April 2, 2023
Warriors in the Finals, Ready for OUAZ
By Francisco Claudio
The Westcliff women's water polo team swam their way into the championship match after defeating UC Merced in the semi-finals, 20-5.
Now the Warriors will have the opportunity to get their payback with OUAZ who beat them the day before in the round-robin phase as both teams meet in the NAIA Finals.
The Warriors were determined and focused to get the most out of their game against UC Merced and use it as preparation for the final.
And boy, did they come out firing from the start.
Westcliff took a commanding lead in the first period as they scored 9 goals to the Bobcat's one.
Paula Fernandez had a great game with four goals, three assists, and two steals.
Eight of the 12 players who took part in the game scored a goal for the Warriors.
Head Coach Preslac Djippov was pleased with the performance: "It was a great way for me to practice some types of defense and some plays and strategies that I want the girls to run tomorrow. Again, even though the result was very dominant for us, we were able to adjust and try some different things."
Now comes the biggest test for the Warriors, and the one they've been waiting for all season.
Westcliff will face off against OUAZ for the second time in three days.
On Friday both teams met in the round-robin phase where the Warriors lost by just one.
But Coach Djippov has moved on from that and has worked with his team to prepare them for the championship game where everything they have learned and experienced will show results.
"Tomorrow it's OUAZ," said Djippov. "I'm really looking forward to stepping up and performing much better than in the game we played yesterday. We spent pretty much all day talking and analyzing all the mistakes that we made.
"They are motivated, they're ready to go and know what needs to be done."
Indeed, the Warriors knew that their path to glory and holding the trophy at the end would have to go through OUAZ all along.
The results in the last couple of days are favorable and what's most important is that the Warriors believe they can win it because of their talent and overall better team.
Djippov is confident in his team and believes they are ready for this test.
"Be extremely concentrated and focused but not over-pressured," said Djippov. "We just have to focus on our game plan and make sure that we execute it properly.
We have a plan and strategy and if we execute everything then we'll be fine."
The final will take place on Sunday, April 2nd, at 1:45 PM.
"We are ready to go tomorrow," said Djippov.