Chloe Mckay (Ken Sciallo/Sevilla Photography)
Posted: Nov 07, 2021
GLENDORA, Calif. – The No. 1 SBCC women's water polo team continued its reign of WSC dominance in Saturday's championship game against No. 2 Ventura, claiming its seventh consecutive conference title by taking down the Pirates 15-6 at Citrus College.
The Vaqueros (26-6 overall, 7-0 WSC) improve to 57-2 all-time in Western State Conference play, now having won 47 straight.
"We had a great team victory where everyone had significant contributions," head coach Chuckie Roth said. "Ultimately our defense, led by Chloe McKay, won the game. Megan Ditlof had the best game of her season, contributing several gritty plays."
Ditlof, a Ventura native, set a season-high with four goals. Eden Tal matched her with four of her own. Both players end SBCC's two-game tournament run with a team-best seven goals.
"It was rewarding to see the course of our improvement," Roth said. "The last time we saw them, there was only a goal difference."
Both teams came out firing, as five different Vaqueros scored in the opening period to take an early 5-1 lead. SBCC took full control with a 4-0 advantage in the second, going into the half leading 9-3 thanks to Ditlof's first half hat trick.
Charlize Winter and Emily Lopez both scored their second goals of the day in the third as Santa Barbara put the game on ice with another five-goal quarter.
The win completes a two-game season sweep over the Pirates, whose only two conference losses in 2021 came at the hands of the Vaqueros. Their last meeting back on Sept. 29 was a much tighter affair, with the Vaqueros pulling it out 10-9 on the road.
Goalkeeper Chloe Mckay was a huge part of Saturday's nine-goal differential. She was almost unbeatable defending the cage, racking up 12 saves, good for the most in her last 12 appearances and just one shy of a season-high.
Next weekend, the Vaqueros will take another No. 1 seed into the SoCal Regional Championships. Following a first round bye, they will play a quarterfinal match on Friday at 3:00 p.m against the winner of No. 8 Cypress and No. 9 Citrus.
