#5 Jen Talavera Junior - Forward 5-4 Kenner, La. St. Mary's Dominican

One of the fastest players in the SEC, Talavera is one of the best scoring threats for the Commodores. The team's active career scoring leader with 15 goals and 33 points in the black and gold, her return from a knee injury last year should spark the Vanderbilt offense this year and will be a key to the team's success.

As A Junior (2001): Started the first three games of the season before suffering an ACL injury in practice that ended her season...Received a medical redshirt...Scored her only goal of the season in the season opener vs. Chattanooga...Had six shots...Returned to the field for the 2002 spring season.

As A Sophomore (2000): Earned Second-Team All-SEC honors...Named SEC Player of the Week after scoring a combined three goals against Auburn and Alabama, including the game winner at Alabama and the game-tying goal at Auburn with two seconds remaining in regulation...Also scored the game-winning goal in the victory over Tennessee in the SEC Tournament...Tied her career highs with two goals and four points against Auburn and South Carolina and also with an assist against Arkansas and Duke...Scored 12 of her 15 points in SEC games...Second on team with three assists, third with 15 points and fourth with six goals...Battled injuries early in the season that caused her to miss two games and be slowed in several others.

As A Freshman (1999): Led Vanderbilt with eight goals, including three-game winners…Ranked second on the team in points (16) and third in shots (49)…Seven of her eight goals were recorded in SEC games…Had four shots in a game nine times during the season…In her first collegiate start and the season opener, she tallied a goal against Alabama 45 seconds into the game, setting a new school record...Had an outstanding SEC weekend against Georgia and Tennessee where scored the game-winning goal against No. 12 Georgia and recorded two goals against Tennessee, including the game-winner…Tallied a goal against No. 24 Kentucky…Also had lone goals against both Mississippi State and Ole Miss…Her third game-winning goal of the season came in VU's win over Arkansas.

High School/Club: The Gatorade Circle of Champions High School Girls' Soccer Player of the Year for the state of Louisiana...Three-time all-state and four-time all-district honoree…Named to The Times Picayune All-Metro team all four years…Holds the school record for career goals (196) and single-season goals (55)…Tallied 53 goals and 15 assists as a junior…Was her team's MVP for offense every year…Named to the Holiday Classic All-Tournament team and was MVP of the Pope John Paul Tournament…A member of the Region III ODP team and went on the Region III European Tour in the spring of 1998 and 1999…Played for the ODP Regional Pool for three years and the Louisiana State ODP team for three years…Played club soccer for the New Orleans Soccer Academy which won five Snickers State Cups…Helped her club team to the Southern Regional Semifinals in 1999 and 1997 and the WAGS Tournament "B" Flight Championship in 1996.

Worth Knowing: Jennifer Anne Talavera…Born 1/19/81…Daughter of Peter and Mari Talavera…Major is Political Science…Earned District All-Academic Team honors from the Louisiana High School Association in 1998 and 1999.