Women end playoff drought

For the first time in 17 years the Saddleback women's water polo team has qualified for the Southern California Regional Tournament after being seeded seventh at the water polo coach's association meeting on Sunday.  The Bobcats will play on Thursday against Cypress College in the opening (play-in) round. 

Saddleback hadn't qualified for the playoffs in women's water polo since 2005 when they finished fifth in Southern California.  It will be the first appearance for head coach Molly Andrews after taking over the program a season ago. 

"It's been an exciting and rewarding season," Andrews said.  "It will be interesting to see where the program goes from here.  I'm confident this is just the beginning of good things to come.  Hopefully we can use this as a building block."

The Bobcats were 1-1 at the Orange Empire Conference Tournament this past weekend, beating Cypress 13-2 in the process.    Saddleback finished the regular season 18-13 overall and 3-4 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Bobcats and Chargers will play for the opportunity to advance to the second round on Friday where they would face (2-seed) Orange Coast College at 11:30 AM.   

Saddleback features a balanced scoring attack, with four players recording 45-or-more goals for the season.  Akemi Nakachi leads the team with 52 goals and 41 assists.  

In addition to making a first appearance in the playoffs since 2005, Saddleback's 18 wins this season ties a school record set back in 1999.  A win on Thursday would set a new mark for the program.  

The CCCAA Southern California Regional Finals will be played at Long Beach City College, starting on Thursday.