After a car accident in February 2012 left her hospitalized, junior setter Paris Perret has fought hard to stay ahead of the game in order to be the leader she is today.
Paris Camille Perret was born March 12, 1992, in Frisco, Texas, and she started playing volleyball in the third grade. This early start helped her reach a high level of play early in her career.
Perret played club volleyball in Texas for seven years, and she starred at Liberty High School, where she was a two-time All-State player.
Outside of volleyball, Perret is currently a sports studies major, looking for a future career in sports. Growing up in Texas, Perret hopes to actually work for the Dallas Mavericks or the Dallas Cowboys.
Perret committed to Mississippi State in 2009 and has started every year since becoming a Bulldog. However, during Perret’s sophomore year, after a series of unfortunate events, her career was almost at stake.
On Feb. 21, 2012, while many students were at Humphrey Coliseum cheering on the Mississippi State men’s basketball team against then No. 1 Kentucky, Perret was one student not present at the game. Perret was involved in a serious automobile accident that night that hospitalized her.
“I blacked out on contact and was rushed to the hospital,” Perret said.
Perret broke her jaw in two places as a result of the accident, leaving her in a situation where she would need surgery to wire her jaw shut for six weeks. While her jaw was wired shut, Perret lost 20 pounds, setting her back physically for volleyball.
However, through the adversity, Perret stayed positive about her recovery process.
“Gaining the weight back was easy,” Perret said. “All you have to do is eat.”
After an incident like that, some people worried if a return for Perret would even be possible. Perret said she was thankful for her quick recovery.
“I was lucky enough for my injury to not affect me volleyball wise,” said Perret. “God saved my life, and it motivated me to work hard to get back to the court.”
 One month after the accident, MSU’s volleyball team welcomed a new face into the program. Taylor Evans became the assistant coach. Evans said he has been highly impressed with the way Perret has strived through the adversity she has faced recently.
“She’s now able to focus on volleyball since she has pushed through the physical issues, and she is doing a great job,” Evans said. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised that she has been able to start all of our matches for us, and I look forward to seeing her get even better.”
This season Perret has 457 assists with a 10.16 assist per set average, currently placing her in seventh place overall in the SEC in the assist category. Last season, Perret ended with 1,016 assists and a 10.37 assist per set average, ending the season in fifth place in the SEC in the assist category. Perret is on pace this season to end the year with over 1,100 assists for the first time in her collegiate career.
Head coach Jenny Hazelwood said Perret simply has a willpower to succeed.
“People have to want to be great in order to succeed in their sport, and Paris has that desire to succeed,” Hazelwood said. “I could not ask for much more than that.”
Aside from assists and digs, Perret has excelled in her role as a captain for the team. She has been highly involved with talking to the younger players on the team in order to help the underclassmen improve. Senior Chanelle Baker said Perret has influenced players from every classification on the team, including Baker herself.
“Paris and I hold each other accountable on the court,” Baker said. “It’s good to have someone that you can look to on the court to let me know what I can do to get better.”
Sophomore Lainey Wyman described Perret as being “the rock of the team,”  and freshman Taylor Scott said Perret was “the motivational leader.”
Perret’s story is that of a fighter. She has fought through adversity on and off the court in order to get her where she is today. Perret said her fight through adverse times has helped her to excel as a leader.
“The accident put into perspective how much harder I was going to work in order to get back to the court to help the team,” she said.