Former St Matthew's Collegiate student Pip Meo has been named the Most Valuable Player in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association's women's soccer competition. Meo, who began four seasons with Wairarapa United in 1998 before moving to Auckland where she joined up with Ellerslie and made the New Zealand under-19 squad, nowattends Southwest Baptist University in Missouri Making her MVP award even more notable was the fact it was the first time a player from SBU's women's team had won the ultimate accolade. For Meo though it was the second time her talents had been recognised on a bigger stage. The previous year she had won the MIAA Freshman of the Year award. Points are awarded on a match by match basis for the MVP and Meo finished with 41, an average of 2.05pts per game. Her 16 goals were bettered by only one other player in the competition and gave her a goals per match average of 0.80. Statistics showed she had 3.55 shots at goal per game and was fourth in assists per game with a figure of 0.45. She was the leading soccer for SBU and her 16 goals actually broke their record for goals scored in any one season. In one game, against Emporia State, she was responsible for all five goals scored by SBU, netting two herself and assisting in the other three. Not surprisingly Meo was one of three forwards named in the MIAA "first team" for the 2004 season, a distinction reserved for the best 12 players in the competition. She is, of course, also a current member of the New Zealand senior women's squad and recently represented them in matches against the all-conquering United States national side. Meo, who stands just five feet tall, is known at SBU as the "Pocket Rocket", a nickname earned because of her blistering turn of speed and her ferocious competitive spirit. The Kiwi influence at SBU was further exemplified with the naming of another of their players, Aucklander Hayley Moorwood as the 2004 winner of the MIAA Freshman of the Year award. She was also included in the MIAA "first team" selection as a midfielder.
