KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three Mercer women’s soccer players – Brie Pavol, Jordyn Ebert and Ally Fordham – all received academic honors from the United Soccer Coaches on Thursday afternoon.
Pavol received recognition on the Scholar All-South Region Second Team, while Ebert and Fordham both earned a place on the third team. Mercer was the only NCAA Division I school in Georgia to have student-athletes honored.
Pavol, a biology major and defender, played in 78 of a possible 80 career matches and earned a spot in the starting lineup on 77 occasions. Academically, she is a three-time SoCon Honor Roll member and two-time Academic All-SoCon selection. She finished her undergraduate studies with a 3.778 grade-point average. Pavol was one of three defenders on the second team alongside a pair of Southeastern Conference student-athletes, Jyllissa Harris (South Carolina) and Sarah Houchin (Auburn). She led the Bears to a 43-31-6 record in four seasons and contributed to 24 shutouts, while also making an impact offensively. The Ringoes, New Jersey, native helped the Bears go undefeated at home in 2019 and shut out a total of nine foes on the way to a 16-4-0 record and Southern Conference semifinals appearance. She scored six goals and added six assists for her career and was a 2021 All-SoCon first-team pick.
Ebert has had one of the most storied careers in the history of Mercer goalkeepers. Academically, Ebert, a biology major, finished her undergraduate studies with a 3.416 grade-point average and will begin graduate school in the fall while leading the Bears on the pitch. She has been named to the SoCon Honor Roll on three occasions and is a two-time academic all-conference selection. The Suwanee, Georgia, native has appeared in 79 contests in four seasons with 64 starts. She has spent more than 6,500 minutes minding the net and boasts a 36-30-5 record with 16 clean sheets. The 2020-21 All-SoCon second-team member sits behind only Amy Rudge with 359 saves. Rudge made 515 saves from 1990-93. Ebert’s 16 clean sheets rank third while her 36 victories are second. She won a single-season-best 14 matches in 2019 and shut out seven opponents, which is second to Lauren Burch’s eight clean sheets in 2003. Two goalkeepers – Gabrielle Kouzelos (Louisville) and Abby Stapleton (Charlotte) – joined Ebert on the third team.
Like Ebert, Fordham will also return for another season in the fall of 2021. Fordham finished her undergraduate career as an industrial management major with a 3.974 grade-point average. She currently has a 4.0 graduate school GPA in one of the most difficult degree programs Mercer has to offer, a Master of Science in Engineering with a specialization in engineering management. She has received SoCon Honor Roll recognition three times and was a member of the Fall 2019 Academic All-SoCon team. Fordham has played in 58 career matches and made 37 starts. The El Cajon, California, native has found the back of the net 20 times and also added three assists. Her best statistical season came as a senior in 2020-21 when she scored nine goals, five of which were match-winners, and added an assist for 19 points. Her five match-winning goals led the Southern Conference, and she was second in total points and points per match. Two forwards – Clarissa Larisey (Memphis) and Lexxe Lipsey (UAB) – were paired with Fordham on the third team.
For the full list of Scholar All-Region selections,
click here.