The top-seeded Grossmont College men’s water polo team returned to top form after defeating the third-seeded Miramar College Jets, 23-17, in last Saturday’s Pacific Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship game at the Southwestern College pool.
The Griffins swept through the season, as well as the tournament, to post a cumulative 12-0 PCAC record. Grossmont College finished 10-0 in regular season play, then tacked on a 17-10 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Southwestern College before defeating Miramar for the third time this season.
Ten players scored at least one goal. Brock Kammerer led the scoring parade with five goals while Garrett Durado had four goals and Austin Gaeir had three goals.
“We just kept setting the ball,” Griffins head coach Ty Lackey said. “We knew we were the better team; we had more players. It feels good. That was the goal from the start of the season. It’s a great accomplishment.
“Also, one of our goals was to make it on to regionals.”
Grossmont College checked that box as well after receiving the No. 7 seed for this weekend’s 10-team Southern California regional tournament at Southwestern College.
The Griffins (23-12) edged 10th-seeded Mount San Antonio College, 13-8 in Thursday’s opening round to advance to play second-seeded Long Beach City (21-5) in Friday’s quarterfinals at 1:45 p.m. Torin Carrs led Grossmont in the regional victory with four goals while Kammerer had three goals and Anson Rasmussen and Ryan Beery each scored twice.
Semifinals are scheduled Saturday morning, followed by the third-place game at 1:30 p.m. and the championship game at 3 p.m.
Golden West (23-2) received the top seed, followed by Long Beach City, No. 3 Saddleback (25-6) and No. 4 Cuesta (27-6). Also entered in the field are No. 5 Orange Coast (16-7), No. 6 Cerritos (16-11), No. 8 Riverside (10-15) and No. 9 L.A. Valley (8-13).
PCAC champion Palomar College and runner-up Grossmont College will represent the conference in this weekend’s 12-team women’s regionals. Palomar (12-0 in conference) defeated Grossmont, 14-7 in last Saturday’s tournament finals, though both teams wound up earning berths in the regionals.
Palomar (16-8 overall) is seeded 10th while Grossmont (16-8) is seeded 11th.
Palomar was slated to meet seventh-seeded Riverside City (15-7) in Thursday’s opening round while Grossmont was scheduled to play sixth-seeded Cerritos (20-7). Both PCAC finalists lost — Palomar 14-13 to Riverside and Grossmont 15-7 to Cerritos — to end their seasons.
Cerritos advances to meet third-seeded Orange Coast (18-4) in Friday’s quarterfinals while Riverside City advances to meet second-seeded Fullerton (26-6).
Semifinals are Saturday morning, followed by the third-place game at 4:30 p.m. and the championship game at 6 p.m.
Maddy Ward, Dara Paza and Maddie Logsdon all scored twice for the Lady Griffins in the championship game loss.
Palomar repeated as conference champions, though coach Mandy Simon admitted it was a “challenging” year.
“The COVID protocols were tough, we had two players with COVID,” Palomar coach Mandy Simon explained. “Winning the championship made it even more special for us. Everyone contributed. We can say that we dominated. We worked for it. We feel we didn’t have it handed to us.”
In third-place games, second-seeded San Diego Mesa overcame a 9-7 deficit against fourth-seeded Southwestern to claim a 16-12 victory in the men’s field while fifth-seeded Miramar held off a late charge by the third-seeded San Diego Mesa women to win 8-6.
The tournament opened with play-in games on Friday. In the men’s field, Miramar defeated Crafton Hills while Southwestern sank Palomar to advance to Saturday’s semifinals. In the women’s field, Southwestern lost to Miramar.
“We made some strides this year,” SWC head coach Jorge Perez said. “We were more competitive even though we lost some games. It showed how the program progressed in a more competitive way. We had a good team. The guys really worked hard and I’m happy with their performance.”
Southwestern dropped a high energy 17-10 semifinal to Grossmont. Perez said it was difficult to recover from such a game, leading to his team’s ebb in the second half against the Olympians in the third-place game.
San Diego Mesa finished third in the men’s field and fourth in the women’s field. Both teams are coached by former Bonita Vista High School standout Beto Vasquez.
Eastlake High alums Jake Rose and brothers Jeremy and Jacob Redden helped the Olympian men’s team gain traction this year during a head coaching change and loss of several key players to graduation.
