The West Valley women's water polo won both its games in the Coast/Big 8 Mini Crossover Saturday thanks to a stellar defensive effort and the breathtaking goalkeeping of Grace Smith.
The tournament opener against San Joaquin Delta (13-3) was a memorable three-overtime epic that ended on an Aaliyah Lax rebound goal that sneaked under Mustang keeper Ari Graziano and across the goal line.
The Vikings (20-1) grabbed a 5-2 halftime lead, but were outscored 3-0 in the third. It was 6-6 at the end of regulation to set the stage for a pair of three-minute OT periods.
After Delta took a 7-6 lead on a Sophia Schwartz goal at 2:07, Johanna Scheer got the equalizer when she rifled a shot past Graziano with 1:03 left. Neither team scored in the second OT, setting up a sudden-victory third OT. The Mustangs won the sprint and called a time out to set up the offense. Scheer deflected the ensuing Delta shot and the ball was gathered in by Smith. The ball eventually found its way to Scheer, who fired a shot from just outside the five-meter line. Graziano deflected Scheer's shot to the left of the cage, where Lax rebounded and pushed in the game-winner to ignite a Viking celebration in mid-pool.
Lax finished with a team-high three goals and three of WVC's seven field blocks. Kianna Melvin also found the back of the net three times and had three of West Valley's 11 steals. The Viking defensive stat sheet showed Scheer, Fatima Gonzalez Garcia and Paige McCroskey with a pair of steals apiece. Scheer also had two goals and two field blocks. Smith had 16 big saves to improve to 17-1 on the year.
West Valley's afternoon game against Sierra (8-2) ended 14-2, but it was the defense, once again, that raised the bar. The Vikings recorded 17 steals and seven field blocks and kept the Wolverines off the board for 28:18 minutes, including both the second and third periods.
Sierra's Kimmy Tiss put the Wolverines on the board first at the 3:39 mark of the first quarter. But Smith and the Viking D didn't allow another goal untill Tiss scored with:03 left in the game. In between the Tiss bookends, WVC reeled off 14 straight goals, led by Scheer's six to give her a CCCAA-leading 73 on the season. Melvin recorded three goals, placing her second in the state with 60. Maria Higginbotham had three goals and a game-high four steals. Gonzalez Garcia and Lax were defensive forces with three blocks each, while McCroskey had a pair of steals. Marija Mijuskovic finished with two goals, three steals and a block.
Smith was at her brickwall-best, making 14 acrobatic saves that boosted her CCCAA-leading total to 244 and a state-best 72.8 save percentage.