May 8, 2008
Houston, Texas (www.ucfathletics.com) - With the opening round of the Conference USA Softball Championship set to get underway on Thursday, the UCF softball team received five All-Conference USA honors Wednesday night at the league's annual banquet, with redshirt-junior right fielder Marquita Council (Orlando, Fla.) being named the league's co-Newcomer of the Year.
UCF had two student-athletes voted onto the All-C-USA teams, as well as having two players named to the All-Freshman squad. Senior pitcher Allison Kime (Brandon, Fla.) and junior first baseman Breanne Javier (Castaic, Calif.) secured spots on the All-C-USA First Team, while Tiffany Lane (Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Abby McClain (Waterloo, Iowa) represented UCF on the C-USA All-Freshman squad.
A transfer from Santa Fe Community College, Council played and started in all 61 games in her first season as a Knight, leading C-USA with 14 sacrifice bunts, while tying for the ninth spot with 58 hits. The redshirt junior ranks first on the team in sacrifice bunts, times hit by pitch, games played and games started, and second in batting average, one-base percentage and walks. Council held a seven-game hitting streak from March 19-26 and scored nine game-winning runs for the Black and Gold this season.
Kime, a 2007 All-Southeast Region First Team selection, holds a 28-10 record in 2008 and ranks 11th in the NCAA in victories (28), 19th in ERA (1.05) and 30th in strikeouts per seven innings (8.7). The senior also ranks fourth all-time in C-USA with 807 strikeouts. Kime was named the C-USA Pitcher of the Week three times during the regular season and posted at least 10 strikeouts on 12 occasions, recording 15 strikeouts three different times. She broke the UCF single-season strikeout record with 319 strikeouts in 2008 and has 12 shutouts in 31 complete games this season. Kime holds 14 UCF program career-pitching records and seven single-season records. Her selection to the first team is the second of her career after making the squad last season.
Javier was named to the first team for the second-consecutive season, playing in and starting all 61 games for the Knights at first base. A 2008 Preseason All-C-USA selection, she ranks 21st in the nation in the toughest to strikeout category and 74th in batting average, while ranking in the top-10 in C-USA in 10 offensive categories and leading the league in defensive chances (520) and putouts (494). She is tops on the UCF squad in batting average (.389), slugging percentage (.485), on-base percentage (.438), hits (77), RBI (37), doubles (12), total bases (96), at bats (198), games played (61), games started (61), multiple-hit games (25) and multiple-RBI games (8). Her current 15-game hitting streak broke the UCF record for most consecutive games with a hit.\
Lane started all 61 games for the Knights at shortstop and ranks 24th nationally in triples per game, while ranking in the C-USA top-10 in 11 categories, including the top spot in stolen bases, steal attempts, total plate appearances and ties for the top spot in triples. The freshman scored 13 game-winning runs for the Knights this season and set program single-season records for triples (5) and stolen bases (25).
In her first season on the UCF squad, McClain started 53 games, including 43 at second base, nine in centerfield and one as the catcher. She ranks fourth on her team in RBI and doubles and has five multiple-hit games and ties for the second spot on the team with six multiple-RBI games. The freshman went 2-for-3 with a RBI in the Knights win over Iowa (3/20) and paced the Knights with three hits, two RBI and a run scored to lead her team to a series sweep at Marshall (3/30).
The Knights, the No. 2 seed, look to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament when they compete for the Conference USA Softball Championship title May 8-10 in Houston, Texas. For tickets, visit conferenceusa.cstv.com.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pics
C-USA Softball All-Conference Awards
Player of the Year
Rachel Folden, Marshall
Pitcher of the Year
Angel Shamblin, Houston
Co-Newcomers of the Year
Marquita Council, UCF
Kelly Nielson, Marshall
Freshman of the Year
Jennifer Klinkert, Houston
Coach of the Year
Kyla Holas, Houston
All-Conference USA First Team
C - Rachel Folden, Marshall
IF - Jessica Valis, Houston
IF - Jennifer Klinkert, Houston
IF - Breanne Javier, UCF
IF - Stacie Townsend, UTEP
OF - Laurie Wagner, Houston
OF - Samantha Rodriguez, Marshall
OF - Lauren Lindsay, Tulsa
UT - Camilla Carerra, UTEP
P - Angel Shamblin, Houston
P - Allison Kime, UCF
All-Conference USA Second Team
C - Elaina Nordstrom, Houston
IF - Christa Raley, Houston
IF - Leila Dolfo, Memphis
IF - Sara Dyer, Tulsa
IF - Amber Bennett, UTEP
OF - Katie Bush, Houston
OF - Rachel Sofie, Marshall
OF - Megan Hill, Southern Miss
UT - Lindsey Tower, Tulsa
P - Samantha Davis, Southern Miss
P - Jordan Kinard, Tulsa
All-Conference USA Freshman Team
Jennifer Klinkert, Houston
Melanie Stoehr, Marshall
Maddie McKinley, Memphis
Kimber Bossom, Memphis
Jordan Kinard, Tulsa
Kailey Chapman, Tulsa
Laura Callaway, UAB
Caley Walden, UAB
Tiffany Lane, UCF
Abby McClain, UCF
Camilla Carerra, UTEP
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