University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Kelly Gerdin/Tennessee Athletics
Alozie Transfers Dreams To Rocky Top
October 28, 2019 | Soccer
By Dom Palumbo, UTSports.com
It's your senior year. You've put everything into being the best you've ever been for your final season. You're nervous, excited and ready to go out with a bang with a group of players you've called family for four years.
Only for it all to end abruptly.
Two games into her senior season at Yale, Michelle Alozie suffered a severe, multi-faceted knee injury last September.
AS ONE DOOR CLOSES, ANOTHER DOOR OPENS
Alozie immediately thought her soccer career had ended. She was set to graduate in May with a degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. She was on her way to finishing her undergraduate degree with an impressive 3.35 GPA.
She had—and still has—dreams of attending medical school with the goal of one day becoming a cardiologist.
However, there was still unfinished business for her on the pitch.
"It was definitely weird to say the least, being a three-year starter at Yale to then being relegated to the bench," Alozie said. "In the end it honestly just changed how I viewed myself as a teammate and as a soccer player. And I know I definitely developed a lot as a teammate during that year. It was life-changing for sure. I just remember thinking that I just have to make the best of this really bad situation, which was realizing that I could get my year back and hopefully go somewhere else."
That "somewhere else," was Rocky Top.
After visiting a few other schools in the fall of 2019, she took a visit to Knoxville. The beauty and atmosphere of the UT campus, along with the welcoming community, made her feel right at home at the University of Tennessee.
"I just remember coming here on my second-to-last visit, and I kept comparing all of the schools to UT," Alozie said. "When you start doing that, you don't want to miss out on the school you're comparing all of the other ones to."
GROWING INTO IVY LEAGUE STAR
Alozie's story began long before she donned the Orange & White for the first time.
"I'm the youngest of two older sisters," Alozie said. "So, honestly, whatever they did, I did. They played soccer, so I said, 'I want to play soccer, too.'
"I'm also Nigerian, and soccer is a big part of our culture, so I pretty much knew I was going to play… I would say when I was 13, when I started playing at the club level, I realized I had the opportunity to really do something with soccer."
As her ability improved, it was clear that the pacey and physical forward had a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net—often.
She owns her high school's record for most goals in a season, with 44. She set a new record for the most goals in a single game, with an eye-popping total of seven in a 13-0 victory for her alma mater, Granite Hills High.
She wears No. 9 for her favorite player and idol, Mario Balotelli, the confident, boisterous and powerful striker whose strength allowed him to never shy away from a challenge. His finishing ability made him a star for the Italian national team and some of Europe's most prestigious clubs.
"Strangely enough, I try to model my game after Mario Balotelli," Alozie said. "He's No. 9, he's the reason I'm No. 9. Even though he's gone through so much, I enjoyed how powerful he was. He's so confident in his abilities, and I honestly just looked up to that."
Confident she was, and still is. Out of high school, she chased her dreams on and off the field.
While succeeding in the classroom, she racked up 19 goals and 13 assists in three full seasons in a Yale shirt. She was named Yale's Offensive Player of the Year as a freshman in 2015. She tallied the second-most goals (4) and assists (4) for the Bulldogs in 2016 as a sophomore.
Her greatest feat? Being named the Ivy League's Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2017 as a junior, netting nine goals and dishing off five assists that year.
Then, the injury.
PAUSE & RESET
The damage to Alozie's knee sidelined her for 11 months, keeping her away from the game that brought her life so much joy.
While the light at the end of the tunnel brought her to Knoxville, the adjustment of joining a new team, with a new system on a larger stage—all while trying to restore her fitness level to where it once was—was, and remains, an adjustment that Alozie has taken in stride.
"I think it's all been an adjustment for her," Vols head coach Brian Pensky said. "She was out of the game for 11 months. There was a slow recovery from her ACL, meniscus, and getting her quad strength back. Credit to her, she's really handled all of this with a lot of poise.
"She's a very ice-in-her-veins, stoic kid, but a total warrior on the field. Maybe that's a highly intelligent Yale thing, I don't know. It's hard to step into this program after being away from it for a year, especially trying to fill someone like (Bunny Shaw's) shoes or Danielle Marcano's shoes… that's a lot of pressure."
