Posted: Nov 24, 2019
The West Valley women's water polo team added to it's history-making 2019 season with a 13-7 win over Sierra in the 3rd-place game of the CCCAA State Championships Saturday in Huntington Beach. Coach Erika Vargas's Vikings became the first WVC team to bring home the hardware from the championship tourney, adding to its first-ever NorCal title (also 13-7 over Sierra) and a third-consecutive undefeated Coast Conference championship.
The Vikings (25-7) had to overcome a slow start against the Wolverines (20-9), falling behind 2-0 before surging to a 6-5 halftime lead. West Valley added two Nadja Novakovic goals in the third for an 8-5 lead, but Sierra narrowed it to 8-7 with a pair of scores to open the fourth quarter.
It was all Vikings and Novakovic from there. West Valley netted five unanswered goals, three from Novakovic, and one each from Giovanna Valente Cardenuto and Maria Higginbotham for the 13-7 final.
Raquel de Pinho, as she was in Friday's 10-4 semifinal loss to Riverside, was sensational in the cage, swatting away 19 Sierra attempts. The sophomore netminder had 14 saves against Riverside.
Novakovic had six goals and four assists, while Valente Cardenuto finished with four goals, a pair of assists and two steals. Sierra Ceballos and Maryam Khatoon closed out their Viking careers with a goal apiece, as did Maria Higginbotham.