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SOCCER MEDIA REPORTS:

SOCCER'S RHIAN WILKINSON HONORED AS edamerica ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

3rd November 2003
Forward Helped the Lady Vols to Eastern Division and Overall SEC Titles

After a busy stretch in which she helped the Canadian National Team to a fourth-place finish in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and the Lady Vols to their first-ever Southeastern Conference regular-season title, senior Rhian Wilkinson (Baie d'Urfe, Quebec) was tabbed as the edamerica Athlete of the Month for October.

Having missed 11 of Tennessee's first 13 matches while competing on the international level, the forward returned to Coach Angela Kelly's lineup and contributed 10 points on three goals and four assists over the final five contests of the campaign.

The All-Central Region and All-SEC striker became the program's all-time assist leader against Arkansas on Oct. 17 and took over the lead in points on Oct. 26 during a 4-1 triumph over Kentucky. She later provided the lone goal of the match on Halloween night as the Lady Vols blanked Georgia to clinch the top seed for this week's SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala. The senior is now three goals shy of Laura Lauter Smith's school-record tally of 29 scores.

Despite her shortened season, Wilkinson rates sixth on the squad in scoring with 13 points on four goals and five helpers. More impressively, her 10 points in SEC action trailed only junior Lyndsey Patterson (Puyallup, Wash.) and rookie Ali Christoph (Columbus, Ohio), who notched 13 and 11 points, respectively.

No. 15 Tennessee, 13-4-1 overall and a program-best 7-1-1 in the league, will take on South Carolina (10-7-3/3-4-2 SEC) on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT to kick off the SEC Tourney in Orange Beach, Ala.