Women's Water Polo Meet Highlights

Nov. 14-15

Lady Wolverines Capture 3rd Place At NorCal Championships, advance to State Tournament

The Lady Wolverines lost a tough opening round game to Big 8 foe Santa Rosa (6–3), but bounced back to defeat another Big 8 foe Modesto (9–6) capturing 3rd place at the Northern California Championships. With their 3rd place finish, the Lady Wolverines advance to the State Tournament this weekend in Merced.

After jumping out to a 2–0 1st quarter lead, the Lady Wolverines struggled offensively the rest of the game and could only muster up one more goal as they fell to Santa Rosa in the NorCal Semi-Finals. Sophomores Janelle Romano and Rachel Holm did all of the scoring for the Wolverines with 2 goals and 1 goal respectively. Goalkeeper Brittany Adams kept the Lady Wolverines in the game with 9 blocks including a 5 meter penalty shot in the 1st quarter.

Determined to get to the State Tournament for the 11th time in the program’s 14 year history, the Lady Wolverines buckled down after trailing early 3–0, and came back to post a 9–6 victory over the Lady Pirates, their 3rd victory over the Modesto foes this season, and capture 3rd place at the NorCal Championships. Once again the Sophomores lead the way scoring 7 out of the 9 goals to preserve the victory.

The Lady Wolverines take on Southern California power Long Beach at 9:00 am on Thursday, followed by a rematch with the Santa Rosa Bearcubs at 3:00 pm for a chance to advance to Saturdays State Championship Game.

Nov. 8-9

Lady Wolverines scratch & claw their way to Big 8 Championship

Starting off the weekend as the #4 seed put the Lady Wolverines water polo team in a tough spot, but when the weekend was all said and done, the cream rose to the top and the team had another Big 8 Conference Championship. The road to the top wasn’t easy as the Lady Wolverines had to win 3 tough games to accomplish a season long goal.

1st game: Sierra 7, Modesto JC 4

In the 1st game of the Big 8 Conference Tournament, the Lady Wolverines took on #5 seed Modesto JC. Although the team struggled with its shooting in the game, its defense came to the rescue as the Lady Wolverines pulled out a 7-4 victory over the Lady Pirates.
Leading the scoring for the Wolverines were Sophomores Alyssa Woodliff & Natalie Berge with 2 goals each, and fellow Sophomores Katie Black & Danielle Comforti, and Freshmen Michelle Berrios with one each, but the team defense was the difference in this game. Lead by Sophomores Whitney Bell with 5 steals and Goalie Brittany Adams with 12 blocks & 3 steals, the Lady Wolverines got enough stops to make up for their off shooting day and advance to the Conference Tournament Semi-Finals.

2nd game: Sierra 9, Fresno City 6

Later that evening, the Lady Wolverines matched up with conference # 1 seed Fresno City in the 1st of 2 Semi-Final games. Still lurking in the Lady Wolverines minds was an 11–8 loss two weeks earlier to the conference leaders, but this weekend was a different story. After trailing early 5–2, the Lady Wolverines made a dramatic comeback in the second half of the game and out scored their opponents 7–1 to take a 9–6 victory, and move into the Championship Game on Saturday.
Leading the way were Sophomores Whitney Bell & Danielle Comforti with 3 goals each, and fellow classmates Katie Black with 2 goals and Alyssa Woodliff with 1. Woodliff was also a terror on defense as she continually guarded some of Fresno’s top scorers, and in the process came up with 5 steals. Goalie Brittany Adams had another solid game with 8 blocks and 2 steals.

Championship game: Sierra 11, American River 10 (OT)

On Saturday evening, before a packed house at American River College, the two cross town rivals, Sierra and American River, battled it out for the Big 8 Conference Championship. And what a battle it was! After the Lady Wolverines stormed out to a 6–2 lead in the 2nd period, the Beavers came back to tie the game in the 4th period, and send the game into overtime.
But that wasn’t going to finish this game as the 2 teams remained tied after 2 overtime periods. If fact it wasn’t until Sophomore All-American Katie Black’s goal in the 4th sudden death overtime period, her 6th goal of the Championship game, that sent the Wolverines to victory, 11-10, and the Big 8 Championship!
Sophomores Rachel Holm and Alyssa Woodliff contributed 2 goals each, and fellow Sophomores Danielle Comforti and Janelle Romano 1 each to help the Wolverine cause. Natalie Berge had 4 assists in the game, and Brittany Adams did her usual job in the goal with 13 blocks.

