University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL SOCCER CRACKS TOP 10 IN FINAL POLLS
December 18, 2002 | Soccer
Dec. 18, 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
The Lady Vol soccer team was rewarded for its finest season by being included in the Top 10 of the final polls released by the National Soccer Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas and Soccer Buzz Magazine. Under the direction of third-year coach Angela Kelly, Tennessee put together an 18-6-1 overall record and claimed its first Southeastern Conference Tournament title en route to its initial appearance in the third round of the Women's College Cup.
"We are very excited about the respect we have earned this year," said Kelly. "Coming from being unranked last season into the Top 10 is a huge accomplishment and definitely will cause us to raise the bar in the years to come. Being 10th is nice, but as far as I am concerned there are still nine teams in the country ahead of us, so we must continue to work hard day-in and day-out to reach the number one spot."
The Big Orange established a slew of single-season records this fall: victories (18), longest unbeaten streak (nine), longest home winning streak (nine), most overtime matches (nine), longest winning streak (eight) and best home record (9-1), in addition to picking up its first triumphs within both the SEC and NCAA events. The UT Soccer Complex was also chosen as one of 16 venues for the opening two rounds of the postseason and the home team responded by knocking off Furman (5-0) and No. 22 Cincinnati (2-1) before succumbing to No. 2 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 3-1.
UT was a fixture in the weekly ratings throughout the campaign, and the appearance in the 10th position is now the high-water mark during the program's seven-year existence. In fact, the Lady Volunteers had never been included in the final version of any Top 25 issued after the completion of the NCAA Tournament. Kelly's squad was listed at 14th in Soccer Buzz and 20th in the NSCAA/adidas preseason polls.
| Final 2002 NSCAA/adidas Top 25 Poll | |||
| Rank | School | Record | Previous |
| 1. | Portland | 20-4-2 | 9 |
| 2. | Santa Clara | 20-5-1 | 6 |
| 3. | North Carolina | 21-2-4 | 2 |
| 4. | Penn State | 19-4-1 | 12 |
| 5. | Stanford | 21-2-2 | 1 |
| 6. | Texas A&M | 20-5-1 | 4 |
| 7. | UCLA | 18-4-0 | 3 |
| 8. | Connecticut | 21-3-1 | 7 |
| 9. | Pepperdine | 18-2-2 | 5 |
| 10. | TENNESSEE | 18-6-1 | 11 |
| 11. | Michigan | 16-6-2 | RV |
| 12. | West Virginia | 18-3-1 | 10 |
| 13. | Nebraska | 16-6-3 | 18 |
| 14. | Texas | 15-5-1 | 8 |
| 15. | Notre Dame | 13-8-0 | 19 |
| 16. | Richmond | 15-6-2 | NR |
| 17. | Virginia | 13-7-2 | 23 |
| 18. | California | 12-8-1 | 21 |
| 19. | Florida State | 13-7-3 | 22 |
| 20. | SMU | 13-6-4 | NR |
| 21. | Purdue | 14-5-3 | 14 |
| 22. | Southern California | 11-8-3 | NR |
| 23. | Brigham Young | 16-6-0 | 16 |
| 24. | Maryland | 13-8-1 | 17 |
| 25T. | Charlotte | 16-2-2 | 13 |
| 25T. | Clemson | 14-7-0 | 15 |
| Final 2002 Soccer Buzz Top 25 Poll | |||
| Rank | School | Record | Previous |
| 1. | Portland | 20-4-2 | 8 |
| 2. | Stanford | 21-2-2 | 1 |
| 3. | Santa Clara | 20-5-1 | 6 |
| 4. | North Carolina | 21-2-4 | 2 |
| 5. | Penn State | 19-4-1 | 14 |
| 6. | Connecticut | 21-3-1 | 4 |
| 7. | Pepperdine | 18-2-2 | 5 |
| 8. | UCLA | 18-4-0 | 3 |
| 9. | Texas A&M | 20-5-1 | 9 |
| 10. | TENNESSEE | 18-6-1 | 11 |
| 11. | Nebraska | 16-6-3 | 16 |
| 12. | West Virginia | 18-3-1 | 7 |
| 13. | Michigan | 16-7-2 | RV |
| 14. | Florida State | 13-7-3 | 21 |
| 15. | Virginia | 13-7-2 | 22 |
| 16. | Notre Dame | 13-8-0 | 23 |
| 17. | Texas | 15-5-1 | 10 |
| 18. | Charlotte | 16-2-2 | 12 |
| 19. | Maryland | 13-8-1 | 19 |
| 20. | Richmond | 15-6-2 | NR |
| 21. | Clemson | 14-8-0 | 16 |
| 22. | California | 12-8-1 | 25 |
| 23. | Cincinnati | 17-4-3 | RV |
| 24. | SMU | 13-6-4 | RV |
| 25. | Denver | 17-2-2 | 13 |
| Receiving Votes (alphabetical order): Arizona State (12-7-2), Auburn (15-5-2), Purdue (13-4-3), Rhode Island (16-6-1), Southern Cal (11-8-3), Villanova (14-3-4), Yale (12-5-2). | |||
