Women's Water Polo Concludes Successful 2009 Season

Pomona Pitzer Colleges finished the 2009 season by winning its fifth Collegiate III Championship at Cal Lutheran.  The Sagehens finished the tournament going 5-0, defeating the University of Redlands, 10-5 in the championship game.

Junior Sarah Woods was named tournament Most Valuable Player and senior Nicole Ruesch was selected 1st Team All-Tournament.  Senior Janelle Gyorffy and junior Naneh Apkarian were selected as honorable mentions.  

On Friday, May 1, the Sagehens opened tournament play against California State East Bay.  The Sagehens pulled away in the third quarter with four consecutive goals, leading to a final score of 11-4. Leading the way for Pomona-Pitzer were Tamara Perea and Perri Hopkins, each with two goals.  The Sagehens had great balance with nine different scores in the game, while goalkeeper Dana Kingman recorded 10 saves.

In the second game of the day, Pomona-Pitzer defeated Washington & Jefferson, 15-12.  Nicole Ruesch had three goals and Naneh Apkarian registered two. Goalkeeper Olivia Callender-Scott finished with four saves.

On Saturday, Pomona-Pitzer faced long-time rival University of Redlands.  The game was close until the fourth quarter when the Sagehens pulled away.  With the score 6-5, Sarah Woods scored at the seven-minute mark in the fourth quarter and sealed the game with a goal in the final minute of play.  Woods finished with three goals. 

In the semi-finals, the Sagehens defeated conference foe Occidental by a score of 9-6.  Naneh Apkarian played strong on both ends, finishing with three goals and three steals.  This was the fourth meeting of the year for these two schools, with each contest a battle to the end.

On Sunday, Pomona Pitzer again met the University of Redlands.  The Bulldogs had defeated UC Santa Cruz in the other semi-final, 9-7.  The Sagehens came out strong, building a 3-1 lead in the first quarter.  Sarah Woods tied the game at one with 3:11 remaining.  Annie Oxborough-Yankus scored on an extra-man advantage at 1:55 and Nicole Ruesch ended the quarter with a counter-attack goal.  Naneh Apkarian continued her strong play with three more goals and two steals.  Sara Woods finished a great tournament with a goal, three steals and four ejections drawn.  The final score was 10-5, giving Pomona Pitzer their fifth Collegiate III championship (1993, 1994, 2003, 2005, and 2009).  The Sagehens ended the season 29-8.