Clemson women’s lacrosse is gearing up for its inaugural season opener this Saturday, Feb. 11. Ahead of the inaugural season, the team held a media day after practice on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

The first-ever head coach for women’s lacrosse at Clemson, Allison Kwolek, spoke to the media about her excitement to coach at this level and the pressure that she has faced coming into such an established conference. Kwolek, who formerly held the position as head coach at the University of Richmond since 2013, was named the first head coach of Clemson women’s lacrosse on Aug. 2, 2021.

“It’s exciting,” Kwolek said. “Obviously the ACC is the best conference in the country, and I think being able to play such great teams, teams that have been established for so long, just to have that competition every year is really exciting and an awesome opportunity.”

“The standards are definitely high,” she added. “I think that’s why I wanted to come here, to be in an environment where the resources are already in place, to be able to recruit student-athletes that knew they would have everything around them to be successful. We have joked about it with Graham [Neff] and everybody about softball, but it’s the environment I wanted to be in, it’s the next step for me to be around teams that are playing at the highest level, around student-athletes that are competing at the highest level, that want to be the best. Again, for me to bring in the top student-athletes around the country that want to come here, it’s only been really positive, and great things ahead.”

Kwolek shared that even in the team’s first season, she has high expectations for the performance of her squad. The head coach expects her team to be competitive even against some fierce competition from ACC opponents in the weeks ahead.

“For us, wanting to be competitive right away,” she said. “When a lot of people think new programs, they think it’s going to take them years to be at a high level. But I think for us, it’s what I said to all of them when I was recruiting them, that we want to be competitive right away. When we step on a field, we don’t want to look like a team that is in year one, but through our practices and through our growth, I think you can see that. I think that’s the expectation for us, it’s to be competitive.”

The sentiment surrounding expectations for the team shared by Kwolek was reiterated by graduate transfer Gianna New. New, who transferred from Davidson College, plays the attack position for the Tigers. The graduate student emphasized that the team has its eyes on the championship.

“I think it’s exciting and I think we are all embracing this standard,” she said. “I think a lot of people, and we talk about this with our old teammates and stuff, they’re kind of talking about, oh how are you going to do in the ACC, because it’s obviously a top conference and they think we’ll win a game or two, but our eyes are set on the championship and we know that we can compete with all the top teams.”

With the start of any new program, there can be some unfamiliarity about the rules or regulations for fans, but the head coach encouraged anyone who’s interested in supporting women’s lacrosse to come out to the game this Saturday.

“I think the big thing is, is that it’s a fun game” she said. “It’s a fun sport. Yes, there will be rules, things that happen on the field that you won’t understand, but I think because it’s such a high-scoring game, there’s so many goals. I think it’s also a sport that even if a team gets up by five, the other team can still win, because you can score so many goals so quickly. I think for our players, a lot of energy on the field, a lot of fun to watch those goals that are happening on one end, but also those strong defensive stops. Again, it’s a different sport in some ways, but really similar to basketball, soccer and ice hockey, and it’s just a nice combination of all of that.”

Clemson women’s lacrosse will face Wofford this Saturday, Feb. 11 at 2:30 p.m. at Historic Riggs Field.

–Photo courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications