Aug. 4, 2011

By Brian Davis, Assistant Media Relations Director

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - With just over two weeks until the start of the 2011 women's collegiate soccer campaign, the Tennessee Lady Vols and Head Coach Angela Kelly are opening official preparation for the new season by holding their first team training sessions on Thursday evening at a combination of Tom Black Track and the Regal Soccer Stadium.

The squad will first face "The Cooper," which is a physical fitness test originally designed by Kenneth H. Cooper for the U.S. Military back in 1968. The version of the drill utilized by the Big Orange soccer program requires that field players complete 7 ¼ laps and goalkeepers 6 ¾ laps around UT's 400-meter Tom Black Track in just 12 minutes. The squad will then venture over to Regal Soccer Stadium to begin the first official field workout.

Tennessee enters the 2011 campaign coming off a 10-9-1 campaign that saw the program finish third in the overall standings in the Southeastern Conference (7-3-1 in league action) but fail to draw a nod into the annual NCAA Tournament Field of 64.

In all, 16 letter-winners return from last season, including players who scored 32 of the team's 34 goals and registered 89 of 97 combined points. A 27-member UT roster is finalized by a high-profile group of 11 newcomers that are set to garner their first action on the pitch this fall for the Lady Vols.

Included among the returnees for the Big Orange (with 2010 stat total in parentheses) are 2010 National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) All-South Region and First Team All-Southeastern Conference selection midfielder/forward Chelsea Hatcher (eight goals, four assists; Cincinnati, Ohio), forwards Emily Dowd (seven goals, one assist; Gainesville, Fla.) and Alexis Owens (one goal, two assists; Carmel, Ind.), experienced midfielders Kylie Bono (five goals, three assists; Yorba Linda, Calif.), Emily Shore (one goal, five assists; Gainesville, Fla.), Caroline Brown (three goals, two assists; Hershey, Pa.), Amy Harrison (two goals; Winnipeg, Alberta, Canada), Sanna Saarinen (two goals, three assists; Espoo, Finland), Tori Bailey (one goal, two assists; Fenton, Mich.) and Lara Langworthy (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) as well as battle-tested defenders Ali Hall (one goal, two assists; Hawthorn Woods, Ill.), Chelsea Kephart (1033 minutes in 2011; Cumming, Ga.) and Hannah Hut (Highlands Ranch, Colo.).

The new campaign gets started with a preseason match at Samford (Aug. 12) before hitting the road to christen the regular season on Aug. 19 at Lawrence, Kan., against Kansas and on Aug. 21 versus Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.

To keep up with Lady Vol soccer on the web, visit www.UTLadyVols.com/soccer and be sure to follow @LadyVol_Soccer on Twitter.