This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at DePauw chapter.
Our next Her Campus Profile is my fellow teammate, Abby Snively; a senior on the women’s lacrosse team who wants to shed some light on how our season is going so far.
Apart from being a Division III athlete, Abby is an economics major and studio art and English literature double minor from Carmel, Indiana. She also had an internship abroad in India as a strategy intern with EBU, and will be working after DePauw as a marketing communications specialist in the Engine Business Unit at Cummins in Indianapolis. It’s clear that Abby has taken full advantage of her time at DePauw and the women’s lacrosse team has been especially lucky to have her!
Snively told me that she was recently interviewed by The DePauw, but worried all of her thoughts on the season wouldn’t get published. With a desire to turn the negative media around against our team’s season and help emulate the truth despite our record, Abby is here to let you know firsthand where the women’s lacrosse team’s mentality and morale is!
Her Campus: Hi Snives! Tell us about the season so far and how the games went over Spring Break in California?
Abby Snively: The competition in California was fierce; it always is. The playing style out West is aggressive and the teams are talented, so we knew we had an uphill battle from the get-go. However, we knew that no matter the final score, those tough games out West would only make us better for conference. I’m glad we played amazing teams in California, and I’m glad we played amazing teams in the Midwest outside of our conference before Spring Break. We’ve already dealt with the feelings of defeat and we’ve made huge strides to identify where we have to go now in order to be successful. Nothing is accomplished without loss, and our shortcomings have only made us stronger in practice; which I’m sure will become evident in our future games. Overall, California was a great experience—we all had a great time together as a team and we were able to work out some kinks before starting conference play.
HC: I couldn’t agree more! What are your thoughts after the last loss against Oberlin?
AS: I think focusing on Oberlin in terms of a win versus a loss is a mistake and a narrow-minded way to interpret what was actually happening on the field. Just because people see an “L” on the stat sheet does not mean we feel like losers. I felt like a winner after that game and I think the team walked off the field proud and with their heads held high, as they should’ve. Oberlin is a great team known for their intensity and their ability to be at the top of our conference, and we made a statement by hanging in there and giving them a run for their money the entire first half. We played as a team. That’s the most important thing you can do in any team sport, and we did it well. You win as a team and you lose as a team. When you lose as a team you improve as a team. There’s always room for improvement in all aspects of life, as I am sure we all know. But in order to improve at all we need to act as one unit, and I believe that unity was our strongest attribute against Oberlin. With that said, I can’t wait to see the reaction of other teams in our conference after hearing about how well we played despite our losing record.
HC: Understanding the quality of the teams playing and which team left the field feeling like they had won regardless of the score is crucial to a team’s success, and that’s how all teams and fans should be looking at our season thus far; open-minded. I think our team has definitely made others nervous. With that being said, as a senior looking back on your four years of lacrosse at DePauw, how far has the program gone and where do you see it going in the future?
AS: DePauw is a fourth-year program in one of the most competitive conferences within Division III lacrosse. I’ve been with the program every year and can say with absolute certainty that we’ve faced more adversity in the past. We’ve suffered worse losses. We’ve had continual losing seasons. But each loss’s margin is decreasing over time. We continue the battle to convince our conference that we’re a formidable opponent, and I think that’s natural with any program. I’d say that the losses only add more fuel to our fire. I think we’re on a great track and I don’t want anyone to doubt that. In 2013 the team had an eight game losing streak. We won only one conference game. In 2014 we had a five game losing streak and won two conference games. In 2015 we had a three game losing streak and won three conference games. Our team isn’t foreign to losing streaks, but we always fight back. We’re constantly improving, and our losing streak this season proves it. We’re not playing games that will boost our win to loss ratio—we are playing tough competitors at the top of their divisions in hopes that one day we will get to the top of ours. We just need to keep moving forward. I would just love for the newspaper to convey to the school as a whole that despite our losing record, we are not losers. Wins are hard earned and they will come, and our competition and level of play has significantly improved since our first season four years ago. I just want people to remember that.
HC: Couldn’t have said it better myself, Snives. Thank you! So what’s next for the women’s lacrosse team?
AS: We are hungry for a win and ready to show our competition that we’re a force to be reckoned with despite our status as a fourth year program!
The women’s lacrosse team will be playing home on Saturday, April 16th at noon.