KINESIOLOGY & ATHLETICS DIVISION
WOMEN'S WATER POLO
The Foothill College Lady Owls Water Polo Team did something Saturday that had never been done by another
women's water polo team in school history, they won the CCCAA Northern California Championship in convincing
fashion with a 14-6 win over Diablo Valley College. The Lady Owls lead from start to finish getting multiple
goals from Deanna Farley (Irvington HS), Anna Kim (Mission San Jose HS),
Hailey Smith (Menlo School), Jaimie Breen (Woodside HS) & Gurpuran Singh
(Notre Dame Belmont HS). Lead defensively in the cage by freshman goaltender Dana Delucchi (Notre Dame Belmont HS)
who recorded 25 total saves in the tournament, 10 in the championship game.
The win gives the Foothill College Women's Water Polo Team the #1 seed out of the north headed into the CCCAA
State Championships, November 16-17 at Diablo Valley College. The CCCAA State Championships pits the top two
teams from Southern California (Golden West & Fullerton College) and the top two teams from Northern California
(Foothill College & Diablo Valley College). The Lady Owls will take a 17 game winning streak into next weekends action.
Their semifinal game versus Fullerton College (#2 seed from the South) will be on Friday, November 16th at 10:30am.
The Foothill College Women's Water Polo team won it's 8th Coast Conference Championship in last 12 years
this past weekend with a 19-6 rout of conference rival College of San Mateo. The Lady Owls were lead offensively
by sophomore Jaimie Breen (Woodside HS) who scored 7 goals in the championship match, freshman Gurpuran Singh
(Notre Dame Belmont HS) who found the back of the net 4 times herself & Hailey Smith (Menlo School) who shut down
San Mateo's top scorer recording 7 steals and scored 3 times. Defensively goalie Dana Delucchi had one of her best
games of the season recording 16 saves. The Lady Owls defeated Merced in the semifinals 13-5 & Laney College 15-1
in the quarterfinals. With the win and the first place finish in the Coast Conference, Foothill College secured
the #1 seed & automatic bid to the Northern California Championships November 9-10 at Diablo Valley College.
Click here for NorCal Playoff schedule. (pdf)
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The Foothill College Women's Water Polo Team is on a role, 11 straight wins to end the 2012 regular season. After a road trip to Southern California where the Lady Owls dropped 4 out of 5 games to teams all ranked in the top 6 in the State, the Owls have not been on the losing end of a game since. Sweeping through Coast Conference opponents by an average of 10 goals, the Foothill College Women's Water Polo Team secured the #1 seed in the Coast Conference Championship tournament. The tournament will be held at Foothill College November 2nd & 3rd. The Lady Owls are 19-4 on the season and currently ranked #1 in NorCal and #7 in the State.
One month into the 2012 season the Foothill College Women's Water team is off to a very
fast start. Unbeaten on the season at 7-0, ranked #1 in NorCal & #5 in the State,
the the Lady Owls have three key wins over Big
8 Conference teams Santa Rosa, American River & Diablo Valley. These wins will help earn
Foothill College a higher seed come playoffs time in November. The Lady Owls also took
the Nyquist Tournament title at West Valley College in mid September with four wins in
two days. Through the first month of the season the Foothill Women's Water team has been
lead offensively by Hailey Smith (Menlo School), Jaimie Breen (Woodside High School) &
Anna Kim (Mission San Jose High School). Solid play defensive play in the cage by goalies
Dana Delucchi (Notre Dame Belmont) & Ashley Arras (Leland High School) is definitely
a key to the undefeated start.
The Lady Owls will head down to San Luis Obispo to play in the Rabobank Women's Water
Polo Invitational at Cuesta College September 27-29. Thursday night Foothill will take
on defending State Champions Riverside Community College at 5:00pm and then begin
tournament pool play on Friday at 1:25pm with a game versus Golden West College who
is currently ranked #1 in the state. Needless to say this weekends tournament will
be a great test and great experience for the Owls of Foothill College.
