Women’s water polo: Orange Coast falls to Golden West

WALNUT - By taking his squad from ninth place in state last year to

the state championship game this year, Orange Coast College women’s water

polo coach Mike Giles was named the California Community College Coach of

the Year.

“I’m extremely flattered for this honor,” Giles said. “I love it. It’s

been a real great year and I’m very proud of what these girls

accomplished.”

It was the first-ever Coach of the Year honor for Giles. The

announcement followed the Pirates’ 13-3 loss to Golden West in the state

finals.

Six of OCC’s eight losses came at the hands of the Rustlers (35-1),

with the other two losses coming by way of four-year schools, UCI and

Loyola Marymount.

“With Golden West, we either lost by a little or a lot,” Giles said.

“We played them tough last week in the SoCal Regionals so they made

adjustments and took it to us at the state finals.”

Devon Wright had two goals, while Neisha Hoagland added a single tally

for OCC (29-8-1).

In the semifinals on Saturday, the Pirates used a five-goal first

quarter and third quarter to defeat Palomar, 12-5.

Daylene Coberly scored four goals to pace OCC’s attack, while Hoagland

added three goals. Erin Kennedy came up with 10 saves while Erica

Anderson added one save in relief.

“We knew Palomar was for real, because they knocked off the Northern

California top seed (Sierra) to get to us,” Giles said. “That was a

great, great game for us.”

WOMEN’S STATE WATER POLO TOURNAMENT

Semifinals

Orange Coast 12, Palomar 5

Palomar 0 2 0 3 - 5

Orange Coast 5 0 5 2 - 12

Palomar - Eisner 2, Homan 1, Mora 1, Onweller 1. Saves - Moody 4.

Orange Coast - Coberly 4, Hoagland 3, Montalvo 2, Dolan 1, Wright 1,

Miloslavic 1. Saves - Kennedy 10, Anderson 1.

Finals

Golden West 13, Orange Coast 3

Golden West 3 4 2 4 - 13

Orange Coast 0 2 1 0 - 3

Golden West - Steele 4, Garrison 4, Kordova 2, Finucane 2, Nolan 1.

Saves - Lombardo 9

Orange Coast Wright 2, Hoagland 1. Saves - Kennedy 3.