Long Beach City College women’s water polo team took home the school’s first state championship since 2019 with an 11-6 victory over the two time reigning champion Santa Barbara City College.
The championship capped off an absolutely dominant season for women’s water polo with a final record of 39-2 only losing by one point to Riverside and to D1 school Cal State Northridge.
Sophomore Lola Annear and Freshman Jennifer Connelly led the Vikings’ offense with three goals each.
“I am so proud of our team; we worked hard all season preparing for this moment,” center Olivia Hurley told the athletics department, “The way we worked together was so impressive, and it’s something I’ll never forget.”
The game was tied heading into the third quarter where the Vikings dominated and went on a 5-0 run that they hung onto until the end of the game.
“We just won the state championship. The girls played amazing and had fun doing it, just like they did all year,” Director of Aquatics Bradley Adamson told the athletics department.
The championship was played at home in Long Beach so this win was even more special for the team to get the job done at home.
“I couldn’t ask for a better scenario with such a connected team that fought for each other all year long. Playing at home in the state championship for the first time in over 20 years made it incredibly special. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls,” Head Coach Chris Oeding told the athletics department.
This marks Oeding’s fourth state championship as head coach of the women’s water polo team with the first three coming in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
Santa Barbara won the state title the last two years and was poised to complete the three-peat but Long Beach stood in their way all year.
The two teams faced off three times this season with all three games going to Long Beach, showing complete dominance throughout the season.
Women’s water polo is back in a big way and with many freshmen on the team next year the team will look to run it back, hoping for another dominant season.