2022 Banneret Awards: Women’s Assistant Coach 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 Assistant Coach of the Year. Here are your nominees:

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Glenn Smith

Field Coach —Track and Field

UCF Athletics

Field Events Coach Glenn Smith improved on his 2021 season by not just coaching Triple Jumper Asherah Collins to her second-straight NCAA Championships appearance, but also sending two more athletes with her, Multi Brittany Floyd and Discus Thrower Adrienne Adams. Smith recruited Floyd, who transferred in from UAB, and she subsequently set a new bar for UCF multi-athletes. Meanwhile, Adams broke a program record that has stood for over a decade.

Resume:

• Asherah Collins returned to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the Triple Jump for the second-straight year, finishing one spot away from being a Second-Team All-American
• Collins set a new program freshman record in the Indoor Triple Jump
• Recruited Brittany Floyd from the transfer portal, who advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships Heptathlon and broke the school pentathlon and heptathlon records
• Discus Thrower Adrienne Adams broke the program record in the event and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships
• Holly Cassels and Natalia Madison set new program freshman records in the pentathlon and heptathlon respectively

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Chris Cummings

Goalkeeper Coach — Women’s Soccer

UCF Athletics

Thanks to guidance from goalkeeper coach Chris Cummings, goalkeeper Caroline DeLisle went on to be selected as the AAC Goalkeeper of the Year and to the All-AAC First Team. DeLisle also ensured UCF Women’s Soccer team never had a deficit of more than two goals last season.

Resume:

Alongside her conference honors, Goalkeeper Caroline DeLisle ranked:

• 2nd in the AAC in Total Saves and Saves Per Game (Min. 50% of team minutes)
• 3rd in the AAC in Save Percentage
• 4th in the AAC in Shutouts

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Tahnee Balerio

Women’s Basketball

UCF Athletics

While head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson previously preached defense and physical presence in the paint most associated with post players in the front court, the stip of that spear was the relentless backcourt coached up by Tahnee Balerio. While it might seem Balerio’s impact was negligible on paper because of how great Diamond Battles was as a Conference Player and Defense Player of the year, Battles wasn’t the only player that made their fullcourt press and fast-paced offense the terrifying force that tired opponents and allowed frontcourt players to feast.

Resume:

• Alisha Lewis and Diamond Battles ranked 1st and 2nd in the AAC in Steals
• Battles ranked 5th in the AAC in Free Throws
• Battles ranked 6th in the AAC in Points and Free Throw Percentage

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Jenny Maurer

Volleyball

UCF Athletics

Maurer ran the offense for the UCF Volleyball team, guiding All-American McKenna Melville to a season where she repeated as AAC Player of the Year, lead the NCAA in points and kills, and was 7th in kills per set. She also helped guide Amber Olson to UCF’s first AAC Setter of the Year honor, where she led the conference (and was 14th in the nation) in total assists. Anne-Marie Watson, who had the 2nd-most kills on the team after Melville, was unanimously selected to the All-AAC First Team alongside Melville.

Resume:

Alongside her players’ accolades, Maurer’s offense ranked:

• 12th in the nation in Total Kills and Services Aces (Lead AAC)
• 8th in the nation in Team Assists (Lead AAC)
• 14th in the nation in Hitting Percentage (Lead AAC)

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Whitney Jones

Hitting Coach- Softball

UCF Athletics

Under Jones’ watch, the Knights improved in runs scored, going from 301 runs scored in 61 games in 2021 to a school-record 360 runs in 63 games. One of her leading batters, Jada Cody, became the second UCF player to earn All-American recognition, driving in a program-record 75 runs. Cody and three other UCF position players were named to the All-AAC First Team, and two more Knights were named to the All-AAC Second Team.

Resume:

Alongside her players’ accolades, Jones’ hitters ranked:

• 2nd in the nation in Walks (Lead AAC)
• 16th in the nation in On-Base Percentage (2nd in AAC)
• 34th in the nation in Scoring (2nd in AAC)
• 2nd in the AAC in Batting Average and Slugging Percentage,

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Vote for who you think is the 2022 UCF Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year below: