Feb. 12, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State soccer head coach Heather Nelson recently announced the signing of Vanessa Hart to a National Letter of Intent to compete for the Redhawks beginning this August. She joins fellow countrywoman Nicole Monks, who will enter her sophomore season this fall at Southeast.

Hart is a longtime member of the New South Wales (NSW) state team and played with the Australian High School Team in international competition from 2005-06. She is served as a first-grade captain for the Bathurst City Panthers of the Arrive Alive Women's Super League, which provides top club competition in NSW and Australia.

She received the Platinum Medal as the Player of the Year in the AAWSL in 2006 and claimed MVP honors at the CHS National Titles Tournament. Hart has also led the NSW state county team to three consecutive Australian national championships between 2001 and 2003.

"Vanessa plays as an attacking central midfielder and is recognized as an intelligent player with a brilliant soccer mind," Nelson stated. "Her possession, long and short games are all outstanding. She has the ability to switch play with an extremely long service and is also comfortable holding the ball up while allowing players to seek their positions. We couldn't be any more excited about having a player of Ness' caliber join our team. She will make an immediate impact as both a link player and a scoring threat."