2022 Banneret Awards: Women’s Athlete of the Year

It’s time for the 2022 Black & Gold Banneret Awards!

Each year we pass out a bunch of awards honoring the best athletes, coaches, teams, and moments of the previous UCF Knights athletic year. Our staff votes, and so do you, the fans.

Here’s how it works: We, the staff, put together our nominees for each award. You can listen to our nominations podcast episode here. Over the next couple of weeks, we will open fan voting for each award. Each staff member gets one vote, and the winner of the fan vote will get one vote. If there is a tie, the fan vote will be the tiebreaker. We will announce the winners in two weeks.

Our 2022 Black & Gold Banneret Awards continue with Women’s Athlete of the Year. Here are your nominees:

McKenna Melville — Volleyball

Photo: Noah Goldberg

Resume:

• AVCA All-America Third Team
• American Athletic Conference Player of the Year
• Led the NCAA with 701 points (5.61 points per set)
• Also led the NCAA with 617 kills (4.94 per set)
• American Athletic Conference First Team
• AVCA Southeast All-Region
• Led the team in digs with 383
• Help lead UCF to AAC Championship and to 2nd round of NCAA Tournament

Diamond Battles — Basketball

Resume:

• American Athletic Conference Player of the Year
• American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year
• The American Championship Most Outstanding Player
• Unanimous First Team All-Conference
• Named a WBCA All-America Honorable Mention
• WBCA Region 3 Finalist for All-America
• Led UCF with 13.9 points per game
• Help lead UCF To AAC Regular Season and Tournament titles.
• Help UCF to program 1st NCAA Tournament win in program history

Tunrada Piddon — Golf

Resume:

• American Athletic Conference Player of the Year
• Program-record 71.71 season scoring average
• Six Top 10 Finishes
• 2-Time Player of Week
• Help lead UCF to NCAA Tournament appearance in Ann Arbor Regional
• Help UCF to Final Ranking of 35 in Golfstat rankings.

Rayniah Jones — Track and Field

Resume:

• Earned bronze medal at NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships (60-meter hurdles)
• Returned to the Final in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
• Set new program record in 60-meter hurdles
• AAC Indoor Meet MVP
• Collected 4 gold medals at AAC meets (3 Indoor, 1 Outdoor)
• 8th-fastest 100-meter hurdles season-best in the nation
• 4th-fastest 60-meter hurdles season-best in the nation
• 13th-fastest 60-meter dash season-best in the nation
• Qualified for NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 60-meter dash
• Part of the 4x100-meter relay team that finished 7th at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

Jada Cody — Softball

Photo: Derek Warden

Resume:

• D1Softball’s First Team All-America
• Softball America 2nd Team All-American
• Ranked 21st best player in the country according to D1 Softball
• AAC Championship’s Most Outstanding Player
• AAC 1st Team All-Conference
• NFCA All-Region Second Team
• Set UCF season record with 75 RBIs which finished 4th in NCAA
• Led UCF in HR (15) 4th most ever at UCF
• Led UCF in hitting (.361) 5th best ever at UCF
• Help lead UCF to AAC regular season and Tournament titles.
• Help lead UCF 1st ever regional host, Winning Orlando Regional, and 1st Super Regional
• Help lead UCF To highest season-ending ranking in final polls ranked 14th in NFCA Poll