April 1, 2023
A Win and a Loss, Warriors Ready to Battle
By Francisco Claudio
It's playoffs time, and the Warriors have one goal: to win it all.
The Westcliff women's water polo team is currently battling it out with three other schools for the championship.
On Friday morning, the Warriors faced off against Cal Maritime and cruised 20-0. Later, they played against OUAZ and went down to the wire in a close loss 13-12.
The Warriors are taking part in the NAIA Women's Water Polo Finals at UC Merced which starts with a round-robin format.
The round-robin continues on Saturday which will show what the matchups will be in the semi-finals later that day.
The Warriors were in total control against CSUMA from start to finish and looked like two teams on different playing levels.
At the end of the first period, Westcliff had distanced itself going up 13-0, and it never got closer.
It was a full-team display from the Warriors as 10 players scored a goal in the lopsided finish.
"There's a big difference between the levels," shared head coach Preslav Djippov.
The second game was nothing like the first and it showcased who everyone expects to meet in the championship matchup, Warriors vs OUAZ.
Both teams went neck and neck until the last whistle as the Warriors came up short by just one goal.
Janja Kaplarevic scored four goals and Julia Sandoval followed with three.
Tatiana Teodorovic showed how important she is to this team as she was perfect with three shots and three goals.
"Westcliff and OUAZ are the favorites for the championship trophy," said Djippov. "We were up by two goals with 2:45 seconds left of the game. We still had a chance to win it but it was a really close game.
"We'll analyze the game, take some notes and make adjustments."
The Warriors will have to regroup and refocus because they hit the pool on Saturday at 10 AM against UC Merced.
"I still believe that we're favorites for the trophy but it won't be easy," said Djippov. "I'm glad that the girls realize that, so they don't underestimate the situation. We should be completely fine for Sunday.
"In my opinion, it's better that we lost because we'll be fine coming Sunday."