SBCC roared into the state community college women’s water polo championship game with a 17-7 rout over Sierra College in a semifinal game on Friday at Las Positas College in Livermore.
The Vaqueros opened up a 7-2 lead at halftime and never looked back. They’ll play Riverside for the California Community College Athletic Association State Championship on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Kendra Carr scored five goals for the top-seeded Vaqueros, who won their 11th straight game to improve to 33-1. Sierra, the No. 2 seed from the North, fell to 24-7 and will play in the third-place game on Saturday.
Addison Seale had three goals, seven assists and four steals and Halie Johnson and Gabrielle Ritter scored three apiece. All-American goalie Mackenzie Richards allowed six goals and had eight saves. She’s allowed six or less goals in 23 of her 31 appearances this year.
“We played a very balanced game and our entire team contributed,” said coach Chuckie Roth. “We got several goals on our counter-attacks. Ivanna Bilaver got some key ejections and scored two goals from the center position.
“We were solid defensively,” he continued. “It’s been a great season and tomorrow, we’re going to play our game to the highest level and celebrate playing one last game together.”
Riverside, the No. 2 seed from the South, beat North No. 1 San Joaquin Delta 9-5 in the second semifinal.
Riverside (29-3) handed the Vaqueros their only loss, 10-7 in overtime on Oct. 22. SBCC is 2-1 vs. the Tigers this year with the most recent win coming by the same score (10-7) last Saturday in the Southern Cal Regional final.