Pirates roll to four wins at OCC Tournament

COSTA MESA -- It was friendly waters for the Orange Coast College women's water polo team as the Pirates kicked off the 2023 season with four solid wins this past weekend at the OCC Tournament.

Coast was in the water bright and early on Friday and took on the always-dangerous Long Beach City College Vikings. It was a back-and-forth battle, but in the end, the Pirates pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 10-7 win.

Holding onto a 7-6 advantage after three quarters, OCC picked up a pair of goals from Jillian Duwe and a single goal from Charlotte Gray in the fourth quarter to give Coast the lead it would need for the win. In goal, Ella Walker was big for the Pirates, notching 13 saves.

In the afternoon contest, Coast took on conference-rival, Fullerton College, with the Pirates pulling away early for a 13-5 win. Coast outscored the Hornets 9-1 in the first half and never looked back. Lyric Roddenberry led the Pirate offense with four goals and two assists, while Brooke Baze added three goals and two assists. Walker played three solid quarters for Coast in goal and held Fullerton to just one goal with 14 saves.

Saturday morning, the Pirates kicked off Day 2 of the tournament with a 10-4 win over Citrus College. Coast struggled to find its game in the first half, but picked up the tempo over the final two quarters to pick up its third straight win.

Duwe was OCC's top scorer in the opener with six goals, while Ana Nardelli added three goals and an assist. Diana Hernandez helped anchor a tough Pirate defense with four steals, while Roddenberry and Gray each added two.

Walker allowed just four goals and picked up nine saves in the win over the Owls.

Finally, the Pirates wrapped things up with a 10-5 win over Ventura College to improve to 4-0 for the season. Coast blew things open in the first half with a 7-1 advantage and pushed it to 9-1 before Ventura added some late fourth-quarter tallies in the final minutes.

Duwe had three goals and two assists for OCC, while Paige Woodside and Mathea Haggblad each had two goals in the win. Walker stopped eight-of-nine shots through three-plus quarters to pick up the win.

Coast will open up Orange Empire Conference play at Cypress College on Wednesday, beginning at 4:15 p.m.