Pierce and Cooper Collect WWPA Awards
Freshman utility Claire Pierce collected Newcomer of the Year honors from the WWPA on Tuesday. (Photo: Blue 39 Photography)
- April 27, 2010
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ women's water polo player Claire Pierce was named Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Newcomer of the Year and Head Coach Lisa Cooper collected WWPA Coach of the Year honors, while senior Jenna Casady and junior Liz Warren also garnered all-conference honors, it was announced on Tuesday. The pair guided the Pioneers to the second-best overall record in the WWPA and a program-best No. 3 seeding in this weekend's conference tournament in Bakersfield.
Pierce made an immediate impact for East Bay, scoring 80 goals during the regular season as a rookie, which led the Pioneers and ranked sixth in all of the NCAA. The Perth, Australia native also added 33 assists and 65 steals, while drawing over 100 ejections, which is nearly as many as the rest of the team combined.
Pierce drew an unprecedented 24 ejections and scored seven goals in four games in the fourth week of the season, earning her WWPA Player of the Week honors. The freshman utility also collected All-WWPA Second Team honors and earned a spot on the WWPA All-Freshman Team.
Cooper is in her eighth year at the helm for the Pioneers, leading them to a 21-11 overall record during the 2010 regular season. Cooper guided East Bay to its first win in program history over a nationally-ranked team in a 13-10 victory over then-No. 19 Santa Clara on Jan. 31. The Pioneers followed with a 10-9 overtime win over then-No. 17 Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 13. ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ faced one of its toughest schedules in program history in 2010, taking on nine ranked teams, and was one of just four teams in the WWPA to record more than one win over a nationally-ranked opponent this season.
Casady joined Pierce on the All-WWPA Second Team after finishing the regular season as the national leader in assists with 78 helpers on the year, a new East Bay single-season record. The senior utility also added 47 goals on the year and became the program's all-time assists leader with 148 in just two seasons as a Pioneer. The El Sobrante native also took over third-place in the East Bay record books with 168 career steals.
Warren earned an All-WWPA Honorable Mention selection following a season that saw her score 65 goals to rank second on the team and 11th in the NCAA. The junior two meter became the all-time leading scorer for the Pioneers with 189 career goals, passing Gabriella Keri's record of 152, set in 2005.
The all-conference selection is Casady's second straight, while the conference Coach of the Year honors are a first for Cooper. ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ has now garnered three end-of-the-year awards in its first season in Division II, as Pierce and Cooper join freshman women's basketball player Lauren Lucchesi, who collected California Collegiate Athletic Association Freshman of the Year honors in March.
The third-seeded Pioneers are set to meet No. 6 Colorado State on Friday at 2:20 p.m. The winner will advance to Saturday's semifinal at 1 p.m., while the championship game will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday at Cal State Bakersfield. The winner of the 2010 WWPA Championships will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship at San Diego State, May 14-16. More information on the WWPA Tournament is available .