Long Beach, Cerritos Set Pace in SCC Women's Water Polo
Winners of five straight South Coast Conference titles, Long Beach City College continues to be a frontrunner in women's water polo along with perennial foe Cerritos College thus far in 2021.
Long Beach is 10-5 overall and 3-0 in the SCC in the dual conference part of the schedule. The Vikings have outscored their first three conference opponents by a lopsided, 67-7.
LBCC is led by Kaya Barrett and Rachel Westphal, who each had 21 goals in the most recent statistical report. Amara Maxwell had 17 steals to lead the Vikings while goalie Haden Bates had totaled 89 saves and a conference-best .650 save percentage.
Cerritos is on fire with a 9-1 overall mark, 2-0 SCC record, and a current 7-game winning streak. The Falcons have the conference's top scorer in Mia Carbajal with 39 goals (and 18 assists). She was the SCC's second-leading scorer as a freshman in 2019 when Carbajal pocketed 98 goals and as an All-SCC First Team selection and All-American. Keyla Santos currently tops SCC players in assists with 24 while Miranda Alvarez was the conference's steals leader with 29.
Mt. San Antonio had a 6-9 overall mark, but was still perfect in SCC play at 3-0 with wins over East Los Angeles, Rio Hondo and Chaffey. The Mounties, however, have a non-conference, 21-5 defeat v. Long Beach at the season-opening Orange Coast Tournament on Sept. 11. Mt. SAC is paced by Katelynn Howell who has team highs in goals with 21 and assists with 20. Alexis Ramirez added 20 goals and 26 steals, second in takeaways in the SCC.
El Camino is 4-5-1 and 0-2 in the SCC. The Warriors have the conference's saves leader in goalie Sophia Caravello with 120 stops.
Chaffey is 1-5 and picked up its first victory in a wild 17-14 win over Pasadena City. The Panthers have a potent scorer in Clarissa Baneulos, who fired in 10 goals in the PCC game.
Pasadena City got off to a 1-1 conference start, including a 13-11 overtime win over Rio Hondo. The Lancers have a solid performer in Marina Schulz, who has five goals and seven assists in two games.
Rio Hondo (1-8, 0-3) has a returning top scorer and All-SCC selection from 2019 in June Babishoff, who has 21 goals already this season. East Los Angeles is 0-6 and 0-2 with its best performance in a 14-12 loss to Rio Hondo.