Northern California Championships Nov. 14-15

The Lady Wolverines are in action again this weekend as they travel to Merced for the Northern California Championships this Friday and Saturday, November 14 & 15 as Northern California’s #1 seeded team.
The top 3 teams this weekend advance to the State Championships November 20 – 22 at Merced College.

Oct 31

Sierra 20, Sac City College 3

Lady Wolverines win tune-up game for Conference Tournament

The Lady Wolverines won their final tune-up game before the Big 8 Conference tournament with a convincing win over cross town foe Sac City College 20-3.
Leading the way with a hat trick for the Wolverines was Sophomore Kylee Munson, followed by a slue of Wolverines with 2 goals apiece including Sophomores Katie Black, Whitney Bell, Danielle Comforti, and Alyssa Woodliff, and Freshmen Meagan Ballew, Jordan Pare, Michelle Berrios, and Julie Maginnis. Fellow Freshmen Ariel Noriega chipped in with 1 goal. Sophomore Goalie Brittany Adams kept the defense strong with 12 saves and 4 steals for the Lady Wolverines.

The Lady Wolverines next action is the Big 8 Conference Tournament Nov 7 & 8 at American River College.

Oct 29

Sierra 14, Modesto JC 9

Lady Wolverines even league record by sinking Pirates

The Lady Wolverines evened their league record at 3 - 3 with a 14 – 9 victory over the Modesto JC Pirates on Tuesday. With the win the Lady Wolverines also pushed their overall record to 18 – 6. Helping contribute to the Wolverines cause were Sophomores Katie Black and Alyssa Woodliff with 4 goals each, and Whitney Bell with 2 goals. Rachel Holm, Danielle Comforti, Michelle Berrios, and Ariel Noriega each kicked in one goal. Katie Black was also a demon on the defensive end leading the way with 8 steals. Whitney Bell and Natalie Berge contributed 5 and 4 steals respectively to help seal the victory.

The Lady Wolverines final home game of the season is this Friday at 3:30 vs. Sac City College.

Lady Wolverines Split Pair in Tough Big 8 Conference

Oct 22

Sierra 9, Diablo Valley College 3

Without a week to catch their breath, the Lady Wolverines took on 2 more tough Big 8 foes last week and were able to get a split. On Wednesday the Lady Wolverines traveled to Concord to take on arch-enemy Diablo Valley, and with some stellar defense from the entire team, were able to pull out a 9-3 victory. Leading the way on offense was Sophomore All-American Whitney Bell with 4 goals and 3 steals.

Oct 25

Sierra 8, Fresno City College 11

On Saturday, The Lady Wolverines took on Conference leader Fresno City College in a battle of 2 of the conferences top teams. The game lived up to its billing as the teams were tied at the end of every one of the 1st 3 quarters. Unfortunately the Rams were able to score a couple of early 4th quarter goals and then hold off the Wolverines for an 11-8 victory. Leading a balanced scoring attack for the Lady Wolverines were Sophomores Whitney Bell, Danielle Comforti, and Natalie Berge with 2 goals apiece. Chipping in with one goal each were fellow Sophomores Rachel Holm and Alyssa Woodliff. Sophomore Brittany Adams had 6 saves in goal for the Wolverines.

The Lady Wolverines are in action next against the Modesto JC Pirates on Tuesday October 28th, before wrapping up league play against Sac City on Friday the 31st.

Oct 17-18

Long Beach College Tournament

Lady Wolverines come out 3rd in state's toughest tournament

Taking on the State's best teams at the Battle of the Beach Tournament, the Lady Wolverines scratched and clawed their way to a 3rd place finish. On the tournament's 1st day the Lady Wolverines beat perennial State powerhouse Golden West College 9 – 3 behind 4 goals, 2 assists, and 4 steals from Super Sophomore Whitney Bell, and 8 Blocks and 4 steals from Goalie Brittany Adams.

Later that day, the Lady Wolverines again pulled off a big win with a 9 – 7 victory over the state's # 8 ranked team Palomar College from San Diego. Leading the way with 2 goals apiece were Sophomores Rachel Holm, Danielle Comforti, and Janelle Romano. Goalie Brittany Adams was once again solid in the cage with 10 Blocks and 4 steals.

