clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Top 80 UCF Knights Female Athletes of All-Time: #30-21

We reach the Top 30 with Volleyball, Soccer and Basketball legends

Jordan Pingel UCF Volleyball
Jordan Pingel
Photo: Derek Warden/Black & Gold Banneret

As we continue our countdown of the top UCF Knights female athletes of all-time, check out our previous articles in this list here:

RELATED


#30 - Becca Thomas (Soccer)

Becca Thomas played Soccer at UCF from 2006-2009
Becca Thomas

Thomas was the 2009 C-USA Midfielder of the Year as well as a two-time C-USA First Team member (2008 & 2009). She helped lead UCF to C-USA Championships in 2007 and 2009, and three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (‘07-’09).

Becca Thomas #4 was honored on October 3, 2016 by UCF Head Coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak and UCF Women Soccer program UCF along with Courtney Whidden # 2 and former UCF Soccer advisor Sarah Hill (Far Left)
Becca Thomas

Thomas was a NSCAA All-American in 2009, the first UCF midfielder to be named an All-American since Amy Jones in 1995. She ranks 5th all-time at UCF in assists (29) and game winning goals (10) in her career.


#29 - Susan Patz (Basketball)

Susan Patz was inducted into UCF Athletics Hall of Fame
UCF Athletics

Susan Patz was the first UCF women’s basketball player to be enshrined in the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame, earning that honor in 2000. She played from 1982-86 and was instrumental in the program’s transition from Division II to Division I.

Patz was the first woman in school history to score more than 1,500 points and pull down more than 500 rebounds in a career. She finished her career as UCF’s second leading scorer with 1,587 points, and still ranks 3rd all-time. She also blocked 85 shots during her career, which ranks 6th, and ranks third all-time in field goals made (638).


#28 - Liz Earley (Golf)

Liz Earley played Golf at UCF from 1989-1992, Played in the LPGA Tour for five years.
St Catherines

Liz Earley won five college tournaments at UCF, which ranks her second all-time in program history, and was part of two conference championships between 1989-1992. Earley was a Second Team All-American in 1992.

In 1990, Earley earned medalist honors and was named player of the year as UCF won the NSWAC title. The following year, Earley was named the GolfWeek’s National Golfer of the Month for March, and finished 46th individually in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.

In 1992, Earley was the Sun Belt Conference medalist, helping UCF win the Sun Belt Conference championship and make its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Top 20 poll. She would make her second trip to the NCAA Championship, finishing 47th, and earning second-team All-America honors. Her career scoring average of 76.67 ranks her 7th all-time at UCF

Earley played professionally on the LPGA Tour for five years, competing in five U.S. Women’s Opens, and won the Canadian PGA Women’s Championship at St. Catharine’s Golf and Country Club in 2002.


#27 - Alea White (Softball)

Alea White UCF Softball Photo Courtesy: UCF Athletics

Alea White ranks in the top four in many UCF career pitching categories, including in starts with 109 (3rd), appearances with 143 (T-2nd), saves with 7 (3rd), complete games with 84 (3rd), innings pitched with 767 (3rd), strikeouts with 532 (4th), and wins, where White stands at 77 as of the abrupt conclusion of the 2020 season - just three away from the program record held by Shelby Turnier (80).

White is a three-time All-AAC performer and is one of four UCF players in program history to be a two-time First Team All-Region performer, along with Shelby Turnier, Kahley Novak, and Allison Kime. White finished 4th in the NCAA in wins in 2018 with 25, which is also tied for 4th-most in a single season by any Knight pitcher. In 2020, White was 6th in NCAA in wins with 11 and tied for 25th in shutouts with three. She still has one year of eligibility left.


#26 - Tishia Jewell (Soccer)

Tishia Jewell is one of the greatest passers in program history, as the all-time leader at UCF in assists with 36, and is sixth all-time in points with 87, scoring 24 goals in her career.

Jewell won the C-USA Offensive Player of the Year award in 2010, and was an All-American in 2011. She was a two-time C-USA First Teamer in 2010 and 2011 and made Second Team in 2012.

