Ballouchy, Cozad top Bronco athletes

By Mike Kaufmann

For the last ten years, The Santa Clara has honored the top Bronco athletes and teams with the TiSCy awards. There were several viable candidates in each category that made this year's choices by The Santa Clara sports staff difficult, and led to some heated arguments over the winners. So, without further adieu, I give you the 2005-06 TiSCy awards.

Team of the Year -- Women's Volleyball

The volleyball team made leaps and bounds this year on the way to reaching the NCAA Final Four. The Broncos ran away with the West Coast Conference and also had the WCC Player of the Year with Cassie Perret. They also had three All-Americans, including Perret, Anna Cmaylo and Crystal Matich. Perhaps the season's defining accomplishment was finally beating Stanford in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The team will need to regroup with the graduation of Perret.

Honorable mention: Women's soccer.

Coach of the Year -- Jon Wallace

Wallace coached the Broncos to their most successful season in team history, finishing a program-best 27-5. Additionally, Wallace was named WCC Coach of the Year, American Volleyball Coaches Association Pacific Region Coach of the Year and Volleyball Magazine's Coach of the Year.

Honorable mention: Rob Miller.

Male Athlete of the Year -- Mehdi Ballouchy

Although he didn't record the most points, Ballouchy was the unquestionable leader for a team that was ranked 10th in the nation. Ballouchy was named WCC Player of the Year and was also a first-team All-American. To validate Ballouchy's ability, look no further than the Major League Soccer draft, where he was selected second overall by Real Salt Lake. Without Ballouchy, who skipped his senior season to turn pro, the men's soccer team will need to find another playmaker.

Honorable mention: Travis Niesen.

Female Athlete of the Year -- Michelle Cozad

Cozad led the Broncos to a first-place finish in the WCC by scoring over 18 points per game and grabbing just under nine rebounds per game. Cozad, a senior tri-captain, became the 15th member of the "1000 club", as she eclipsed the 1000 points mark during the WCC tournament. The guard was also the only Bronco to start all 31 games. Cozad was the WCC player of the month in December, and claimed WCC Player of the Week honors on six different occasions.

Honorable mentions: Jordan Angeli and Cassie Perret.

Rookie of the Year -- Matt Long

Long was a freshman standout who batted .336, good enough for second on a Bronco team that was paced by Daniel Nava's .396 mark. The outfielder from the nearby St. Francis High School in Los Altos started 51 of 53 games and scored 30 runs. Long will team up with an experienced pitching staff next year and try and get the Broncos into the NCAA College World Series.

Honorable mention: Jack Wall.

Breakthrough Performance of the Year -- Kevin Sweeney

Sweeney, who saw no game action as a junior, was an honorable mention All-WCC performer as the Broncos' goalkeeper. Sweeney allowed only 11 goals in 16 appearances, giving him a nationally ranked saves percentage. During one late-season stretch, Sweeney registered four straight shutouts and didn't allow a goal for nearly 500 minutes.

Honorable mention: Donald Brandt.

Game of the Year -- Women's Volleyball defeats Stanford

With the added pressure of the NCAA tournament, the Broncos took out the fifth-seeded Cardinal to advance to the sweet sixteen for the first time in school history. After losing the first game 23-30, the Broncos buckled down and won the next three with ease. Kim McGiven led the Bronco attack with 19 kills. In one quote, head coach Jon Wallace expressed sentiments about the game and the team's season as a whole. "Wow. That was awesome."

Honorable mention: Men's water polo defeats Pacific in the last few seconds.

Team of the Decade -- 2001 Women's soccer

The Broncos won the national championship in 2001 after defeating perennial power North Carolina 1-0. That year's squad finished 23-2 and beat 10 nationally ranked opponents. The Broncos also handed five separate teams their first loss of the season. The highest scoring offense in the nation was led by four time All-American Danielle Slaton and Honda Player of the Year Aly Wagner.

Honorable mention: 2001 Men's soccer.

Contact Mike Kaufmann at (408) 551-1918 or mlkaufmann@scu.edu