UTEP soccer senior Aleah Davis has been voted to the 2016 NSCAA Senior Women’s College Scholar All-America Team, it was announced by the organization Thursday.
Davis becomes the first Miner to receive a scholar-athlete award from the NSCAA. Overall it marks the sixth individual national Scholar-Athlete honor in program history. Davis joins previous honorees Denise Jeske (USAA All-American-1996), Brenda Fierro (Arthur Ashe Jr.-1998 and 1999) and Ja’net Esparza (Arthur Ashe Jr.-1999).
To even be eligible for nomination, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA, start more than 50 percent of the contests and be a significant contribution to the team.
“UTEP Soccer is super proud of Aleah!” UTEP head coach Kevin Cross said. “This is the highest honor a player could receive since it is based on excellence in both the classroom and soccer field. I am so thankful for Aleah’s superb leadership and how she has represented UTEP Soccer exceptionally well.”
It is the latest honor and a fitting conclusion to the career for Davis, who previously became the lone Miner in program history to reap both All-Conference and All-Region accolades for all four years.
As a senior Davis helped the Miners record their most victories (13) since 2009, match the program single-season standard for shutouts (11) and advance to the semifinals of the Conference USA Championships.
Davis started all 22 matches on the year, piling up six goals and eight assists for 20 points. She had a flair for the dramatic with five game-winning tallies, and amazingly her six goals came on a total of only 17 shots on target.
The Hewitt, Texas, native helped control tempo with her play and was a weapon with her long throw-ins. That was never more prominent in 2016 than when she set up Jeanna Mullen’s game-winning goal in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Championships to lift UTEP past No. 2 seed Rice, 1-0. Davis also made an impact on defense with her ability to win balls in the air, which aided in the team matching the school shutout record.
Davis continued to thrive in the classroom, maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.44 while majoring in kinesiology. She is on track to graduate from UTEP in May 2017.
