November 23, 2015
Persistence in Pasadena
The Diablo Valley College men's and women's water polo teams completed outstanding seasons with third-place finishes at the CCCAA State Championship in Pasadena.
Both Vikings squads rebounded from semifinal losses against Southern California opponents and eventual state champions to earn inspired victories on Saturday against Northern California rivals.
DVCs' Andras Telegdy made the all-tournament men's team, and Megan Dietrich made the women's all-tournament team.
The DVC women's team came oh so close. The Vikings lost a 9-8 heartbreaker to San Diego Mesa on Friday, and then rallied past San Joaquin Delta 11-9 in the third-place game.
In the semifinals, DVC got three goals from Charlotte Demoulin and two from Hannah Dillon, and goalie Katie Ramm made 10 saves. DVC led 7-5 in the third quarter, but the Olympians seized the victory.
"They weren't a great team by any means," DVC coach Rick Millington said of Mesa, which beat Riverside 9-7 in the final. "We certainly could of beaten them. If we were to play them 10 times, we'd probably have beaten them seven, I think. But it just didn’t happen. Nothing in particular, but we were off just a bit."
Even still, Millington was proud of how the Vikings overcame a 7-3 deficit against Delta, a time when a lesser team might have packed it in.
"We had to bounce back in that one, because they were disappointed," Millington said. "They weren't in the championship game, and then Delta was on fire. But halfway through the second quarter, they decided they weren't going to let anything happen to them and they really came together, played from then on a really good game."
Ramm was again brilliant with nine saves in the season-ending win, and Demoulin and Dietrich each had five goals. Demoulin's clutch long-range shot with three seconds left in the second period cut the deficit to 7-6.
"She shot a perfect shot into the corner and that really turned things around," Millington said of Demoulin's goal.
The DVC men fell to Long Beach City 17-9 on Friday, but took a 15-9 win over West Valley in the third-place game.
The Vikings started quickly against Long Beach and held leads of 3-1 and 5-3, but Long Beach took command after that. Lucas Martinez paced DVC with three goals.
In the third-place game, Martinez had four goals and three assists, and Telegdy had three goals. Goalie Reed Douyere-Pate made several clutch blocks on close-range attempts.
Long Beach beat Golden West 12-11 in overtime in the men's final.
Women's soccer
The 12th seeded-Vikings (8-6-7) finished the season with a 3-0 loss to host No. 5 City College of San Francisco (15-2-3) in the first round of the NorCal Regional playoffs. The Rams scored all three goals in the first half.
Women's volleyball
The No. 15 seeded Vikings (9-13) beat No. 18 College of the Sequoias (12-7) 3-0 on Saturday in the play-in round of the NorCal Regional Playoffs. DVC will travel to No. 2 Foothill College (25-1) on Tuesday in the first round.
Cross country
DVC freshman Kin Wong finished 78th in the CCCAA State Cross Country Championship on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. Wong, the Big 8 Conference champion, had a time of 21 minutes, 56.6 seconds over 4.0 miles.
Freshman Ariana Corwin finished 144th in the women's 3.0-mile race in a time of 21:24.4.
Men's basketball
The Vikings (3-2) rebounded from consecutive losses to open the season with three straight victories in the Shasta Tournament, capped by a 57-52 triumph over Foothill. They also beat Cabrillo 68-62 and Shasta 65-58.
DVC is preparing to host the DVC Classic on Dec. 3-5. The Vikings open against Solano at 8 p.m. on Dec. 3
Women's basketball
The Vikings (2-1) will compete in the Ventura Tournament Nov. 27-30, after 19 days away from competition.
-- Matt Schwab