Melissa Hawkins

Personal: Hawkins has one older brother and is the daughter of Karen and the late Mark Hawkins. Her father played baseball at Elon University. She earned her bachelor's degree in Special Education: Low Incidence, Severe and Profound Disabilities and completed her Master's degree in Special Education: Low Incidence Visual Disabilities, both from Vanderbilt. Hawkins will be working as a preschool teacher at The Tennessee School for the Blind, where she will teach students who are blind or visually impaired with severe and profound disabilities. In her free time, she enjoys baking, fitness, shopping, and spending time with friends and family.

At Vanderbilt: Hawkins set a school record by appearing in 79 games from 2018-2022. During her career, she recorded seven assists, with four of them coming in her freshman year. Hawkins ranks second in school history with 131 caused turnovers and fifth on the all-time list with 145 ground balls. She was a two-time unanimous First-Team All-American Athletic Conference selection and also received Second-Team All-AAC recognition as a sophomore. Hawkins was named to the 2022 IWLCA Senior All-Star Game and led her team in caused turnovers and ground balls in her final two seasons. In the shortened 2020 season, she started all nine games and recorded 14 caused turnovers and 14 ground balls. During her sophomore year, she started all 16 games and led Vanderbilt with 32 caused turnovers and 30 ground balls. As a freshman midfielder, she started in 17 games and finished the season with 31 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. Hawkins was a four-time Academic All-American Athletic Conference selection and received Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll distinction three times. She was also named to the 2021-22 IWLCA Academic Honor Roll and was the recipient of the 2021 James A. Robins Award.