University of Tennessee Athletics
October 21, 2003 | Soccer
Oct. 21, 2003
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
Aided by the return of All-SEC senior forward Rhian Wilkinson (Baie d'Urfe, Quebec) and a seven-goal offensive outburst in shutouts over home-standing Arkansas and LSU, the Lady Vol soccer team was rewarded with its biggest jump all season in the various top 25 soccer rankings. Riding a four-match winning streak that has brought its season ledger to 11-4 overall and 5-1 in the Southeastern Conference, Head Coach Angela Kelly's club moved from receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas version into a tie for the 16th slot with Wake Forest (9-3-3). The advancement was the largest for any program this week.
Soccer America bumped the Orange and White up to 15th from 23rd, while Soccer Buzz Magazine's edition saw Tennessee occupy 17th place after sharing the 25th position with Boston College (10-2-2) in the previous poll. North Carolina (16-0-0) and Notre Dame (16-0-1), the nation's lone Division I squads without a defeat, continue to occupy the top two positions across the board. In addition, Tennessee holds down the number three berth in the Central Region rankings issued by the NSCAA/adidas and Soccer Buzz, behind Big 12 powers Colorado (13-1-1) and Texas A&M (11-2-2).
The Lady Vols are preparing for two SEC challenges this weekend in the form of Vanderbilt (6-6-2/2-4-1 SEC) and Kentucky (6-6-3/4-1-2 SEC), a pair of programs which hold series advantages over the Big Orange. The Commodores have handled UT six times in eight meetings, including a 1-0 blanking in Knoxville last October, while the Wildcats have captured two of the three encounters in Lexington.
