Oct. 28, 2004

Q. What is it like to play for your hometown university?
A. It is great, because I am very close to home. I get to see my family and friends all of the time.

Q. Describe the experience of redshirting last year.
A. It was a good experience. It was a time for me to grow as a player, and it also gave me time to recover from constant ankle sprains.

Q. Describe the difficulty of making the jump from high school soccer to the college game.
A. It is a totally different experience. The competition is much better, and the amount of time spent on the sport is much greater.

Q. What is your greatest strength as a soccer player?
A. I am very competitive, and I possess a great deal of desire to improve.

Q. What is your greatest weakness?
A. I need to work on winning balls in the air.

Q. In what area have you improved the most since coming to Mizzou?
A. My one-on-one defending has improved a lot.

Q. What is your favorite part about playing defender?
A. I love the fact that I can see the entire field. Also, I like to talk a lot on the field, and as a defender I am able to communicate to the other players what I see in front of me.

Q. Your sister played soccer at George Mason University. Describe the influence she has on the type of game you play?
A. She was always good about playing with me when I was younger, and she taught me everything that she knew. Most of all, she taught me how to be aggressive, since she always picked on me.

Q. For some siblings, playing the same sport would cause intense rivalry. Was there any between you and Julia?
A. No, because we've never been in competition with each other. She is much older than I am, so I've always looked up to her as a role model.