Tigers Gain No. 2 South seed; Advance to CCCAA Championships Friday
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Gaining the No. 2 seed from the SoCal Regional Championships, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's water polo team has punched its collective ticket to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Championships Tournament this weekend.
Riverside (28-3), the No. 2 seed from the south will face North No. 1-seeded San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC) Mustangs (25-5 overall) on Friday, Nov. 18, at 1:30 p.m. The CCCAA Championship Tournament is being hosted by Las Positas College (LPC) in Livermore. Also that day, the North No. 2-seeded Sierra College Wolverines (22-6 overall) will meet the South No. 1-seeded Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) Vaqueros (32-1 overall) at 10:30 a.m..
On Saturday, Nov. 19, Friday's losers will meet in a third-place game at 9:30 a.m. before Friday's winners meet for the state championship at 12:30 p.m..
Friday's appearance in the CCCAA Championships will be Riverside's fourth consecutive, 12th in the last 13 seasons (except for 2012) and 18th in the 20 years that the RCC women's water polo program has existed. Riverside has won the state championship four times (2005, 2007, 2010 and 2011), has been runner-up six times (1999, 2001, 2006, 2013, 2014 and 2015) and has placed third on four occasions (2000, tie-2004, 2008, 2009) since the women's water polo state championships were initiated with the 1996 campaign.
Among the other three semifinalists, none has won a state championship. San Joaquin Delta is making its third appearance (finished eighth in 2002 and third in 2015), Sierra is making its 14th appearances and has finished as high as third three times. San Joaquin Delta is making its second appearance and finished eighth in 2002. Santa Barbara City is making its first appearance at the CCCAA Women's Water Polo Championships.
Fourth-year RCC head women's water polo coach Doug Finfrock (UC Irvine '03) was a goaltender for RCC men's water polo in 1999 & 2000. He was a first team all-Orange Empire Conference (OEC) selection and second team all-America honoree in 1999. In 2000, he was a first team all-OEC pick, first team all-Southern California selection, and garnered first team all-America kudos.
Finfrock brings an overall record of 109-18 heading into this week's CCCAA Championships. He has three CCCAA runner-up finishes: in 2013 (28-5 overall), 2014 (27-6 overall) and 2015 (26-4 overall).
RCC sandwiched a pair of victories around a loss to regional champion Santa Barbara in its three regional championship games as the SoCals were hosted by Golden West College in Huntington Beach last weekend (Nov. 10-12).
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