Jewell was part of UCF’s C-USA Tournament championship in 2012, as well as regular season championships in 2009 and 2010. She also led UCF to the NCAA Tournament all four years she was there, from 2009-2012, including the Knights’ Elite 8 run in 2011. She finished her career as the first UCF athlete ever to win the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in 2012.


#25 - Laura Smith (Volleyball)

Laura Smith played Volleyball from 1977-1979
UCF Athletics

Laura Smith played at UCF (initially FTU) from 1977-79 and was a two-time All-American for the Knights. UCF won 165 of 176 matches in her three seasons as a player, including an incredible 55-0 mark in 1978, leading UCF to the AIAW Small College National Championship.

Smith was inducted into UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999, and again in 2015 as part of the 1978 team. She was also honored by the program in 2017, when she was inducted into the UCF Volleyball Ring of Honor.


#24 - Kelly Kochevar (Soccer)

Kelly Kochevar led the Knights in scoring in three of her four seasons, in 1991 (39 points), 1993 (36) and 1994 (33). Her 53 career goals and 20 game-winners both rank first all-time at UCF, while her 122 points place second behind the great Michelle Akers.

Kochevar is tied with Akers with six consecutive matches with a goal. She led UCF to the NCAA Tournament in 1991, scoring 16 goals with seven assists, including seven game-winners, which is still a school record. Her 39 points was one shy of Akers’ school record from 1986.

Kochevar also led UCF to TAAC championships in 1993 and 1994. She was inducted into UCF Hall of Fame in 2008.


#23 - Octavious Freeman (Track & Field)

2016 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials - Day 2
EUGENE, OR - JULY 02: Octavious Freeman runs in the first round of the Women’s 100 Meter’s Dash during the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on July 2, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Octavious Freeman is one of the most decorated UCF athletes of all time. She was an All- American in the Outdoor 100 meters and 200 meters and the Indoor 60 meters and 200 meters.

Freeman was part of C-USA championship teams at UCF in outdoor (2012, 2013) and indoor (2012). Individually, she was the C-USA champion in the outdoor 100 meters in 2012 and 2013. Freeman was named C-USA Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year twice in 2012 and 2013, pulling the double in 2012 with her C-USA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year that season. She was also USTFCCCA South Region Track Athlete of the Year in 2012. Freeman still holds UCF’s all-time school record in the outdoor 100m at 10.87 seconds.


#22 - Jordan Pingel (Volleyball)

Jordan Pingel was a AVCA All-American honoree in 2018 in leading UCF to AAC Championship and a National seed in the NCAA Tournament.
UCF Athletics

Pingel is UCF’s (2015-2018) all-time leader in digs (2,262), and rewrote UCF record books for a libero. She holds four of the top five single-season performances for digs, including the single season record of 597 in 2018. Pingel was an AVCA All-American in 2018, the first libero to make All-American in program history.

Pingel ranks 9th all-time in matches played with 128, which is the most by any Knight in the last 15 years. She also ranks fourth all-time in sets played (470), which is the most by any Knight since 1998.

Volleyball UCF Jordan Pingel
Jordan Pingel holding up AAC Trophy
Jeff Sharon

Pingel captained UCF to the American’s conference title in her final season, enabling UCF to host an NCAA Tournament regional and enter the AVCA Top 25 poll, which were both program firsts in the Division I Era.


#21 - Chariya Davis (Basketball)

Chariya Davis was inducted into UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
UCF Athletics

Chariya Davis was a four-year standout for the Knights from 1995-99, bringing UCF to the NCAA Tournament twice in 1996 and 1999.

Davis is UCF’s all-time leader in assists (531) and steals (284), and finished her career eighth in rebounding (634) and sixth in career scoring (1,517). She was All-Atlantic Sun twice, making second team in 1997-98 and first team in 1998-99, when she was also named A-Sun Player of the Year and A-Sun Tournament MVP. She was also named to the A-Sun All-Tournament team twice.

Davis is currently the head coach at Rickards High School in Tallahassee.