degree.

We’re proud of all of our Vixen athletes and thank them for their contributions to the field hockey team and our Sweet Briar community!