No. 2 SBCC dropped a 12-7 decision to No. 3 Orange Coast in Saturday's semifinals of the Battle at the Beach women's water polo tournament, then claimed third place with a 12-7 triumph over Sierra of Rocklin, Calif.
Long Beach City College hosted the 24-team event and the Vaqueros played at Cerritos College on Saturday.
Santa Barbara is 20-3 on the year and Orange Coast improved to 21-3 after avenging two earlier losses to the Vaqueros. Sierra, ranked 10th in the state, is 18-2.
Emma Fraser tallied three goals vs. OCC and Tori Bray had two goals and two assists. Nicole Poulos, a freshman from Carpinteria High, made seven saves with six steals and an assist.
Fraser got the Vaqueros within a goal (7-6) by scoring with 1:31 to go in the third period. But the Pirates poured in five of the last six goals to secure the win.
"We identified some key factors that resulted in the loss to Orange Coast," said fourth-year coach Chuckie Roth. "Our goal was to fix those things in the Sierra game and we had a very successful win. We will continue to push our areas of growth in practice this week."
The Vaqueros enjoyed leads of 7-2 at half and 11-4 after three quarters of the Sierra game. Kemi Dijkstra had four goals in the third-place game and Fraser had three goals and two steals. Halie Johnson contributed three goals, two steals and six drawn ejections.
"Meagan Mckillican had a great game in center along with Nicole Poulos in net."
The Vaqueros return to WSC play on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. game vs. Hancock at Paul Nelson Pool in Santa Maria. SBCC is 4-0 in conference and shooting for its fourth straight WSC title.
