Santa Barbara Wins Women’s Water Polo Title in First Year; Advances to SoCals

Glendora, CA -- The Santa Barbara City College Women's Water Polo team kicked off their program in style in 2014. After finishing in second place during the regular season, the Vaqueros turned around and won the Western State Conference Championship Tournament this past weekend at Citrus College to claim the 2014 title in just its first year of existence.

Santa Barbara, #2 seed headed into the tournament, opened up their weekend against #7 Santa Monica College. The Vaqueros outscored the Corsairs 4-0 in the opening quarter and never really looked back en route to a 9-2 victory. Goalie Alex Brown stopped eight shots in the win, while Elise Hazel scored four goals and Jessica Leathers three more to go along with six steals.

Later on in the day, Santa Barbara went nose to nose with #3 Ventura College. Much like the first game, the Vaqueros built up a 4-0 lead after the first quarter. Ventura would get on the board in the second with a pair of scores, but Santa Barbara matched those two to go into the break leading 6-2. In the third quarter, Ventura cut the Santa Barbara lead to two, but the Vaqueros matched the Pirates' output in the fourth to grab the 7-5 victory and earn their way into the Championship Game. Brown stopped 14 shots in the win against Ventura, while all seven goals were spread out evenly to seven different players.

In the Championship Game on Saturday, Santa Barbara took on #4 Los Angeles Valley College, who upset #1 Cuesta College late on Thursday afternoon. LA Valley looked game again early on, as Santa Barbara took just a 3-1 lead into halftime. Scoring would open up in the third, with each team scoring three times, but the Vaqueros pulled away in fourth outscoring the Monarchs 3-1, winning their first even conference title 9-5. Rocio Fesembeck led the way in the title tilt, scoring five goals.

With the win, Santa Barbara became the Western State Conference's lone representative in the 2014 Southern California Regionals which will also be hosted at Citrus College. The Vaqueros got the #10 seed in the tournament and will take on #7 Long Beach City College on Thursday at 12:00 PM.