绿帽换妻

Senior utility Jenna Casady took home her second straight All-America honors. (Photo: Blue 39 Photography)

• July 29, 2010

• By Kelly Hayes

Cal State East Bay women's water polo players Jenna Casady and Claire Pierce were named first-team All-Americans and Head Coach Lisa Cooper was honored as the Division II Coach of the Year by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) on Thursday. The honors come at the heels of one of the best seasons in program history and marks the second straight All-America award for Casady.

The nation's leading scorer across all divisions, Pierce finished the season with 90 goals and was honored as the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Newcomer of the Year as well as the 绿帽换妻 Female Athlete of the Year. The Perth, Australia native also added 73 steals to finish second on the squad and drew an almost unheard of 142 ejections, nearly as many as the rest of the team combined. Her efforts also earned her All-WWPA Second Team honors and an All-Freshman Team nod.

Already counted among the all-time leaders in goals, assists and steals, Casady put together a senior season for the record books in 2010. The El Sobrante native was among the nation's assists and steals leaders, dishing out 95 helpers and notching 77 steals to lead the Pioneers, while finishing the season third on the squad with 51 goals. In just two seasons at Cal State East Bay, the utility accumulated 165 assists to become the Pioneers' all-time leader, while finishing her career with 177 steals to rank third all-time and 107 goals to rank sixth. Casady was named second-team All-WWPA and earned a spot on the WWPA All-Tournament Second Team after scoring four goals, including the fifth-place match gamewinner.

Pierce was also a success in the classroom, collecting both WWPA and ACWPC All-Academic honors after earning a 4.0 grade point average in her first year. Casady joined Pierce as a leader academically, completing her Cal State East Bay career with back-to-back All-Academic selections to match her All-America honors.

Cooper was honored as Coach of the Year for the second time this season after collecting conference honors as well. In her ninth year at the helm, Cooper led the Pioneers to their best-ever seeding in the WWPA Tournament, where they finished fifth, also a new program high. Under Cooper, Cal State East Bay notched two wins over top-20 opponents, downing both Santa Clara and Cal State Bakersfield while they were nationally ranked in 2010. The Pioneers also posted more than 20 wins, including five victories over Division I opponents this season, all while maintaining a 3.1 team GPA.