December 09, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Special time for Perret

by Rick Eymer

Cassie Perret found herself among elite company on Wednesday morning when the Woodside Priory grad learned she was among 12 women's volleyball players named first team AVCA Division I All-Pacific Region.

Perret, a senior opposite hitter at Santa Clara, was joined by Stanford junior outside hitter Kristin Richards and Cardinal freshman Foluke Akinradewo and Bronco teammate Anna Cmaylo.

Akinradewo, a middle blocker, was also named the Region's Freshman of the Year.

Third-ranked Washington, the Pac-10 champions, placed four players on the first team: Candace Lee, Christal Morrison, Courtney Thompson and Sanja Tomasevic.

Arizona's Kim Glass, USC's Bibiana Candelas and UCLA's Nana Meriwether were also chosen from Pac-10 teams while the West Coast Conference was also represented by San Diego's Christie Dawson.

Stanford sophomore setter Bryn Kehoe was named honorable mention.

"I was really surprised when I found out," Perret said of her selection. "Even though it is an individual honor it is a testament to how strong the team is. I couldn't have performed as well this season if the team didn't do well."

Perret, who was earlier named WCC Player of the Year, will be at Stanford's Maples Pavilion today - along with her Santa Clara teammates - to take on Pepperdine, which finished second to Santa Clara in WCC play, at 4:30 p.m. in the Palo Alto Regional semifinal (Sweet Sixteen) of the NCAA tournament.

The Broncos reached the third round of the tournament for the first time in school history, and it took a win over the host Cardinal to accomplish the feat.

Arizona and Ohio meet in the other regional semifinal at 7 p.m. The winners play Saturday at 8 p.m. with a berth in the Final Four in San Antonio at stake.

Pepperdine became the only WCC team to reach the Elite Eight, advancing in 2002. There's never been a WCC school in the Final Four.

Santa Clara has a four-game winning streak against the Waves, its longest of the series rivalry. Pepperdine, making its 17th appearance in the NCAA tournament, has reached the Sweet Sixteen in three of the past four years and is 7-2 in postseason over that span.

"I've always said that Pepperdine is one of the most talented teams in our conference," Santa Clara coach Jon Wallace said. "They have some great players who can do things that are very high level."

Wallace, the Pacific Region Coach of the Year, was an assistant at Pepperdine before arriving at Santa Clara.

Arizona, which finished in a second-place tie in the Pac-10 with Stanford, is the only seeded team remaining of the original four in the Palo Alto Regional. All four seeded teams are still alive in the other three regional events.

Santa Clara knocked off fifth-seeded Stanford, Pepperdine beat No. 12 USC and Ohio upset No. 13 Ohio State. The Wildcats, who beat the Cardinal twice this season, are the overall fourth seed.

Santa Clara owns a victory over Arizona this year, but the Wildcats were without Glass, who is seventh in the nation with 5.35 kills per game.

"We didn't start the tournament to get past the second round," Santa Clara junior outside hitter Kim McGiven said. "We started the tournament to get to the Final Four and we're going to do everything we can to achieve that goal."

Perret has enjoyed her best season yet, averaging 3.29 kills, 2.14 digs and 0.84 blocks per game. Her .374 hitting percentage is 26th in the nation, just behind Ohio's Julia Winkfield at .375.

"Cassie has had the biggest change for us than any player in the program," Wallace said. "She really dedicated herself in the offseason and changed her game. I'm glad she's being recognized for her hard work."

Akinradewo, the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, is 14th in the nation with her .397 hitting percentage. She led the Cardinal with a 1.09 blocks per game average, and was second with 439 kills.

Richards produced 544 kills for Stanford, sixth best in school history for a season, and averaged 4.90 kills a game, 19th in the nation. She recorded double figures in kills over her last 17 matches, including 20 or more kills in 10 matches. She ranks ninth in Stanford history with 1,422 kills and fifth with 1,247 digs.

Kehoe, who suffered a broken right hand and missed seven matches, had an 13.14 assists per game average, 18th in the nation.

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