As all good teams do, the West Valley women's water polo team responded to their first loss of the season Friday, by reeling off three consecutive big wins at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational.
After racking up an 8-0 record in dominating fashion, coach Erika Vargas's Vikings got a wakeup call Friday morning against Cypress (2-2). Leading 10-7 heading into the fourth quarter, the Vikings (11-1) gave up five unanswered goals to fall to the Chargers 12-10. Johanna Scheer and Kianna Melvin had four goals apiece for WVC, while goalkeeper Grace Smith recorded nine saves.
The Vikings bounced back in a big way in their afternoon contest against perennial powerhouse Long Beach City College. WVC jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one and then rode two goals apiece from Scheer and Melvin for a 7-0 halftime lead. LBCC outscored WVC 4-2 in the third to tighten things up at 9-4. Long Beach (8-4) got the only goal of the fourth, as West Valley pulled out the 9-5 win. Scheer led the way with a game-high six goals while Melvin netted three. Smith was spectacular in goal, turning away 15 LBCC shots.
WVC opened day two at the Mills Aquatics Facility with a highly-anticipated game against Santa Barbara City College (10-3). The game was a rematch of the teams' Cuesta Invitational game on 9/11, which WVC won 12-5. Saturday's contest was a hard-nosed, back-and-forth affair in which the Vaqueros led 4-2 midway through the second. An Aaliyah Lax goal brought the Vikings to within 4-3 at the half. WVC outscored SBCC 5-1 in the third on two goals from Melvin and Scheer and one from Maria Higginbotham. Scheer, Melvin and Higginbotham had a goal apiece in a 3-0 WVC fourth to clinch the 11-5 win. Lax, Melvin and Scheer finished with three goals each, while Higginbotham netted a pair. Smith had nine saves.
The Vikings closed the tourney against Palomar (4-5). Scheer connected on a pair of shots in the first two minutes to boost WVC to a 4-1 lead at the 4:40 mark. The Comets tied it at 4-4 two minutes later, but goals from Scheer and Melvin gave the Vikings a 6-4 advantage heading to the second. Each squad scored three goals in the second, with Palomar erasing a 9-5 WVC lead with two tallies in the last 1:33. Lax, Scheer and Higginbotham scored to open the third quarter and give WVC a 12-7 lead. Melvin and Paige McCroskey goals closed the third and helped the Vikings to a 14-8 advantage. WVC countered a pair of Comet goals in the fourth with two scores from Scheer and one each from Melvin and Marija Mijuskovic to record the 18-10 victory.
Scheer again paced the stat sheet with seven goals, giving her a CCCAA-leading 64 on the season. Melvin capped an outstanding tournament with four goals, while Higginbotham netted three. Smith was a brick wall in the cage, stopping 15 Comet shots to give her a CCCAA-best 133 saves on the year.