Thursday, September 18, 2008

MACON, Ga. - Pass Olivia Tucker on campus, and it would be easy to stereotype her a little bit.

Maybe she was a cheerleader in high school, on the homecoming court. And it would be no stretch to picture her at a sorority rush function. But watch Tucker in a Mercer women's soccer uniform and on the pitch, and all those other visions evaporate.

Heather Manting remembers when she first saw Tucker.

"The first thing that went through my mind," Manting, the 5-foot-8 senior from Parkview, said through laughs, "was probably that she looks like she's 13 years old. Honestly, that's what I thought."

And, yes, Tucker is a youthful-looking freshman, until she puts on that uniform and starts playing.

"She's feisty," head coach Grant Serafy said. "She's just feisty and scrappy. I'm not really sure what other way to put it."

Tucker leads Mercer with three goals and an assist and has gone from inexperienced freshman to starter. She has transitioned from a defensive center midfielder to more of an offensive threat, all in seven games.

But it's the other part of her game that is the attention-getter.

Tucker stands a headband under 5-4 and is a few croissants short of 100 pounds, yet she is perhaps Mercer's most aggressive player.