On the 2nd day things got even a little bit tougher as the Lady Wolverines took on State #1 ranked Riverside CC and #3 ranked Long Beach. Putting up tough battles in both games, the Lady Wolverines came up on the short side of a 12 - 4 & 6 - 2 loss to finish the tournament at 2 – 2 and finish in 3rd place.

Sophomore Alyssa Woodliff lead the way on the second day with a hat trick, followed by fellow Sophomores Katie Black and Whitney Bell, and Freshmen Jordan Pare with 1 goal each.

The Lady Wolverines next action is an away Big 8 Conference game at arch rival Diablo Valley College on Wed Oct. 22, followed by a home Conference match with Fresno City College on Saturday Oct. 25.

Oct 15

Sierra 9, Santa Rosa Jr. College 10 (OT)

Lady Wolverines suffer tough overtime loss at Santa Rosa

Leading 9 - 8 with 28 seconds to go, the Lady Wolverines gave up a rare goal late in the game to send the game into overtime, where they suffered a tough defeat at the hands of Santa Rosa JC 10 -9. The loss puts the Lady Wolverines at 1 - 2 in the very tough Big 8 Conference, and 14 -3 overall.

Leading the way for the Wolverines was Sophomore All-American Whitney Bell with 4 goals, 1 assist, and 5 steals. Also contributing to the cause was fellow Sophomore Danielle Comforti with 2 goals and 3 steals. Sophomore Goalie Brittany Adams had 10 Blocks and 4 steals to help keep the Wolverines in the game.

Oct 10-11

River City Tournament/American River College

Lady Wolverines Start new winning streak with 4-0 finish
at River City Invitational

Following up a 3-1 weekend at Merced, the Lady Wolverines defended their home turf, or water, by going 4-0 at last weeks River City Invitational at Sierra College. Wolverines started off the weekend by defeating Coast Conference foe Ohlone College 15-5 behind the balanced scoring of Sophomores Rachel Holm with 3 goals, and 2 goals each from Kylee Munson, Alyssa Woodliff, Natalie Berge and Janelle Romano. Freshmen Ariel Noriega chipped in 2 goals to lead the young cubs. Setting a personal best with 15 blocks to anchor the defense was Sophomore goalie Brittany Adams.

Next the Wolverines took on Cypress College for the third time this season. Fortunately the result was the same as the previous two times with a Wolverine victory 20-6. Leading the way with 4 goals apiece were Sophomore Alyssa Woodliff and Freshmen Ariel Noriega who also had 5 steals in the game. Chipping in with 3 apiece were Sophomore Katie Black and Freshmen Jordan Pare. Not to be left out of the scoring column were Whitney Bell, and Megan Ballew with 2 each followed by Danielle Comforti and Malina Lorring with 1 each. Once again holding the defense together was Sophomore net minder Brittany Adams with 9 blocks.

To kick off Saturday the Lady Wolverines continued their winning ways with a 12-6 victory over Southern California foe Mt. SAC. The Sophomores really shone with Whitney Bell scoring 5 goals and having 3 steals and Alyssa Woodliff with 3 goals, 2 assists and 3 steals. Also contributing to the Sophomore cause was Danielle Comforti with 4 assists and 2 steals and Rachel Holm with 4 steals. Continuing with the Sophomore lead game goalie Brittany Adams defended the cage with 8 blocks and 3 steals.

The Lady Wolverines will be in action this week against Conference rival Santa Rosa on Wednesday before traveling Thursday to Long Beach City College for the Battle at the Beach Tournament.

Oct 3-4:

Merced Tournament

Lady Wolverines Win 3 out of 4 at Tough Merced Tournament

Matched against some of the best teams from Southern California, The Lady Wolverines scratched and clawed there way to 3 victories in 4 games at last weekend's Merced Tournament. The Lady Wolverines got off to a good start for the weekend by defeating both Grossmont College 12 – 4 and Saddleback 15 -5 on Friday, and followed it up with a victory against Chaffey College 14 -5 on Saturday.

In their final game of the tournament, the lady Wolverines took on State powerhouse Long Beach City College in a rematch of their tough battle at the Cypress tournament earlier this season. After a tough, back and forth game, Long Beach pulled out a 9 - 8 victory to give the Lady Wolverines their only loss of the tournament, and avenge their 1 point loss to the Lady Wolverines earlier in the season. Leading the way was returning Sophomore All-American Whitney Bell with 11 goals for the weekend to go along with her 9 steals. Also making major contributions to the Lady Wolverine cause were Sophomore All-American Katie Black with 5 goals and 8 steals, and Freshmen Michelle Berrios with 6 goals. Sophomore Goalie Brittany Adams did her usual stellar job in the cage with 26 blocks and 11 steals during the 4 games.

