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Nansemond River head coach Alison Dize (left) receives the VHSL Class 5 State Championship trophy. Her Warrior team finished the season 20-2 and undefeated in region 5B.

Coming into the season, the senior leadership of Aubrey White, Brylee Johnston, Jordan White and Aniya Woods felt overlooked after losing in the 2023 semifinals to Independence. 

“I feel like others teams looked at us like … they didn’t really expect anything really out of us,” Woods said. “We were like the underdogs in the 757 area, and I think we finally deserve that credential.”

Not surprising, this Warrior team took that loss personal and prepared for what eventually would indeed be a revenge game against Independence, in the semifinal round. 

“We wanted revenge,” Aubrey said. “We prepared for it, our practice was based around it.”

Once the clock hit zero and all the doubt was erased, the moment, can be summed up in one word — surreal. 

It is not only a culmination of a season, but a culmination of a year of hard work and dedication, that for many of these seniors started about the time they started school.

“This group is something special to this program,” head coach Alison Dize said. “They’ve been working since they were little kids, five years old, six years old … they’ve been leaders and watching them grow physically and mentally, and seeing that put together this year. It means everything.”

Holding back the emotions, Dize, a graduate of Nansemond River High School, talked about what this championship means to her.

“It’s surreal to me,” an emotional Dize said. “I went to school here, I competed here as a player, and you just want to win. When this opportunity came about to coach here again … it’s the decision.”

On what Dize means to them, her senior leaders each talked about how she was like a second mother to them

“She’s like our second mom,” Aubrey said. “She’s there for us on and off the field, whenever we need anything. Field hockey-wise, she pushes us to where she knows we need to be … she wants what’s best for us.”

On the season, Aubrey scored eight and contributed two assists. After graduation, she will attend Longwood University to continue her field hockey career. 

Johnston on Dize holding each of them accountable regularly, “She holds us accountable for our mistakes, because she knows what we’re capable of, but she also knows when we need to be picked up.”

Johnston tallied four goals and four assists this season and will continue her academic and athletic career at Christopher Newport University.

Jordan talked about Dize being available at all times for them. 

“I’ve had multiple occasions not even during field hockey season, that I had come to talk to her, and she’s no judgment, like dive in with advice,” she said. “If I need her, she texts me, she tells me everything I need to hear. I just think that there wasn’t a better coach that we could have had. She was probably one of the best coaches that we’ll ever have.”

Jordan led the team in goals with 28 and also logged nine assists. Jordan will also continue her field hockey career at Longwood University.

Woods shared one of her earliest memories of Dize and how she was intimidated at first, but later learned different.

“I remember my first impression of her, when I was in eight grade,” Woods said. “I think we were playing Great Bridge, and we were tied, and then she didn’t yell at us, but she was like, get your act together, and I was like, okay, I’m a little scared. Then I got to know her. She’s a sweet person. You can always come to her for everything, even in school, like whenever you just need to take a step away for a second. She’s always there when you need it.”

After graduation, Woods will attend the University of Iowa to continue her academic and field hockey career. 

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