Caroline Nichols helped lead the Old Dominion field hockey program to three Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances in her four-year tenure with ODU. In her senior season, Nichols earned first team All-American honors and was the first Colonial Athletic Association student-athlete to be named the CAA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. She also earned a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament Team in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2005. 
 
A member of the 2008 and 2012 USA Olympic field hockey squad, Nichols was an NFHCA All-Academic team member and a three-time All-CAA Team member, earning first team honors in 2005 and 2006 and second team honors in 2004.  She graduated with a degree in biology in 2007 and is currently the coaching the sport she dominated as a Monarch. Nichols was inducted into the Old Dominion Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.