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Azevedo
spells success for Long Beach State water
polo
Cassie
Azevedo
By
Moria Khou
Online Forty-Niner
Sports Editor
A
lineage of success continues at Long Beach
State, not at the gym, court, track or field,
but in the water.
Women's
water polo player Cassie Azevedo's accomplishments
in the pool come as no surprise considering
her family's history. Her father, Ricardo
Azevedo, coaches both the men's and women's
water polo team at LBSU and was the assistant
coach for Team USA this past summer in Athens,
Greece. Ricardo played water polo at LBSU
in 1978 and 1979, and was a member of Club
Botafogo in Brazil, where he was named National
Player of the Year for three consecutive
seasons (1975-77).
Her
brother, Tony Azevedo, a four-time All-American
at Stanford and is regarded by many as the
greatest collegiate water polo player of
all time. He is a member of Team USA and
is currently playing professionally in Italy.
Tony has a contract that could reach $270,000,
the largest deal ever for a player from
the United States.
Cassie
has lived up to the Azevedo name in all
respects. The 5-foot-10 junior has already
been named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Co-Player of the Week twice this season,
while leading the team with 15 goals in
only six games played.
This
past weekend, the junior attacker found
the back of the net five times, a career-high,
to help lead the 49ers to their first conference
victory of the season against UC Irvine,
11-7.
Cassie's
other accomplishments include being named
third team All-American and first team All-MPSF
last season. As a sophomore, she scored
47 goals and led the team with 56 steals
and 47 assists.
At
Long Beach Wilson High School, Cassie was
a three-sport athlete. She was a four-time
first team All-American in water polo, four-time
all-league in swimming and three-time all-league
in volleyball.
No
matter where the name Azevedo goes, success
is not far behind. As Cassie follows the
beaten path laid out by her father and brother,
then good things are sure to come her way.
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