Five Men’s Water Polo Student-Athletes Earn All-OEC Recognition

The Riverside City College men's water polo team recently capped its season at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regional tournament. After finishing the season with a 10-17 overall record which included a 2-3 conference mark, the Tigers saw five athletes receive Orange Empire Conference (OEC) All-Conference recognition. Sophomore attacker Alexis Gutierrez and sophomore center Andrew Serrano earned First-Team All-Conference honors, while freshman attacker Ethan Saenz reeled in Second-Team All-Conference recognition. Furthermore, sophomore Norbert Kovacs and freshman Kenny Wulf earned Honorable Mention recognition.

Gutierrez has been a consistent presence for Riverside throughout his two-year career. After earning an All-Conference recognition just a season ago, Gutierrez repeated as a First-Team All-Conference award winner in his final campaign. In conference action, he was the most well-rounded player for the Tigers as seen in 11 assists, seven goals, seven steals, and five drawn ejections. He had one of his strongest games against Fullerton early on where he fired home three goals, dished out five assists, and pocketed five steals.

Serrano was a staple in the center of the Tigers' offense in his final season in the Orange and Black. His primary duty was locating the back of the net and he did so 10 times in conference play. He added three field blocks, three ejections, and a steal in the process. He scored three goals against Fullerton and Saddleback to highlight his conference-high goal totals.

Saenz was a sparkplug for the Tigers in his first season to earn him Second-Team All-Conference honors. He pieced together strong conference numbers with six assists, three goals, and four steals. His strongest game came against Orange Coast where he dished out four assists, recorded four steals, and scored one goal.

Wulf was a solid contributor in his first season as he earned honorable mention with four goals, four steals, three assists, and one drawn ejections. Kovacs joins him on the honorable mention team despite netting a team-high 14 goals in conference. He added four assists and four steals in the process.