The Foothill College Lady Owl's water polo team is gearing up for another
competitive season in Northern California. After finishing runner-up in the
Coast Conference last season, the lady owls look to get back to their winning
ways setting their sights on winning it's first Northern California Community
College Championship in school history.
Heading into his 12th season coaching at Foothill College, Head Coach, Jeffrey Bissell,
feels he has the necessary talent & depth to make a run late into the post season.
Four returning players will help make the climb back to the top of the conference
easier. Lead by All-American, 1st Team All-Norcal & 1st Team All-Conference attacker
Anna Kim (Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, CA) and 2nd
Team All-Conference recipient Caroline Norton (Leland High School, San Jose, CA) last years battery
returns for another strong showing. Returning utility players Joanna Short
(Pioneer High School, San Jose, CA) and Sarah Magee (Mountain View High School,
Mountain View, CA) bring experience and depth to this years squad. Also adding
to the depth of this years team include red shirt sophomore
Jaimie Breen (Woodside High School, Woodside, Ca).
Key incoming players include Hailey Smith (Menlo School, Atherton, CA),
Gurpuran Singh (Notre Dame High School, Belmont, CA), Deanna Farley
(Irvington High School, Fremont, CA) and Riley Negrete (Pioneer High
School, San Jose, Ca) who will be weighed on heavily to carry the offensive
needs of the team early in the season. Other new comers who will figure to
make immediate impacts defensively include goalies Dana Delucchi
(Notre Dame High School, Belmont, CA) and Ashley Arras (Leland High School,
San Jose, CA) and defender Meri Meighan (Los Gatos High School, Los Gatos, CA.
If you're interested in playing water polo at Foothill College please email
coach Bissell to set up an official visit to the college or call, (650) 949-7663.
On Saturday, November 6th the Foothill College Women's Water Polo Team won the Coast Conference Tournament & Championship Title in a hard fought 7-5 victory over Merced College. With the Lady Owls trailing the whole game, they persevered and were able to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter on a goal by sophomore Kendall Preston. Charging out of the gates in the fourth quarter sophomore Jen Sandstrom & freshman Daphne Nunez both found the back of the net giving the Lady Owls a lead the would never give back. The teams defense lead by freshman goalie June Afshar held the Merced Blue Devils scoreless in the final frame. The win gave the Lady Owls it's fourth Coast Conference Championship in a row and it's seventh in ten years.
The Foothill College Women's Team will next play in the Northern
California Water Polo Championships November 12-13
at American River College in Sacramento. They earned the #2 seed, the
highest in school history.
| All-Coast Conference | ||
| 1st team Kendall Preston Jen Sandstrom June Afshar |
2nd team Susan Peck Daphne Nunez |
Honorable Mention Melissa Sullivan Shameem Jamil Darya Sheikhrezai Laura Dunn |
| All-Northern California | ||
| 1st Team Kendall Preston Jen Sandstrom |
2nd team June Afshar |
Honorable Mention Susan Peck |
| All-American | ||
| Kendall Preston Jen Sandstrom June Afshar |
||
Fall 2010 Season Outlook
The Foothill College Lady Owl’s water polo team is gearing up for another competitive season in Northern California. After winning the Coast Conference last season for the 3rd straight year and it's 5th title in 7 years, the lady owls have there sights set on winning it's first NorCal Championship in school history.
Heading into his 10th year at Foothill College, Head Coach, Jeffrey Bissell, feels he has the necessary talent to make a run late into November. Four returning starters will help make the climb back to the top of the conference easier. Lead by All-American, All-Norcal & co-NorCal Player of the Year defender Kendall Preston (Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Ca) and All-American & All-NorCal recipient Jen Sandstrom (Independence High School, San Jose, Ca) last years battery returns for another strong showing. Returning utility players Melissa Sullivan (Homestead High School, Sunnyvale, Ca) and Susan Peck (Gunn High School, Los Altos, Ca) bring experience and add depth to this years squad. Also adding to the depth of this years team include returners Brynne Basegio (Woodside High School, Woodside, Ca) and Kylie Fields (Pioneer High School, San Jose, Ca).
