Edith Noriega | Sports Editor

Nov. 13, 2014

After a successful season the RCC women’s water polo team get No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Southern California Regionals Nov. 13.

The Tigers will face the winners between the No. 7 seed Long Beach City College Vikings and the No. 10 seed Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros who play each other Nov. 13 at 12 p.m.

RCC finished the last regular season game with a tough battle against the No.1 seed Fullerton College Hornets in the Orange Empire Conference Tournament game Nov. 8.

The game opened up neck and neck throughout the first and second quarters and after the third was locked at 5-5.

The Hornets took possession in the final minutes of the game and a one-point lead against Riverside taking the tournament with a 10-9.

Nikki Bell led the way for the Tigers with a team-high four goals of the teams nine goals and Kayla Chang with eight saves.

In the championship game, Orange Coast College sank at the hands of Golden West College. The Rustlers win marks the 26th consecutive and 44th OEC title in the programs history.

“At this point in the season it is crucial that we do not overlook anyone, past performance or scores do not matter,” said RCC head coach Doug Finfrock.

“We will continue with our same starting line-up and the focus for our team will be on the way we were playing not anything else.”

The Tigers finished off the season with a strong 6-2 record in the Orange Empire Conference and 24-4 overall with a 0.750 winning percentage.

The Regionals continue through Nov. 15 with all games at Citrus College.