By Robert Nilsen
The Cypress College women's water polo team entered the season looking to improve under second year coach Jim Armstrong. After an 11 win season in 2015, the Chargers finished the 2016 season with a 7-20 overall record. The Chargers did see improvement in Orange Empire Conference play, finishing 2-6 after a winless 2015 campaign.
Nguyenly ended the season as the leading scorer with 38 goals. Hernandez was second with 32 goals, and Joana Marquez was third with 31 goals. Goalie Jovana Marquez led the Chargers with 110 saves and goalie Kelani Sun finished the season with 107 saves.
The Chargers lost their first two conference games of the season against Golden West and Saddleback. Next they went on to play at the Mt. SAC Tournament where they beat West Valley and El Camino, but lost to LA Valley and Long Beach City. Melissa Bell led the Chargers with 8 goals in the tournament.
The Chargers followed up the tournament with their first conference win of the season against Santa Ana College 12-3. Joana Marquez, Miranda Hernandez and Ailien Nguyenly each scored 3 goals for the Chargers. Next up the Chargers played in the San Diego Mesa Tournament. The Chargers went 1-3 with their only win coming against Southwestern College. Marquez led the Chargers with 8 goals in the tournament.
The Chargers struggled throughout October as they only won one game. They lost all four games at the Ventura Tournament, two of which were close losses to El Camino and San Diego Miramar. Following that they suffered conference losses to Orange Coast and Fullerton.
The Chargers concluded regular season play with the Battle at the Beach Tournament. They lost close games to Diablo Valley, Chaffey and Rio Hondo, but finished the tournament strong with a win against Southwestern College. Nguyenly led the Chargers with 8 goals in the tournament.
The Chargers finished with the Orange Empire Conference Championships. They lost their opening game to Fullerton, but rebounded with a win against Santa Ana to earn a spot in the 5th place game. Cypress finished in 6th place after losing to Saddleback.
Stay connected with the Chargers through social media. Follow Cypress College Athletics on Twitter @CypressChargers. Check in with the Chargers on Facebook/CypressChargers and on Instagram @CypressChargers.
