Santa Barbara to Face Riverside for Women’s Water Polo Title

2016 CCCAA State Women's Water Polo Championships Bracket

Livermore, CA - In a rematch of the 2016 California Community College Athletic Association Southern California Regional Championship, Southern California #1 Santa Barbara City College (33-1) will take on Southern California #2 Riverside City College (29-3) on Saturday afternoon with the 2016 CCCAA State Championship on the line. It'll be the fourth meeting this year between the Vaqueros and Tigers, with Santa Barbara winning two out of the first three. The Vaqueros' only loss so far this year however, did come at the hands of the Tigers. 

S1 Santa Barbara City College 17 N2 Sierra College 7

Santa Barbara City College advanced to the 2016 CCCAA State Championship Game on Friday afternoon in just their third year as a program with their 17-7 victory over Sierra College in the first semi-final of the 2016 CCCAA Women's Water Polo State Championships. The Vaqueros led 7-2 at the break and never looked back en route to their first ever State Championship game appearance.

The Vaqueros set the tone early on, by smothering Sierra defensively. Santa Barbara held the Wolverines to 33.3% shooting on the morning and into 24 total turnovers. Vaquero sophomore Kendra Carr scored the first two goals of the weekend to give the Vaqueros an early 2-0 lead. Sierra would get on the board after a score by freshman Megan Plank with 1:51 to go, but the Vaqueros would score the next four goals of the game spanning from the 1:28 mark in the first quarter all the way to the 2:18 mark in the second quarter to take a 6-1 advantage.

Sierra would try to work their way back into the contest, with back-to-back goals midway through the third quarter off the backs of sophomore Elise Welch and sophomore Jeanette Saldana made it 4-8. Santa Barbara responded with another 4-0 run getting goals from four different players to put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter.

In the win, Santa Barbara would be paced by Carr's game high five goals on seven attempts. Sophomores Halie Johnson and Addison Seale would added three each, with Seale adding a game high seven assists and a game high four steals. For Sierra, Saldana and Welch each scored twice, while sophomore Alyssa Alvarez handed out a team high three assists. 

S2 Riverside City College 9 N1 San Joaquin Delta College 5

Riverside City College made it's way into the CCCAA State Championship game for the fourth straight year on Friday afternoon when they knocked off the #1 seed from Northern California San Joaquin Delta College 9-5. The Tigers kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard until the 6:21 mark in the third quarter, and the held on for the four point victory.

Riverside put together an impressive effort defensively through the first 16 minutes of game action in the second semi-final of the day. The Tigers prevented the Mustangs from finding the back of the net, and did so with San Joaquin Delta drawing five 6-on-5 opportunities in the first half alone. The Tigers meanwhile used five different players to score their six first half goals. Sophomore Emily Martin was the lone player to score more than once in the first half, scoring the first and fifth goals of the game.

After the break, San Joaquin Delta slowly began to show signs of life when they finally converted on a 6-on-5 chance when sophomore Tahnee Trew put the Mustangs on the board with 6:21 left in the third. Riverside would respond, but Delta would go on to outscore the Tigers 3-2 in the third. The Mustangs would outscore Riverside again in the fourth 2-1, but by then it was too little, too late as they fell by four.

In the win, Riverside was led by Martin who would score four of Riverside's nine goals. Sophomore Sierra Venegas handed out four assists for the Tigers, while sophomore Sarina Briseno terrorized the Mustangs with six steals. For Delta, Trew scored twice, while freshman Kate Allen had three assists. 

Championship Saturday Schedule

 3rd Place Game: North #1 San Joaquin Delta College vs North #2 Sierra College - 9:30 AM

Championship Game: South #1 Santa Barbara City College vs South #2 Riverside City College - 12:30 PM