A Lady Vols Positioned For Success

The University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University women’s soccer teams had similar beginnings turn into dramatically different endings in 2012.

In Brian Pensky’s first year as head coach at Tennessee, the Lady Volunteers won seven of their last eight regular-season games to solidify their spot at the top of the Southeastern Conference.

In Derek Greene’s third season as head coach at Vanderbilt, the Commodores started 2-1-4 in the SEC and appeared primed to move back into the upper echelon before two key injuries contributed to a season-ending six-game losing streak.

Both coaches welcome back talented returning classes and figure to prosper from deep recruiting classes that will add depth and give each program an opportunity to build on the positives from last season.

“We couldn’t have been more proud of what we did last season,” Pensky said. “Being picked 11th in the league (in the preseason poll) and finishing third in the SEC regular season after ending on a 7-1 stretch, I thought it was a very successful season.”

That run hit a few speed bumps in the last phase of the journey, though. Auburn started a SEC tournament run that helped it secure a bid to the NCAA tournament by beating Tennessee in penalty kicks in the second round of the league tournament. Miami University then upset Tennessee 3-2 in overtime in a first-round NCAA tournament match in Knoxville, Tenn.

Pensky said the loss brought heartbreak to a group of players that relished the chance to get the program back on solid footing. Now that the Lady Volunteers, who went 14-5-3 in 2012, have done that, Pensky hopes his returning players can implement lessons learned from a year ago and help erase the memory of the loss to Miami University.

[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] “It sounds clicheish, but they’re committed to wanting to win and competing,” Pensky said. “We have a great group of leaders this year. It is a combination of juniors and some seniors. … I don’t know if we have replaced (the players we lost to graduation), but we have replaced them with a pool of good players. I think our depth is going to be better than it was a year ago.

Forward Hannah Wilkin-son, who is from New Zealand, will be one of the leaders Pensky counts on to help make up for the loss to Amy Harrison, Ali Hall, and Kylie Bono to graduation.

Wilkinson was one of 31 players named to the Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List. The award recognizes the top women’s college soccer player. Wilkinson, the University of Kentucky’s Arin Gilliland, and Texas A&M’s Meghan Streight are the only representatives from the SEC.

Last season, Wilkinson tied for eighth in the SEC with eight goals (16 games).

Freshman forward Amalie Thestrup is part of a group of 17 newcomers that will compete for playing time. Unfortunately, Thestrup will miss time with Tennessee playing for her native Denmark in the UEFA Under-19 Championships.

Pensky said setting a standard and competing at a high level all of the time were major components of the progress the program made last season.

He said that was epitomized in a meeting at the end of the 2012 season when Harrison said it felt like the outgoing seniors hadn’t accomplished anything because they didn’t win a NCAA tournament game. In fact, Tennessee hasn’t won a game in the NCAA tournament since 2007.

But Tori Bailey, who is one of the team captains, said the seniors had accomplished something because they helped create a culture and they helped educate the younger players on how to do things the right way.

Pensky said he knew the team was on the right path when he heard the players support each other. His hope is the Lady Volunteers can utilize that mentality to assemble the pieces and to push the program to greater heights.

“I thought it was awesome,” Pensky said when asked what he thought of Bailey’s response to Harrison. “We were trying to win a NCAA tournament game for that group of seniors.

“It makes sense that Amy would say that and feel that that group hadn’t accomplished anything tangible in terms of postseason wins. However, they did do it the right way. For that to come from a teammate — and a teammate as respected as Tori Bailey — it was far more meaningful than coming from a coach.”

This year’s leadership, which is made up of five seniors and two juniors, has seized on that concept and trimmed the list of rules Pensky wanted to establish for this year’s team. Pensky said the group is ready to lead and the other players are ready to listen to them, which bodes well for a strong ending to the season and then an even stronger postseason kick.

“I have had some good leadership groups and captains, but this group ranks right up there with them because they are intelligent kids and they are all top-level students,” Pensky said. “They live their lives the right way and they’re good players. It’s a combination of all of those things and the fact that they want to win desperately.”

Vanderbilt Commodores

That desire to win also is in place at Vanderbilt, where Greene has brought in solid recruiting classes. Now he just has to hope his players can stay healthy.

A year ago, Vanderbilt was off to a surprising start — although it wasn’t shocking to Greene — before Cheyna Williams went down with an injury. In 17 games, Williams led Vanderbilt (5-10-5) with six goals and 18 points.

Goalkeeper Alexa Levick also suffered a concussion early in a late-season match against Texas A&M University and missed the final three matches of the season.

The injuries derailed the good thing Vanderbilt had going and played a role in the team’s inability to score down the stretch. The Commodores scored only one goal in their final six matches, all losses.

“It was a huge loss,” Greene said about the loss of Williams. “Cheyna had become a go-to player and someone who probably was going to be SEC Freshman of the Year if she had continued on. … That created a lot of problems because we were not built for that kind of injury.”

Greene believes things are different this season.

Not only does Vanderbilt return 192 out of a possible 220 games started from 2012, it also brings in eight freshmen who will push the returning players for time.

The SEC coaches don’t share Greene’s optimism. The Commodores were picked to finish last in the Eastern Division and 13th out of 14 teams. That isn’t surprising to Greene, but he knows the depth of talent is on the rise.

“I am not sure our best players in 2011 would start in this team in 2013,” Greene said. “I think kids all see a level rising in the program and understand and believe where we were last year prior to the injuries that we can do some special things.”

Greene said being picked 13th again in the preseason poll has motivated his players and has them training with a chip on their shoulders. Vanderbilt’s spot in the rankings also has something to do with the overall strength of the league, which Greene acknowledges.

But he also feels this year’s team is better equipped to deal with injuries and that it is ready to compete with teams picked to finish higher in the league.

“We still don’t know what winning looks like and to come in every day and do it,” Greene said. “If the freshmen come in and are willing to be led by a group of talented sophomores, I think it is a great goal to finish in the top half of the league.”