Women’s water polo beats Beavers on Senior Day

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Author: Noel Hemphill

With five of the nation’s top squads in the women’s water polo conference, this season’s SCIAC playoffs are shaping up to be even more competitive than years past. Sitting in sixth place with a .500 record, the Tigers remain in contention, but need breakout performances from star players as the end of the season draws nearer. Front runners Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) and Pomona-Pitzer present a challenge to the Tigers as the postseason closes in and a possible NCAA berth is up for grabs.

Tough play all season has led to many close finishes. Last week’s game against CMS concluded with the Tigers making a late-game run only to fall to the Athenas by one goal. Going into the playoffs, Occidental is ranked sixth in the conference. Although head coach Larry Zubrin expected the team to have a more dominant role at to the beginning of the season, he remains confident in his squad. Zubrin still maintains the same goals and hopes to make it to the NCAA Tournament at Harvard University.

“Nothing has changed since the beginning,” Zubrin said. “We had a good first win, encouraging work against CMS, and I feel pretty good about the way we have been playing lately. We have a tougher road than we may have liked, but in the end that might work for us.”

In order for the Tigers to pull off a championship, the team would need to win the SCIAC tournament and have CMS place no higher than third. Coming in as a dark horse is new for the Tigers, who have shared the title of SCIAC champion with Pomona-Pitzer, CMS and Redlands over the last four years.

“Underdog is a little different for us and I kind of like it,” Zubrin said. “The only way we can go is up.”

Throughout the season, seniors Nanea Fujiyama, Rachel “Raiye” Adeleye and Danielle Garcia have had commanding roles in the pool. Supporting efforts from juniors Lindsay Albino and Kelsey Shyba have made the difference in tight games while Lauren Ransom (senior) has been winning swim-offs to give the Tigers every advantage possible.

“We have addressed our weakness and have improved dramatically over the last three weeks,” Zubrin said. “We have to just keep working hard and maintain that intensity and want to be champions.”

Staying positive is very important to the squad. In her final year as a Tiger, Ransom looks forward to this year’s playoffs.

“SCIAC is a very close conference so any team could end up on top,” she said. “It’ll come down to who works hardest in the conference.”

Working the hardest was no problem for the Tigers this past weekend. In a 16-5 rout against Caltech, the black and orange showed that every member of the team is ready and willing to rise to the occasion. Adeleye, the team’s starting goalie, added to her repertoire by scoring two goals during the game, including a toss from over 20 yards away from the goal. Geneva Perez (junior) commented on her teammate’s shot.

“Only Raiye,” Perez said.

The Tigers begin the SCIAC Tournament on Friday at Pasadena City College against third-seeded Whittier at 4 p.m.

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