Three SoCal teams - and West Valley - advance to semifinals

 Tournament Headquarters

LONG BEACH - Day one of the 3C2A Women's Water Polo State Championship at Long Beach City College had a decidedly southern accent after West Valley was the only one of the four NorCal teams to advance to Friday's semifinal round. While the NorCal top-seeded Vikings hung on to advance, SoCal No.1 Long Beach, No.2 Santa Barbara City and No.3 Riverside City all took care of their northern California opponents.

 Game 1: S1 Long Beach City over N4 Merced 13-3 

The game between the top-seeded Vikings and NorCal No.4 Merced was never in doubt as Olivia Slavens scored on LBCC's first possession and LBCC then proceeded to outscore the Blue Devils in every quarter. Long Beach (37-2) extended at 6-1 halftime lead over Merced (16-14) to 9-2 after three. A 4-1 fourth cemented the win.

Slavens finished with five goals, along with four steals, while Lola Annear had four goals, a steal and a field block. Mar Bernal scored twice and handed out two assists. Avery Reyes and Coryn Cavecche each played a half in goal, with Reyes turning away five shots and Cavecche four. Twins Sydney (2) and Kyley Abril (1) accounted for all of Merced's goals.

 Game 2: S3 Riverside City over N2 Sierra 10-7 

In what may have been the best game of the day in the women's bracket, the Tigers (30-4) used a decisive third quarter to battle past the Wolverines (27-7). After Sierra grabbed a 4-3 lead at the break, the Tigers outscored the Wolverines 5-2 in the third behind two goals each from Yosra Elseifi and Nicole Robertson and one each from Chandler Burrell and Annabella Storar. 

Elseifi finished the day with three goals, Robertson had three goals and four steals. Storar anchored the defense with six steals. Sofia Mather was solid between the pipes with eight saves. Heidi Green topped Sierra with three goals, while Bailey Hollick, Ally Boudreaux and Makenna Perez had one each.

Game 3: N1 West Valley over S4 Saddleback 13-9 

The Vikings started off a little shaky on the big stage Thursday afternoon, surrendering a pair of early goals to the Bobcats and falling behind 4-3 after one quarter. A 3-1 second quarter and a 6-5 halftime lead got West Valley (24-7) on track, but Saddleback (20-14) returned the favor with a 4-3 third to send it to the fourth tied 9-9. It was all West Valley in the final stanza with Sofia Orlandi Lazzarini assisting on four goals, two each from Sofia Gaytan and Marte Skibba and the Vikings blanking the Bobcats 4-0.

Orlandi Lazzarini ended the night with four goals and five assists, while Skibba had three tallies, and Gaytan, Bella Raynes and Mia Sickler-Lopez had two apiece. Viking keeper Kayla Tweed stopped eight Bobcat shots. Holliss Munchoff paced Saddleback with four goals and five helpers, followed by Sabrina Barrot's two scores.

Game 4: S2 Santa Barbara over N3 San Joaquin Delta 12-9 

The two-time defending champion Vaqueros (31-6) and the Mustangs (25-13) matched each other goal-for-goal in every quarter but the second, and that was the difference in Santa Barbara's quarterfinal win. Addie Lane's three goals led SBCC to a 4-1 advantage in the second and an insurmountable 6-3 halftime lead. Each team scored six goals in the second half. Three straight goals drew the Mustangs to within 9-8 with 6:43 left, but the second of two fourth quarter goals from Lane at :36 put it away.

Lane's impressive stat line read seven goals, two assists and four of SBCC's 23 steals. Lili Carrick had three goals and three steals. SBCC goalkeeper Kate Densmore recorded eight saves and six steals. Esmeralda De La Torre and Laine Woodard each a pair of goals, while Lauryn Lucero logged a goal and three assists.