Two SoCal tournaments influence men's and women's CCCWPCA rankings for Week 9
SARATOGA - The eyes of the 3C2A water polo world were on last weekend’s men’s Golden West College Invitational and the women’s Battle At The Beach at Long Beach City College. The tournaments featured a plethora of Top Ten squads and helped shape the voting of this week’s CCCWPCA rankings.
LBCC’s Battle At The Beach featured nine Top Ten teams. Host Long Beach went undefeated and retained the #1 ranking for the 6th straight week. While the top four women’s team stayed the same, spots 5-10 were all occupied by new schools.
Eight men’s Top Ten teams visited Golden West for the ultra-competitive GWC Invitational. Only #1 West Valley and #10 Cypress, making its first foray into the Top Ten this season, stayed home. West Valley stayed at #1 for the 6th consecutive poll, with GWC nipping at the Vikings’ heels. American River jumped from a tie for 5th to #3, the highest position for the Beavers this year. Long Beach fell three spots, while Saddleback rose three spots.
Most conference tournaments are scheduled for Nov. 7-8, setting the stage for regional tourneys the following weekend.
| 2024 CCCWPCA WOMEN'S RANKINGS (Oct. 28) | |||||
| RK | College | Record | Pts | PR | Comments |
| 1. | Long Beach City (11) | 28-2 | 238 | 1 | 5-0 week with wins over OCC, RCC @ Battle At The Beach |
| 2. | Riverside City (1) | 25-3 | 228 | 2 | Beat SBCC, Delta, fell to LBCC @ Battle At The Beach |
| 3. | Santa Barbara City | 23-3 | 199 | 3 | Lost to RCC, beat OCC @ Battle At The Beach |
| 4. | Sierra | 20-5 | 196 | 4 | Beat Saddleback, OCC, lost to OCC @ Battle At The Beach |
| 5. | Orange Coast | 14-13 | 186 | 7 | Big win over Sierra, losses to LBCC, SBCC at Battle At The... |
| 6. | San Joaquin Delta | 17-9 | 163 | 5 | Lost to RCC, Sierra @ Battle At The Beach |
| 7. | West Valley | 18-7 | 156 | 6 | Lost to D1s San Jose St., Santa Clara; head to SBCC tourney |
| 8. | Saddleback | 17-10 | 132 | 9 | Rose a spot despite L’s to LBCC, Sierra @ Battle At The Beach |
| 9. | Ventura | 16-9 | 103 | 10 | 3-1 @ Battle At The Beach; dropped WSC game to LBCC |
| 10. | San Diego Miramar | 17-6 | 93 | 8 | Fell to Ventura, Fullerton @ Battle At The Beach |
| Others: Fullerton, 63; Golden West, 30; Cypress, 15; Cerritos, 13; Southwestern, 12, Citrus, 11; Cuesta, 11; El Camino, 11. | |||||
| 2024 CCCWPCA MEN'S RANKINGS (Oct. 28) | |||||
| RK | College | Record | Pts | PR | Comments |
| 1. | West Valley (8) | 22-5 | 236 | 1 | Almost handed undefeated #2 NCAA D1 Fordham first loss |
| 2. | Golden West (4) | 28-3 | 232 | 2 | 4-0 at own tourney with W’s over Cerritos, Saddleback |
| 3. | American River | 17-7 | 209 | T-5 | Beat OCC, LAV @ GWC; battle Sierra 10/30 for Big 8 crown |
| 4. | L.A. Valley | 15-7 | 186 | 4 | Beat Cerritos, Cuesta, lost to ARC @ GWC Invite |
| 5. | Orange Coast | 18-10 | 184 | T-5 | 2-2 @ GWC with W over Cuesta, L’s to ARC, Saddleback |
| 6. | Long Beach City | 17-5 | 176 | 3 | L’s to ranked teams - Cuesta, Cerritos, Saddleback - @ GWC |
| 7. | Saddleback | 16-13 | 165 | 10 | 3-1 @ GWC with win over OCC, loss to Golden West |
| 8. | Cerritos | 14-10 | 149 | 8 | Win over LBCC @ GWC avenged 10/24 SCC loss to Vikings |
| 9. | Cuesta | 17-13 | 148 | 7 | 2-2 @ GWC Invite; battle LAV 10/30 for WSC crown |
| 10. | Cypress | 10-9 | 69 | TRV | Moved into Top Ten for 1st time despite taking the week off |
| Others: Mt. San Antonio, 56; Grossmont, 35; Riverside City, 15. | |||||
(Matt Folsom, CCCWPCA)