Lady Vol forward and midfielder Kylee Rossi may not want to be the center of attention off the field, but her play demands that defenses watch her every move on the field.

Rossi, a sophomore from Pennington, N.J., made a big impact in her first year in Knoxville, leading the Lady Vols soccer squad with eight goals and 20 points, while earning second-team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman honors, as well as SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll.

Fans should expect Rossi to rack up even bigger honors this season, Lady Vols coach Angela Kelly said. “I think she’s definitely one of the best, if not the best player in the SEC,” Kelly said. “I think she’s gonna be a great player in the program. I would be very, very surprised if she’s not an All-American this year.”

“She’s big time.”Lady Vol Soccer Coach Angela Kelly Rossi wasted no time in establishing her role for the Lady Vols as a freshman, scoring a goal in her first game, against North Carolina. Rossi is already showing improvement this year, Kelly said.

“I think what you’re seeing right now out of Kylee Rossi is even 10 times better of a player than what you saw last fall,” Kelly said. “She’s just maturing each and every day. She’s becoming a lot more confident.”

Rossi began playing soccer when she was 4. She won the New Jersey Prep School Player of the Year Award in 2003 and 2004, and played on the U.S. Women’s Under-17 Team in 2004. Rossi’s determination has played a big part in her success, said her father, Gary Rossi. “She’s always been very competitive,” her father said. “She hates to lose.”

Rossi was a stud at the club level, Kelly said. “I saw her as a club player and she had a tremendous technical presence and could beat people,” the coach said.

Rossi was not even thinking about coming to UT, she said, but Kelly’s urging resulted in a visit to Knoxville. Actually, I wasn’t ever gonna go South,” Rossi said. “I wanted to stay close to home. During the recruiting process you just know if the school’s right for you and I had that feeling.”

Kelly wants Rossi to contribute in an even bigger way this season. “I think because of the small team and everybody contributing, everybody has to pull their weight, and she has a bigger portion of weight to pull than a lot,” Kelly said. Rossi tries to model her game after Pete Maravich and put on a show while maintaining a team-first attitude, she said. “He just went out there and put on a show for everyone, and that’s what I like to do,” Rossi said. “I like to put on a show. I’m more of a team player, but I still like the way he put on a show for everyone and didn’t care what people thought. I just thought that was special.”

Kelly sums up Kylee Rossi this way: “She’s big time.”