May 15, 2007
No. 1 Recruiting Class in Central Region
Feature Story By Will Matthews
 |
|
| Rachel Bachtel, a 5’9 keeper from Dublin, Ohio, is listed as a Top 50 National Recruit by Soccer Buzz after recording 47 shutouts and 53 wins in her high school career. |
NASHVILLE – Don’t tell their parents, but when Molly Kinsella and her twin sister Megan were shopping for colleges, the academic quality of schools was only their second most important consideration.
Tops on their priority list: the quality of a school’s women’s soccer program.
“Our parents didn’t really like it much, but when we set out our priorities in terms of choosing a school, soccer was definitely number one and academics was number two,” Molly said this week.
Safe to say, then, that the Kinsellas will be getting the best of both worlds by choosing to study and play soccer at Vanderbilt. The duo from Memphis is part of an 11-woman recruiting class signed by Head Coach Ronnie Coveleskie that last week was ranked No. 1 in the Central Region and No. 9 overall nationally – the highest rated recruiting class in the program’s history.
And while Vanderbilt’s stellar academic reputation surely played a role in Coveleskie’s ability to ink such a highly touted class, its quality and depth are perhaps more emblematic of the burgeoning national reputation the Commodores are beginning to garner.
On the heels of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, Coveleskie says it is the team’s prior success on the field more than anything that has led to her ability to have success on the recruiting trail.
“We have definitely established an ability to win,” said Coveleskie, the 2005 Southeastern Conference Co-Coach of the year who will be entering her seventh season at Vanderbilt’s helm in 2007. “We have made a little noise nationally the past couple of years and I think people are attracted to that.”
The 2007 class includes a total of five players ranked in the top 200 nationally, two of whom are ranked in the top 50 in the nation.
“It is most definitely an honor and very exciting to look at the top of the rankings and see Vanderbilt’s name up there with the powerhouses of women’s soccer,” Coveleskie said. “It is really a credit to our entire staff and to the quality of the girls that we already have in the program right now.”
Among the group’s most significant recruits are top 50 players Rachel Bachtel, a goalkeeper from Dublin, Ohio and Mary Rachel Reynolds, a defender from Alpharetta, Ga. The infusion of Bachtel could prove to be particularly important as Vanderbilt will be looking to cope with the loss to graduation of All-American goalkeeper Tyler Griffin.
“It was quite a relief,” Coveleskie said of securing Bachtel. “We knew going into the recruiting season that was a hole we needed to fill and we feel like we found the right fit. Rachel has big shoes to fill but she is extremely talented and has big goals for herself and the program.”
The 11 newcomers in 2007 will almost match the 14 players Vanderbilt will have returning – a roster dynamic Coveleskie says means most every job will be up for grabs but which she also hopes will cultivate an added level of competitiveness within the team.
“You can’t ever underestimate the potential of the competitive spirit,” Coveleskie said. “My hope is that it will push everyone to compete harder and increase their level of play and that the entire team will benefit as a result.”
Reynolds, for one, says when she arrives in Nashville this summer, she will be seeking to simply be a complement to a successful foundation already in place.
“I really can’t wait to get started,” she said. “This is an awesome opportunity for me to step in and help Vanderbilt soccer become even better than it already is.”
For Coveleskie, the 2007 recruiting class is further proof the Vanderbilt program can achieve the kind of heights she has striven to achieve since arriving on the scene in 2001: annually competing for national championships.
“Good players want to play with good players and great players want to play with great players and if you get a top-10 recruiting class it means that you are getting great players who believe they will be playing with other great players,” Coveleskie said. “This year’s incoming class is a shining example of the fact that the success we have had is attracting top level athletes who want a great education and who want nothing less than to compete for championships.”
Will Matthews spent three years as an investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Newspaper Group in Southern California. He earned his Master of Divinity degree in 2007 from Vanderbilt Divinity School. To email Will your feedback, Click Here
