The Los Angeles Valley College Men's Water Polo team claimed their third straight Western State Conference Championship recently. The Monarchs entered the 2016 WSC Water Polo Championship Tournament as the #4 seed, but exited as the conference champs for the third time in three years.
The Monarchs opened the weekend up against #5 seed Santa Monica, who they defeated 18-2. After that, LA Valley moved into the semi-finals where they met #1 seeded Cuesta College. Cuesta would jump out to a 4-2 lead at the half, but the Monarchs rallied in the third quarter with four unanswered goals to run out in front 6-4.The two teams would trade goals in the fourth, but the Monarchs held on for a 4-3 victory.
In the final against #2 Citrus, Valley had a similar experience. The Owls led 5-3 after the first quarter, while the Monarch defense stepped it up a notch in the shutting down the Citrus offense to tie the game up at 5-5 by the time halftime rolled around. In the third, the Monarchs kept momentum firmly on their side outscoring the Owls 4-2 to take a 9-7 lead in the final eight minutes. In the fourth, both teams managed a pair of scores, and Valley went on to win 11-9.