CCCWPCA Rankings: West Valley Men Hold Strong, Fullerton Women Dethrone West Valley

The West Valley men's team continues to pace the pack, while the Fullerton women take over the top spot in this week's California Community College Water Polo Coaches Association (CCCWPCA) rankings.

MEN

It is no surprise that the West Valley Vikings are atop the pack after another strong couple of weeks. The Vikings, who are second in the state with 453 team goals and first with 18.12 goals-per-game, have won 25 consecutive contests against two-year schools. They have earned quality wins all season with triumphs over No. 9 Cerritos, No. 5 Long Beach, No. 7 Orange Coast, No. 10 Diablo Valley, Sierra and Las Positas these past two weeks.

Leading the charge is sophomore Ante Buzov who was named the California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) September Athlete of the Month. He paces his team with 73 goals while adding 23 steals in 18 games. West Valley has seven players who have scored 30 or more goals on the season with sophomore Gojko Kapovic and Lucas Romaquera each netting 47 goals each.  

Golden West, who enters into the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) Championships as the top seed, is ranked second in the state and rightfully so. They are riding an eight game winning streak after falling to West Valley, 15-12, in late September. They have defeated quality teams during that stretch highlighted by No. 3 Cuesta, No. 4 LA Valley and No. 6 Saddleback.

Cuesta comes in to round out the top three after pacing the state with 459 team goals and reigning supreme in nine of their last 11 games. Their two losses came against No. 2 Golden West and Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The only shifting that occurred in the polls happened at the very bottom with No. 9 Cerritos and No. 10 Diablo Valley trading spots.

WOMEN

All the same teams remain in the top-10 as they did two weeks ago, but the yearlong top dog has been dethroned by the Fullerton College Hornets.

The Hornets, despite losing to No. 5 Riverside in a one-score decision in mid-October, come in ranked atop the state. Since their conference loss, they have rattled off eight wins highlighted by taking down No. 3 Orange Coast twice and No. 4 Santa Barbara in a one-score game.

Fullerton leads the state with 404 team goals and has a roster that boasts a firing squad that owns four players with 50 or more scores. Leading the brigade is sophomore Nikki Salerno who has netted 67 scores, landing her 11^th in the state. Sophomore Adrianna Wong follows with 63 goals, while sophomore Jordyn Lughart has recorded 57 scores.

West Valley comes in at number two after a loss to No. 4 Santa Barbara and No. 3 Orange Coast. Prior to their pair of losses, the Vikings had won 17 consecutive games against two-year schools. They rank first in the state with 14.64 goals-per-game and are led by sophomore Johanna Scheer. She ranks second in the state with 101 goals and first in the state with 146 total points.

No. 3 Orange Coast, No. 4 Santa Barbara and No. 5 Riverside hold true and round out the top five teams. No. 6 San Joaquin Delta and No. 7 Long Beach flip flop, while No. 9 Golden West and No. 10 Mt. San Antonio round out the top 10 for the second-consecutive ranking.

Release by Nicho DellaValle
CCCWPCA SID
Riverside City College Athletics