UCF volleyball head coach Todd Dagenais announced the program will add four new members to the Ring of Honor. Meg Fitzgerald, Tanya Jarvis, DeLaina Sarden and Emily Watts are this year's inductees.
"COVID put a little bit of a cramp in getting people here so we're gonna get caught up and put four people in who deserve such an honor this year," Dagenais said.
Watts (2002-04) led the Knights to an Atlantic Sun Championship in 2002 and 2003 and was named to the A-Sun All-Freshman Team in 2002. She was awarded the A-Sun Tournament MVP in 2003, and was selected to the All-Conference Second Team in 2003.
When asked about Watts, Dagenais said "Emily made herself, in only three years one of the top blockers in program history. She either holds or she's in the top three of almost every blocking standard that we look at. We are really excited to honor her as a three-time conference champion and get her into the Ring of Honor."
Jarvis (2001-04) will join her former teammate in the Ring of Honor as well. Jarvis is a former outside hitter and was named to the 2003 All-A-Sun second team.
"She not only had a prolific career with multiple conference championships, but she went on to be one of the nation's best high school club coaches. Fortunately, we still have her in the area at Bishop Moore and she's been a color commentator for some of our matches, so she's remained part of our family, but more importantly, she's contributed to the program in many capacities over the years" Dagenais said.
Former head coach Meg Fitzgerald, who was the head coach from 1999-2007, led UCF to three conference championships in consecutive seasons (2001-03).
Dagenais said, "Any coach that goes and wins three conference championships in a row deserves a place in the Ring of Honor. Fitzgerald was here for a long time and won so many championships. She had so many great players that went on to do great things. It's time that she's recognized for what she's accomplished and what she's given to the program as a whole".
DeLaina Sarden (2011-14) will also be recognized this season. Sarden was named to the AAC First Team twice (2013-14), an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention three times (2012-14), and an AAC part of player of the week three times.
"We get the chance to put one of my very first athletes into the Ring of Honor. It's been long overdue that DeLaina Sarden gets in because she really wrote the book for what it's like to be offensive and blocking middle and do so on a national team level, and an All-American level. Not only has she been a great player for us but she had an opportunity to go on and play with the national team but she actually turned down because her dream was to go into academic advising. Now she works in executive searches with major companies so she's known around the athletics world very prominently. She's remained a big fan and she will be the first one from my era to go into the Ring of Honor," Dagenais said.
Emily Watts will be inducted into the Ring of Honor on Saturday, Sept. 3 prior to the Knights game against Kansas State. The following three will be announced at a later date.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up