While the pressure exists for Alozie, the absolute need to score does not. Soccer is a quirky game, where making an impact is much more than putting the ball in the back of the net.
"I've definitely learned throughout soccer that if you go in with a set goal of 'I need to score X number of goals,' it can impede your progress throughout the game," Alozie said. "So now I try to see how I can be as effective as possible and try to contribute as much as I can. If that's a goal, then great; I love goals. If it's an assist, if it's me making a run to draw a defender out so my teammate can take a better shot, then I'll take all of that. It's really about how I can be as effective as possible throughout the game."
Her deft flick-ons to senior MA Vignola, her link-up play with freshman Sonia Ouchene Salón and her ability to hold up play for the Vols in the attacking third have become staples in her game.
Staples that don't always involve slotting the ball past the keeper.
'BEING A HANDFUL'
"We said to her this fall that the best goal scorers are always hard on themselves about scoring goals," Pensky said. "And we told her that that's not the ultimate thing. We told her to just focus on being a handful. If you're a handful out there, then you're either going to eventually score a goal, or you're going to create something for somebody else. Let being a handful be your benchmark."
A handful she has been. The Apple Valley, California, native has scored twice and helped set-up a number of goals, all while putting in solid minutes, primarily coming off the bench.
She has also continued her studies in the classroom. Alozie is currently pursuing a master's degree in Sport Psychology with a concentration in Motor Behavior—a two-year program that she is working to complete in one year.
Her impressive academic accomplishments are accompanied by continued athletic dreams.
"I definitely want to try to play professionally," Alozie said. "I'm young, med school will always be there. So, hopefully after this, I can play soccer for however long my body will allow me to, and then I can go to med school after I finish playing."
A goal-scorer, future doctor, student and friend are all phrases that define Alozie and the work she's already put in at UT.
While her time on Rocky Top will be short-lived, she will walk away from this program as a Vol for Life.
It's your senior year. You've put everything into being the best you've ever been for your final season. You're nervous, excited and ready to go out with a bang with a group of players you've called family for four years.
Only for it all to end abruptly.
Two games into her senior season at Yale, Michelle Alozie suffered a severe, multi-faceted knee injury last September.
AS ONE DOOR CLOSES, ANOTHER DOOR OPENS
Alozie immediately thought her soccer career had ended. She was set to graduate in May with a degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. She was on her way to finishing her undergraduate degree with an impressive 3.35 GPA.
She had—and still has—dreams of attending medical school with the goal of one day becoming a cardiologist.
However, there was still unfinished business for her on the pitch.
"It was definitely weird to say the least, being a three-year starter at Yale to then being relegated to the bench," Alozie said. "In the end it honestly just changed how I viewed myself as a teammate and as a soccer player. And I know I definitely developed a lot as a teammate during that year. It was life-changing for sure. I just remember thinking that I just have to make the best of this really bad situation, which was realizing that I could get my year back and hopefully go somewhere else."
That "somewhere else," was Rocky Top.
After visiting a few other schools in the fall of 2019, she took a visit to Knoxville. The beauty and atmosphere of the UT campus, along with the welcoming community, made her feel right at home at the University of Tennessee.
"I just remember coming here on my second-to-last visit, and I kept comparing all of the schools to UT," Alozie said. "When you start doing that, you don't want to miss out on the school you're comparing all of the other ones to."
GROWING INTO IVY LEAGUE STAR
Alozie's story began long before she donned the Orange & White for the first time.
"I'm the youngest of two older sisters," Alozie said. "So, honestly, whatever they did, I did. They played soccer, so I said, 'I want to play soccer, too.'
"I'm also Nigerian, and soccer is a big part of our culture, so I pretty much knew I was going to play… I would say when I was 13, when I started playing at the club level, I realized I had the opportunity to really do something with soccer."
As her ability improved, it was clear that the pacey and physical forward had a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net—often.
She owns her high school's record for most goals in a season, with 44. She set a new record for the most goals in a single game, with an eye-popping total of seven in a 13-0 victory for her alma mater, Granite Hills High.
