By Tyler Nelson

Women’s water polo impresses at Riverside City College tournament.

Before the inaugural Riverside City College tournament, which was held Sept. 16-17 the women’s water polo team destroyed any competition in their path, by holding an overall record of 5-0. This tournament proved to be no different.

The team continued their winning streak on Sept.16 as they beat Chaffey College 16-2. In the game, sophomore Emily Martin would lead RCC with four goals.

They followed their dominating performance with yet another win against Citrus College with a final score of 12-1. In that game, the Tigers played excellent defense and captain Mary Meyers would produce five goals.

After the tournament, when asked what was coach Doug Finfrock secret behind the women’s team being so dominant, “We take a lot of pride in what we do, we recruit hard, and we get quality athletes in here,” he said. “We train hard and we really try and teach the game and the fundamentals to these young ladies.”

Every team has something unique about them every year. When asked what makes this year unique compared to all of the others, “We have good depth this year and I think we have good leadership with our sophomores, and they made it to state finals last year, so experience always helps,” Finfrock said.

As the tournament moved on to Sept.17, the team did not miss a beat as they would go on to defeat Ventura College with a score of 15-8. Meyers would lead RCC in scoring with three goals.

Although RCC dominated for most of the tournament, Meyers believes the team can still improve, “I think we need to work on our teamwork and communicate to each other,” Meyers said. “We do see a lot of other players in the pool, and  we want to get them involved.”

Later on in the day, the women’s team would once again prove their domination after beating Cerritos College with a score of 17-3. RCC would have 13 different players contribute with a goal, having an overall record of 9-0 on the season.

Finfrock would go on to highlight key players such as Martin and Meyers on how they’ve stepped up as leaders by using their experience from last years’ state final run for the team.

Finfrock believes that all of his players can step up and contribute which is key for a successful season.

The women’s water polo team closed out a successful tournament going 4-0. Besides being state champions, Finfrock has other goals in mind for the team, “We want to maximize our potential,” he said. “If we play with consistency and we buy into the program, we can have these ladies transfer out of here and make it a highlight of their life”.

When asked what’s it like to play for Coach Finfrock, “He’s the perfect amount of tough and funny and he has the perfect balance of what a coach should be and we love playing for our coach,” Meyers said.

The women’s water polo team looks to improve to an overall record of 10-0 as they take on Orange Coast College on Sept. 28, at 3 p.m.