The Long Beach City College women’s water polo team is off to a 14-0 start, and currently ranked the unanimous No. 1 team in California according to the CCCAA rankings this week. The Vikings are the reigning California state champions and looking like the heavy favorites to bring home the trophy again after last season’s 39-2 campaign.
Coach Chris Oeding’s squad already owns wins over several of the other top 10 teams in the state. The Vikings are led by Spain native Mar Bernal, who has scored 32 goals, as well as Amy Fritz (23 goals), Alexis Velazquez (21 goals) and Shahar Rokach (a team-high 16 assists).
Fritz leads the team with 19 steals, backed up by Irene Pueyo Caballero, who has 16 steals.
The Vikings’ depth has been seen in goal, where they’ve started five players in the cage. Olivia Birdsall, Marlene Jackson, Maya Jennings, Sophia Santsche-Chavez, and Hailey Suttle have all started this year, with Birdsall leading the way with 32 saves.
Thus far through 14 games the team has outscored its opponents 263-77.
The team will hsot the Battle at the Beach Oct. 24-25, and the SoCal championships are currently scheduled for the first week of November, with the state championships Nov. 20-22.
