COSTA MESA – Thanks to another dominant run through the regular season, the Fullerton College women's water polo team earned the top seed for this weekend's Orange Empire Conference Water Polo Championships, hosted by Orange Coast College this Friday and Saturday.
The defending state-champion Hornets (24-6 overall, 5-0 in the OEC) and the No. 2 seeded Orange Coast College Pirates (17-3, 4-1) will earn first-round byes and will await the winners of the opening round matchups that feature No. 3 Riverside (13-8, 3-2) against No. 6 Saddleback (4-14, 0-5) on Friday at 9 a.m. as well as No. 4 Cypress (10-9, 2-3) against No. 5 Golden West (7-16, 1-4) on Friday at 10:20 a.m.
Fullerton will take on the Cypress/GWC winner at 1 p.m. on Friday, while the Pirates host the winner of the Riverside/Saddleback contest at 2:20 p.m. The winner of THOSE matchups will play for the OEC title on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. while the losers of those semifinal matches will play for third place at 12:30 p.m.
For the first-place Hornets, they have been led offensively by swarm of goal scorers, including OEC leader Neida Torres with 70. In fact, four of the top 10 goal scorers this year reside at Fullerton College, including Adrianna Wong (48), Amanda Ellerbroek (47) and Emily Jack (43). Also solid is the FC defense, led by goalkeepers Katheryn Whittingham 123 saves in 65 quarters played) and Alexis Storman (97 saves in 46 quarters).
While FC's 408 goals lead all OEC teams, the second-seeded Pirates are anchored by a defense that has allowed a conference-fewest 147 goals.
Still, the Pirates aren't shy about scoring, with Destiny Hernandez leading the way with 42 goals and Delaney Lewellyn close behind with 35 and Journey Werner with 34. OCC goalkeeper AnnaBelle Sherman has been outstanding for the Pirates with 123 saves and a 54.7 save percentage in 56 quarters played.
No. 3 Riverside is another team to keep an eye on for this tournament. The Tigers are No. 3 in goals scored (235) and second in goals allowed (168) and can pose a threat to any team at any time.
Three Tigers – Amber Nielsen (50 goals), Taylor Mason (44 goals) and Lauren Nelson (34 goals) have been filling up the nets this year, while in goal, the tandem of McKenna Ortiz (88 saves in 37 quarters) and Gabriella Fisher (104 saves in 49 quarters) will see the bulk of the duties for RCC.
Release by Tony Altobelli, Orange Coast SID