"She's A Player You Build Your Offense Around" - Bailey Lower Off To Strong Start At Vanderbilt

Bailey Lower’s high school lacrosse career was nothing short of sensational for the Whalers. After amassing 393 goals and 638 career points over the course of four seasons on Nantucket’s girls varsity lacrosse team, she earned the opportunity to play Division 1 lacrosse at Vanderbilt University.

Lower is in the midst of her freshman season as an attacker. It would be fair to assume the jump from high school lacrosse to Div. 1 lacrosse in a major conference may be overwhelming for most players, but Lower is impressing head coach Beth Hewitt after scoring goals in back to back games and is establishing herself as a foundational piece for the program.

"I think she's someone we've really felt like we can eventually build our offense around," Hewitt told the Current on Tuesday. "We absolutely loved her through the recruiting process. She's so eye-catching as soon as you get to her field. Just some of the things that she can do with her stick, and she's just such a crazy good athlete and so fast. We knew her potential and knew her ceiling was going to be so high. Truthfully, we really expected her to kind of jump right in. Her natural ability is amazing, and we are really happy with what she is doing.”

Lower began the season with a concussion. Hewitt said the staff was very careful with how they handled her return and said had she not been injured, her season debut would have come in the first two games on the schedule.

Lower has made a full recovery and played in her team’s last three games. After not scoring in her first match, she has tallied goals in back-to-back games with her first career goal coming against Mercer in a 19-7 win and another against #20 nationally ranked Ohio State University in a 14-8 loss.

“It has definitely been a big commitment with travel and practice and lift, but I absolutely love it,” Lower said. “Everyone on my team is super supportive and kind and I’m really close with my class so it’s awesome. After I scored my first goal my teammates and coaches were so supportive, and so was everyone from home.”

Lower’s play in high school earned her numerous honors ranging from Cape & Island’s Lighthouse League Most Valuable Player awards in three straight seasons (2022-2024), Boston Globe Div. 4 player of the year in 2024, and a USA Lacrosse All-American to name a few. Hewitt has seen that skill on full display early and said Lower has the makings of a dynamic, balanced attacker.

"Her shooting is pretty awesome," Hewitt said. "She can take some of those outside shots that typically I'm like, 'Oh no, no, no,’ but then I am like, ‘Oh, she's got it.' Being a lefty is huge because we don't have a full team of lefties, so she fills the gap for us on that side of the field. Her ability to attack from that side and then also from behind. But I also like her vision. She sees the field so well. She sees her teammates, and a lot of times she'll see them even before they realize they're open. I think she's going to be a real dual threat for us moving forward. With every goal that she scores, her confidence level is just going to shoot up. I love watching her play. Her fundamentals are awesome, but it really is her effort. She just plays so hard.”

Hewitt said one important thing for freshman to learn once they reach the college level is that every player will make mistakes, but what you do after the mistake is important. She said Lower is as good as anyone at shaking off negative plays during games.

"One thing the freshman attackers have to learn pretty quickly is they'll get checked here and there and they'll take these outside shots that may go in in high school, and they won't go in in college. My favorite thing about Bailey is yes she can make the shot but as soon as she makes one of those plays that doesn’t go in, she's basically riding so hard to get the ball back that most of the time she's creating a turnover for us,” Hewitt said. “That effort she shows is contagious. When she does one of those rides, she had one in the game for us the other day off of her shot, you can see the fire when she misses the shot and is determined to get that ball back. With our green card rules in college, our ride is less effective than it used to be, and she's one of the only ones on our team who can find a way to do it cleanly.”

Lower’s 638 points helped her surpass Jane Earley, one of the best high school lacrosse players to come out of the Cape & Islands. Earley graduated in 2018 and finished her high school career at Falmouth Academy with 479 goals and 141 assists (620 points) in five varsity seasons while Lower finished with 393 goals and 245 assists for those 638 points in four seasons – including a shortened freshman year due to COVID. The numbers for Lower not only show dominance, but an ability to dominate the game as both a scorer and a facilitator.

"She has had to change her game a little bit," Hewitt said. "You become the scorer and then everybody's like, 'Alright, send six people to her.' It's a credit to her ability to adjust and now you can see that dual threat ability. I really expect her to be a pretty balanced attacker for us.”

Hewitt said it is never easy for a freshman to come in and start right away, however Lower finds herself earning playing time alongside players four to six years older than her and has a clear path to significant playing time for years to come.

“Most of (not starting as a freshman) isn't because of the individual's talent level or ability. It's more so just figuring out the system that our coordinators are trying to run,” Hewitt said. “What we try to do right now is ask ourselves how do we highlight her and what she can do and still try to fit her into that system. That's just going to continue to grow and build. I absolutely think, even next year, we graduate a significant number of attackers this year. We have two sixth years and another senior in the starting lineup – so she's not behind sophomores. Those girls are going to go, and she's one of the first players getting off the bench. We have very high expectations (for Bailey).”

Catching up with Lower this week, she said she has heard and felt the love from people on Nantucket following her first couple of goals making the rounds on social media. She said she takes great pride in representing Nantucket while at Vanderbilt.

“It was awesome how many people from the community were reaching out to me and saying things through Instagram,” Lower said about the support she received after scoring her first goal. “All of the support from everyone and the camaraderie of my team is so motivating and special. I am focused on playing the sport I love and feel lucky to do that for my team, and for Nantucket.”