Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

Riverside Defeats SBCC, LA Valley in Final Day of RCC Tournament

Four games in two days can put a toll on a squad, especially if they played two games just two days before a host tournament. It was a cake walk for the Riverside City College women's water polo team as they finished off their host tournament in style with a pair of solid wins against tough southern squads.

Riverside defeated Santa Barbara, 11-9, in the morning game and capped off the day with a strong 10-5 win over LA Valley. The last time the Tigers began on a 9-1 mark was just two years ago when they placed third in state.

In the victory over Santa Barbara, it was a five-goal third period that did the trick. Riverside held a one-goal edge in the contest coming out of halftime at a score of 5-4. Freshman attacker Nicole Tormey took matters into her own hands and scored two of the Tigers five goals in the period. Sophomroe Hannah Peercy, freshman Maria Roldan and freshman Kadee Torres-Guerrero followed suit with scores as well.

Despite the explosion in the third period, SBCC hung in there by scoring four goals of their own to maintain just a two-point spread. Riverside made sure to play strong defense in the fourth as they traded a goal each in the final eight minutes, thus handing the Tigers the win.

Riverside rode their hot play into their fourth and final game of the tournament against LA Valley. Riverside set the tone with four goals in the first period. Roldan scored two goals to highlight the efforts. He goals were sandwiched by scores from sophomores Michelle Hiller and Amelia Bennet, respectively.

Riverside closed the game with three netters in the fourth period compliments of freshman Katelynn Bloom, Tormey and Roldan leading to the victory.

 Sophomore Madison Button improved her record to 9-1 on the day. She recorded a total of 11 saves in the two-game span. Tormey was an opponent's nightmare on the defensive end by pocketing seven steals in each game for a total of 14. She also had four assists and a trio of scores.