Rose paced Mesa in scoring with 59 goals through 18 games while Jeremy Redden ranked third on the team with 24 goals and first with 35 defensive steals. Jacob Redden contributed four goals, three assists and five steals as a freshman.
“It was the best season I’ve had so far,” said Rose, who competed in the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics with the Southern Water Polo Club. “I met a lot of good upcoming freshmen and a good group of guys. I got to play with five of the six guys on our club team from the Junior Olympics. We got to play against a lot of guys we played against in high school in our last game against Southwestern. This is the way we wanted to go out.”
“I feel very rewarded,” Jeremy Redden said. “We had our ups and down but that’s how polo goes. It was the most fun season I’ve ever had in polo.”
Santana High School alumnus Sam Odenkirk returned from academic studies in Utah to play this season in San Diego.
“It was fantastic,” said Odenkirk, who collected 15 goals, seven assists and 34 steals in 17 games. “I went away and didn’t realize how much I missed the sport. It couldn’t have gone better. I got to play with a lot of my club teammates and one of my best friends, Jake Rose.”
The PCAC finals were a prelude to the Southern California regionals played Nov. 11-13 also at SWC.
Grossmont’s men received the No. 7 seed and defeated 10th-seeded Mt. San Antonio, 13-8, before scoring a thrill-seeking 13-12 victory over second-seeded Long Beach City in the quarterfinals. The Griffins dropped a 13-6 decision to third-seeded Saddleback in the semifinals and ended the tournament with a 12-11 victory against fourth-seeded Cuesta in the third-place game.
Palomar and Grossmont received the Nos. 10 and 11 seeds in the women’s field. Both teams lost their openers — Palomar, 14-13, to seventh-seeded Riverside and Grossmont, 15-7, to sixth-seeded Cerritos.
Golden West defeated Saddleback, 10-8, to win the men’s regional championship while Santa top-seeded Barbara City College edged second-seeded Fullerton, 10-9, to win the women’s title.
Fourth-seeded Long Beach City edged third-seeded Orange Coast, 11-8, in the third-place game.
PACIFIC COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE STANDINGS
(Includes conference, regional tournaments)
Men’s Standings
Grossmont 12-0, 23-12
San Diego Miramar 8-5, 15-11
Southwestern 7-5, 15-13
San Diego Mesa 6-5, 12-12
Palomar 3-9, 5-21
Crafton Hills 0-12, 1-19
Women’s Standings
Palomar 12-0, 16-9
Grossmont 9-3, 16-9
San Diego Mesa 5-7, 7-14-1
Southwestern 4-6, 6-12-1
San Diego Miramar 4-9, 7-16
Crafton Hills 0-9, 1-10
PHOTO GALLERY BY PHILLIP BRENTS
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PLAYOFFS
Nov. 11-13 at Southwestern College
Men’s Field
Opening round
Thursday, Nov. 11
(7) Grossmont 13, (10) Mount San Antonio 8
(8) Riverside 10, (9) L.A. Valley 8
Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 12
(1) Golden West 15, (8) Riverside 6
(4) Cuesta 9, (5) Orange Coast 7
(3) Saddleback 14, (6) Cerritos 10
(7) Grossmont 13, (2) Long Beach City 12
Semifinals
Saturday, Nov. 13
(1) Golden West 18, (4) Cuesta 7
(3) Saddleback 13, (7) Grossmont 6
Third place
Saturday, Nov. 13
(7) Grossmont 12, (4) Cuesta 11
Championship
Saturday, Nov. 13
(1) Golden West 10, (3) Saddleback 8
Women’s Field
Quarterfinal round
Thursday, Nov. 11
Citrus 9, Cypress 6
Riverside 14, Palomar 13
Ventura 9, Mt. San Antonio 5
Cerritos 15, Grossmont 7
Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 12
(1) Santa Barbara City 11, (9) Citrus 4
(4) Long Beach City 17, (5) Ventura 9
(2) Fullerton 14, (7) Riverside City 9
(3) Orange Coast 12, (6) Cerritos 8
Semifinals
Saturday, Nov. 13
(1) Santa Barbara City 13, (4) Long Beach City 9
(2) Fullerton 8, (3) Orange Coast 5
Third place
Saturday, Nov. 13
(4) Long Beach City 11, (3) Orange Coast 8
Championship
Saturday, Nov. 13
(1) Santa Barbara City 10, (2) Fullerton 9