The Lady Wolverines see their next action this weekend at their Annual River City Invitational Tournament Oct 10 & 11 here at Sierra College.

Oct 1:

Sierra 6, American River 7

Lady Wolverines lose tough game against American River

Lady Wolverines play their 2 conference game against American River, and although they fought hard still lost 6-7. Sophomore Rachel Holm gave the Lady Wolverines 3 goals to lead the team and Sophomore net minder Brittany Adams blocked 9 shots to strengthen the defense. Others that added goals for the Wolverines were Sophomore Katie Black, Danielle Comforti and Freshmen Jordan Pare each with 1 goal a piece. The Lady Wolverines are now 7-1 overall and 1-1 in Conference.

The Lady Wolverines next action is on Oct. 3rd and 4th at the Merced Tournament where they will face Grossmont, Saddleback, Chaffey and Long Beach.

Sept 24:

Sierra 9, San Joaquin Delta 7

Lady Wolverines extend winning streak
to 7 over Conference foe Delta

Although the Lady Wolverines had not had a game for two weeks they beat Conference foe Delta College (9-7). Leading the Lady Wolverines to continue their winning streak was Sophomore Katie Black and Rachel Holm with 2 goals each. Also assisting the Lady Wolverines was Sophomores Danielle Comforti, Alyssa Woodliff, Whitney Bell and Freshmen Jordan Pare, and Michelle Berrios each with one goal. Furthermore, Sophomore netminder Brittany Adams had 8 blocks to help the Wolverines defense against the Mustangs.

The Lady Wolverines look forward to their next game against American River College on October 1 at Sierra College, before taking off for the tough Merced Tournament October 3-4.

Sept 9:

Sierra 9, Foothill College 4

Lady Wolverines push winning streak to 6

Despite only shooting 9 for 34 the Lady Wolverines were still able to pull out a 9-4 victory over the visiting Foothill Owls. Leading the way for the Lady Wolverines were Sophomores Katie Black who had 4 goals to go along with 3 steals, Whitney Bell who had 2 goals, and Rachel Holm and Danielle Comforti with 1 goal apiece along with Freshmen Julie Maginnis. Danielle also contributed 3 assists and a steal to help the Wolverines cause. Helping keep the defense sound was Sophomore Netminder Brittany Adams with 8 blocks and 7 steals.

Sept 4, 5-6:

Cypress College &
Cypress College Tournament

Lady Wolverines start season off fast

Making their annual trip to Southern California for the Cypress Tournament, the Lady Wolverines could not have asked for a better start.  After defeating Cypress College in a non- conference tune up game (17-6) on Thursday, the Lady Wolverines carried that momentum into the Cypress Tournament finishing 4-0, and 5-0 overall. 

The first day of the tournament the Lady Wolverines started out with perennial State powerhouse Long Beach City College, and after a hard fought match came out on the winning side of a 7-6 score.  Leading the way with 2 goals apiece were Sophomore Rachel Holm and Freshmen Michelle Berrios.  Contributing 1 goal apiece were Sophomores Whitney Bell and Katie Black, along with Freshmen Julie Maginnis.  Continuing their victory march, the Lady Wolverines hooked up with another tough SoCal competitor in Santa Ana College.  Taking a little while to get started after their tough game against Long Beach, the Lady Wolverines kicked it in gear winning the game (14-7).  Again leading the way for the Wolverines were Sophomore Katie Black with 3 goals, Whitney Bell with 2, and Freshmen Jordan Pare with 2, along with a host of other Wolverines with 1 goal apiece.   

On the second day of the tournament the Lady Wolverines picked up where they left off the first day defeating both Orange Coast College (7-5) and Cypress College (14-2) to wrap up their perfect 5-0 weekend.  Whitney Bell, Katie Black, Michelle Berrios, and Jordan Pare all had 3 goals apiece in one of the two games to help the Lady Wolverines start the season off on a good foot.

The Wolverines are in action again on Tuesday September 9 at Sierra College against NorCal playoff participant Foothill College from Los Altos.

 

Highlights from 2007 season.