She wears No. 9 for her favorite player and idol, Mario Balotelli, the confident, boisterous and powerful striker whose strength allowed him to never shy away from a challenge. His finishing ability made him a star for the Italian national team and some of Europe's most prestigious clubs.
"Strangely enough, I try to model my game after Mario Balotelli," Alozie said. "He's No. 9, he's the reason I'm No. 9. Even though he's gone through so much, I enjoyed how powerful he was. He's so confident in his abilities, and I honestly just looked up to that."
Confident she was, and still is. Out of high school, she chased her dreams on and off the field.
While succeeding in the classroom, she racked up 19 goals and 13 assists in three full seasons in a Yale shirt. She was named Yale's Offensive Player of the Year as a freshman in 2015. She tallied the second-most goals (4) and assists (4) for the Bulldogs in 2016 as a sophomore.
Her greatest feat? Being named the Ivy League's Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2017 as a junior, netting nine goals and dishing off five assists that year.
Then, the injury.
PAUSE & RESET
The damage to Alozie's knee sidelined her for 11 months, keeping her away from the game that brought her life so much joy.
While the light at the end of the tunnel brought her to Knoxville, the adjustment of joining a new team, with a new system on a larger stage—all while trying to restore her fitness level to where it once was—was, and remains, an adjustment that Alozie has taken in stride.
"I think it's all been an adjustment for her," Vols head coach Brian Pensky said. "She was out of the game for 11 months. There was a slow recovery from her ACL, meniscus, and getting her quad strength back. Credit to her, she's really handled all of this with a lot of poise.
"She's a very ice-in-her-veins, stoic kid, but a total warrior on the field. Maybe that's a highly intelligent Yale thing, I don't know. It's hard to step into this program after being away from it for a year, especially trying to fill someone like (Bunny Shaw's) shoes or Danielle Marcano's shoes… that's a lot of pressure."
While the pressure exists for Alozie, the absolute need to score does not. Soccer is a quirky game, where making an impact is much more than putting the ball in the back of the net.
"I've definitely learned throughout soccer that if you go in with a set goal of 'I need to score X number of goals,' it can impede your progress throughout the game," Alozie said. "So now I try to see how I can be as effective as possible and try to contribute as much as I can. If that's a goal, then great; I love goals. If it's an assist, if it's me making a run to draw a defender out so my teammate can take a better shot, then I'll take all of that. It's really about how I can be as effective as possible throughout the game."
Her deft flick-ons to senior MA Vignola, her link-up play with freshman Sonia Ouchene Salón and her ability to hold up play for the Vols in the attacking third have become staples in her game.
Staples that don't always involve slotting the ball past the keeper.
'BEING A HANDFUL'
"We said to her this fall that the best goal scorers are always hard on themselves about scoring goals," Pensky said. "And we told her that that's not the ultimate thing. We told her to just focus on being a handful. If you're a handful out there, then you're either going to eventually score a goal, or you're going to create something for somebody else. Let being a handful be your benchmark."
A handful she has been. The Apple Valley, California, native has scored twice and helped set-up a number of goals, all while putting in solid minutes, primarily coming off the bench.
She has also continued her studies in the classroom. Alozie is currently pursuing a master's degree in Sport Psychology with a concentration in Motor Behavior—a two-year program that she is working to complete in one year.
Her impressive academic accomplishments are accompanied by continued athletic dreams.
"I definitely want to try to play professionally," Alozie said. "I'm young, med school will always be there. So, hopefully after this, I can play soccer for however long my body will allow me to, and then I can go to med school after I finish playing."
A goal-scorer, future doctor, student and friend are all phrases that define Alozie and the work she's already put in at UT.
While her time on Rocky Top will be short-lived, she will walk away from this program as a Vol for Life.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
M
/ Soccer
F/M
/ Soccer
F/D
/ SoccerSOC | Postgame Press Conference (11.14.25 vs. North Carolina)
Saturday, November 15
SOC | Joe Kirt Media Availability (11.11.25)
Tuesday, November 11
SOC | Cayden Norris Feature
Tuesday, November 11
SOC | Joe Kirt Postgame vs. Alabama (10.26.25)
Sunday, October 26