Key recruits Daphne Nunez (Campolindo High School, Moraga, Ca), Shameem Jamil (Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, Ca), Kelsey Russell (San Benito High School, San Benito, Ca) and Laura Dunn (Pioneer High School, San Jose, Ca) will be weighted on heavily to carry the offensive needs of the team early in the season. Other new comers who will figure to make immediate impacts include goalies June Afshar (Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, Ca) and Darya Sheikhrezai (Menlo-Atherton High School, Atherton, Ca), centers Molly Ryan (St. Ignatius Prep, San Francisco, Ca) & Amanda Virak (San Benito High School, San Benito, Ca) and defender Nicole Arnolde (Cupertino High School, Cupertino, Ca).
If you’re interested in playing water polo at Foothill College please email coach Bissell to set up an official visit to the college.
Fall 2009 Season Review
The Foothill Lady Owls concluded another winning season with two hard fought loss at the California Community College State Championships in Huntington Beach. First loss to then #1 Riverside, 11-3 & second a loss to eventual 2009 State Champion Golden West, 7-4. Despite ending the season with two losses the Owls finished 5th at the California State Championships, Runner-Up at the Northern California Championships and won it's third straight Coast Conference Championship. Quite a successful season, looking forward to next year!! If interested in being a part of the Lady Owls successes please contact Coach Bissell, (650) 949-7663.
Northern California Community College Championships
Over the weekend, November 13th & 14th, the Foothill Lady Owls strung together two hard fought, 6-5 victories, over American River College (quarterfinals) & Modesto (semifinals) to advance to the Northern California Community College Championship match versus Sierra College. A close match for two quarters, the Lady Owls could not keep up with Wolverines fast paced counter attack. The Owls ended up losing the game 11-4, finishing runner-up in the Northern California for the second time in six years. The second place finish qualified Foothill College for the State Community College Championships next weekend, November 19th-21st, at Golden West College in Huntington Beach.
Click here to see photos from Northern California Community College Championships.
2009 Coast Conference Championships
On Saturday, Nov 7th the Foothill College Women’s Water Polo Team won the Coast Conference Tournament & Championship Title with a hard fought 5-4 victory over Merced College. The game-winning goal was scored by Sophomore Tatiana Sheikhrezai with :03 left giving the Lady Owls its third Coast Conference Championship in a row and there fourth in the last 7 years. Freshman Kendall Preston (Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Ca) and sophomore Lauren Pye (Los Altos High School, Los Altos, Ca) were named to the All-Coast Conference Tournament Team.
Click here to see photos from Coast Conference Championships.
Fall 2009 Season Awards and Accomplishments -
| Kendall Preston | Northern California Co-Player of the Year Coast Conference Player of the Year 1st Team All-Northern California 1st Team All-Coast Conference All-American |
| Jen Sandstrom | 1st Team All-Northern California 1st Team All-Coast Conference All-American |
| Mara Blikslager | 2nd Team All-Northern California 1st Team All-Coast Conference |
| Lauren Pye | 2nd Team All-Coast Conference |
| Tatiana Sheikhrezai | 2nd Team All-Coast Conference |
| Melissa Sullivan | Coast Conference Honorable Mention |
| Susan Peck | Coast Conference Honorable Mention |
| Julia Sterling | Coast Conference Honorable Mention |
| Jeff Bissell | Northern California Co-Coach of the Year Coast Conference Coach of the Year |
Winter Water Polo 2010
These classes will be mostly skill development, conditioning and full court scrimmaging. It is open to high school seniors and women 18 & up. Classes will be held at the Foothill College pool. If you’re interested in playing for the Lady Owls in the fall of 2008, come on out and meet the team and play some polo this summer.