By Nicholas Peralta

Riverside City College’s women’s water polo season comes to a successful end.

After an unrelenting season that saw great action all throughout, RCC’s women’s water polo are the CCCAA  (California Community College Athletic Association) Championship third place winners.

Heading into the CCCAA Championships for the fifth straight year, the Tigers were faced with the challenging task of taking on Sierra College in the semifinals.

Both teams competed like offensive powerhouses, with several ejections being handed down to multiple players throughout the game that included lead game scorer Katy Peterson, Nikkol Webber and Megan Upton.

The ejections came late in the game after the Tigers fell behind in the final quarter, desperate to save themselves from defeat. Freshman attacker Peterson accounted for two scores throughout the game, along with one steal.

Webber also garnered one goal, as well as an assist for sophomore defender Anay Ramirez’s goal.

Ultimately, RCC fell to Sierra 6-5, thus eliminating them from the championship game.

The Tigers were still given the opportunity to solidify their satisfactory season with a third place game against San Joaquin Delta College Nov. 18.

In that game, Webber displayed the best performance of her freshman season. Performing excellently in every facet, Webber notched three scores while adding three assists, four steals and two drawn ejections.

Ramirez and freshman Kate Fox each brought in four goals, while Fox chipped in two steals and two drawn ejections.

Freshman goalkeeper Hannah McCarley shined in her final game of the season as well, producing eight saves.

The women’s water polo team finish the season with an overall record of 26-5 which includes an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) finals appearance, Southern California Regional Finals appearance and a fifth straight CCCAA State Championship appearance.