GOLDEN WEST LANDS TOP SEED IN SOUTH;
WEST VALLEY IS TOPS IN NORTH

The regular season is over and now 20 of the top teams will vie for a berth in the state tournament. Golden West leads a list of 12 teams in the southern region while West Valley leads the northern region contingent.

Golden West, the state’s top-ranked team heading into the final week of the season, lived up to that expectation by defeating Riverside in the title game of the Orange Empire Conference tournament. The Rustlers also beat Orange Coast on the road to the title.

Long Beach captured the South Coast Conference title with wins over Rio Hondo and Mt. San Antonio. The Vikings will be the No. 2 team in the south. Grossmont, the Pacific Coast Conference champion, lands the No. 3 seed while Santa Monica pulled two minor upsets in the Western State Conference tournament to capture the automatic seed out of the WSC. All top four teams receive a first-round bye.

Riverside, runner-up in the OEC, will get the No. 5 seed and will host OEC rival Orange Coast in a first-round contest. Cuesta, runner-up in the WSC, is seeded No. 6 and will entertain Mt. San Antonio, runner-up in the SCC. L.A. Valley received the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 Fullerton at Santa Monica College, and No. 8 Citrus will host No. 9 Ventura in a repeat matchup of Western State Conference rivals. All five Western State Conference teams made the regional playoffs and are seeded among the top nine teams.

In the north regional, West Valley lost to Merced last week in the final game of the regular-season. However, it wasn’t enough to sway the seeding committee and the Vikings will remain as the top seed with the Blue Devils holding onto the No. 2 slot.

San Joaquin Delta, champions of the Coast Conference (B), moves into the No. 3 seed, followed by Diablo Valley and Modesto. Solano will get the No. 6 seed, followed by Coast Conference runner-up Foothill. DeAnza, a product of the Bay Valley (C) Conference, gets the No. 8 and final seed. The Dons will get a first-round matchup against West Valley on Friday.

* Supplied by Jerry Hannula of the Community College Water Polo Poll & Newsletter. For subscription information, please call (949) 582-4490 or write to: jhannula@saddleback.edu