With her senior year right around the corner, former Lady Warrior Lauren Maddrey is ready to make it one to remember.

In a couple of weeks, Maddrey will report back to Radford University to get her senior year of softball under way. Preparation begins in the fall for what looks to be a critical senior year for Maddrey once the spring hits.

She recently finished up her junior season, in which she appeared in 27 games and started 10. It was a different experience for Maddrey, as she described her junior season as her best and worst year. As a sophomore in 2018, she started more than 50 games.

“Coming into my junior year I was expecting to start every game like the year before, but that didn’t happen,” she said. “I started to doubt myself as a player and as a person, which is something that has never happened to me before. However, towards the end of the season, I was able to finish strong and get my confidence back up.”

Maddrey mentioned that sometimes she’d be thrown into big-game situations with the mindset that it could be her last chance to prove herself. But towards the end of the season, she started to realize that she couldn’t let fear get in the way of something she always wanted, so she began to play like herself again.

“It brought me back to the reason why I love softball so much and why I’ve dedicated much of my life to being a Division I athlete,” she said. “I thought about how I’ve worked so hard to be in the position that I am in, and that has helped me grow.”

Heading into her senior season, Maddrey has made an appearance in more than 100 NCAA Division I games, starting more than 90 games. This season, she had four hits to go along with a double and an RBI. For her senior year, she wants to make her last season her best season, and she is confident she will be able to do that.

“Wanting this season to be my best is exactly how I see it going,” she said. “My whole life, I’ve done things the hard way. I think these last few years have prepared me for my best season yet. I will go out with a bang.”

At Nansemond River, Maddrey was the PenSouth Conference Player of the Year in 2016 and is an All-Conference, All-Region and All-State selection. She is also a winner of the Suffolk News-Herald Spring Female Player of the Year award in her time at Nansemond River.