In the fall of 2001, the fifth-ranked recruiting class in the nation hit the Tennessee campus.

And the group wasn’t here to play for Pat Summitt or Phillip Fulmer.

Instead, seven highly-regarded freshmen came to UT to play under second-year Lady Vol soccer coach Angela Kelly. Kelly, coming off a rookie campaign that defied nearly all expectations, pulled in talent from across the nation.

Four years later, that class has become, hands-down, the program’s best. In its tenure at UT, this senior class has compiled a 58-20-6 overall record, winning nearly 70 percent of its contests.

This season, the team stands at 12-3-2 and 9-1 in conference play heading into Friday’s regular season finale against Georgia (7 p.m., UT Soccer Complex). The Lady Vols have clinched the 2004 SEC East title and would clinch the SEC regular season championship with a win over the Bulldogs.

As a whole, the class of 2005 has achieved a great deal for the program. In their opening campaign, they pushed the team to an 11-6-1 record and sent the Lady Vols to their first NCAA tournament berth. Their sophomore years saw Tennessee win its first SEC tournament title and head into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament before losing to North Carolina.

Last season again set new heights for the program when the team won the triple crown of SEC soccer – the SEC East title, regular season overall title and SEC tournament title.

But for the seniors – forward Mimi Couns, midfielder Ashley Dawes, defender Keeley Dowling, midfielder Sue Flamini, midfielder Kayla Lockaby, forward Lyndsey Patterson and forward Kristin McGrath – the biggest memories will simply come from being around each other.

“The biggest thing that I’ll take with me from UT is the friendships that we’ve built as a team,” Couns said. “We’re like a family to each other.”

A foreshadowing of those relationships is what brought many of the class to Tennessee in the first place. When selecting from the upper echelon of national soccer programs, the future Lady Vols saw Tennessee as a place where they’d be among friends.

“I knew Tennessee was a place where the other players were going to have the same goals and drive as I do,” Patterson said. “We work together and we honestly like each other on and off the field. I just saw UT as a place where I would be happy with the people around me.”

Flamini agreed, adding that she knew some of her future teammates before heading to Knoxville.

“I knew Kayla and Keeley from before,” Flamini said. “I knew how good they were and I really believed in what Ang (Kelly) was going to do with the program. I knew we could work well together.”

The individual accomplishments of the seniors shine alongside their overall contributions.

Last season, Dowling became UT’s initial All-American. She has compiled a lengthy list of honors, from SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2003 to numerous national team of the week awards.

Lockaby’s accomplishments have gone unnoticed by much of the nation, but not by her UT teammates. In each of the past three seasons, Lockaby has been named as one of the team’s MVPs for her explosive offensive ability and strong leadership.

The senior class has lived up to the expectations of others. But perhaps not their own.

“Our goal when we came here was a national championship,” Lockaby said. “Our goal now is to win a national championship.”

But along the way, compiling a history for the program has been a reward in itself.

“I think when people look back on our class, they are going to see that we helped make it so that Tennessee could recruit anywhere,” Couns said. “We put UT in the national spotlight by proving we could be successful on the field.”

Despite finishing up their regular-season UT careers at home on Friday, the class that has established new heights every step of the way still wants to set a few more.

“I can’t see into the future, so I don’t know how we’ll end up this season,” Flamini said. “But I think this team is the best I’ve been on since I got here, just because we work well together and for the same goals.

“We’ve proven that we can play with anyone and I think that the rest of the season is about finishing that way.”