Water polo player Claire Pierce earns Academic All-District Honors
Sophomore Claire Pierce led the team in goals and steals and maintains a 3.86 GPA.
- May 19, 2011
After helping guide the Cal State East Bay water polo team to its best-ever finish at WWPA Championships, Claire Pierce added another accolade to a growing list after being named to the Capital One Academic All-District Women's At-Large First Team on Thursday. The honor, voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), comes after Pierce earned All-WWPA First Team and WWPA All-Tournament Team recognition at the end of the season.
Pierce finished with 87 goals and 78 steals during the 2011 campaign to lead the team. The Perth, Australia native earned her second straight All-WWPA nod after finishing fifth in the nation in goals and eighth in steals. For the second straight season she was the team leader in ejections drawn with 104, more than twice as many as the next highest total on the squad.
In leading the team to a program-best fourth-place showing at the WWPA Championship, Pierce scored seven goals in three games, helping East Bay pick up an upset win over Colorado State in the first round. Pierce scored four goals in the victory over the Rams, getting redemption for both a late season loss and a defeat in the first round of the 2010 WWPA Tournament to CSU.
In just two seasons with Cal State East Bay, Pierce has already made her presence felt in the record books, posting 170 career goals to move into second on the all-time list. She also ranks fourth all-time with 151 career steals.
In the classroom, Pierce is equally as impressive, earning a 3.86 grade point average in her first two years. The kinesiology major also earned both WWPA and ACWPC All-Academic honors as a freshman. With the latest honor, Pierce will now be eligible to collect Capital One Academic All-America honors to be released later this month. Pierce is the first Pioneer water polo player to earn the prestigious honor and is the only student-athlete from the WWPA to be named to the team.
The Capital One Academic All-District Women's At-Large Teams are comprised of the top student-athletes both in and out of the competitive arena from any sport other than soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball, cross country and track. Nominees are required to be a starter or important reserve with sophomore or higher academic standing and at least a 3.3 grade point average.