Nov. 5, 2001

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara softball head coach Marcy Crouch announced the addition of sophomore junior college All-American Rachel Sherman to the 2002 roster. Sherman, a Bay Area native, is transferring from West Valley College and will be able to compete in the upcoming season. She will have three years of eligibility remaining.

A 5-8 catcher, Sherman will add power to the Bronco lineup and depth at her position. Under head coach Les Hearn at West Valley, Sherman led her team to a 39-4 regular-season record, notching 10 home runs and 57 RBIs en route to earning North All-State Team honors while also being named the Diamond Sports California Junior College Catcher of the Year. Her performance also earned her second-team Easton All-American recognition.

"I'm very excited to add a player of Rachel's caliber to our roster this season," Crouch said. "Rachel will make an immediate impact both offensively and defensively for our team. She is a very intense athlete who knows how to win. She's had great success at the high school, travel ball and junior college levels and will do the same for Santa Clara at the Division I level."

This past summer, Sherman played for the San Jose Lady Sharks travel team and posted five home runs as the team placed ninth at "A" Nationals.

While at Wilcox High School, Sherman was a three-time All-League honoree and was named the League Offensive MVP as a senior in 2000.

Santa Clara will play four games this weekend in Palo Alto as part of fall practice. On Saturday, the squad will face Sacramento City at 10 a.m. and Stanford at 12:30 p.m., while Sunday's action will see the same two teams at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. All contests will be played at Stanford's Smith Family Stadium.

The Broncos open the season against Southwest Missouri State at the Cal Poly Tournament on February 8. The invitational will continue in San Luis Obispo through the weekend with Santa Clara also facing, Colorado State, host Cal Poly, Southern Utah and UC Santa Barbara.