Wolverines Capture Program’s 16th Conference Title

The Wolverines entered the Big 8 Conference Championships, seeded second behind

American River College, with a 4-2 conference record. They received a bye in the first round

to automatically make the semi-finals, where they would face San Joaquin Delta College

Mustangs, whom the Wolverines bested 14-11 two weeks prior.

During the game against the Mustangs, the Wolverines were tied after the first quarter, 3-3,

with goals from Liz Rhodes, Makenna Perez, and Jane Lubiens. The Wolverines would then

score three more goals, with two from Perez and one from Kahu Arama, to lead the

Mustangs at halftime, 6-4. Next quarter, three more goals were added from Perez, Lubiens,

and Raegan Chavez before heading into the fourth quarter, leading 9-7. With two goals

added to Perez's combined total of six, the Wolverines would hold off the Mustangs in an

11-9 win in the semi-finals to put them back in a familiar spot for the Wolverines. The

Championship game would be played the next day against a well-known opponent, the

American River College Beavers.

Entering the Championship game, these two teams had some history. Leading up to this

game, they would play three times over the course of the season. The Wolverines would

drop the first game of Conference play to the Beavers, only to pick up two wins against

them in tournament play. For the fourth time, and arguably the most important, the

Wolverines and Beavers would face off for the Big 8 Conference Championship title. With

goals from Rhodes and Perez, the Wolverines would find themselves back in a corner, being

down 2-4 at the end of the first quarter. Allie Nihart, Lubiens, and Chavez would step up to

the plate to add tallies on the board for the Wolverines and lessen the gap going into

halftime, 5-6. With a half-time speech from Head Coach Jake Hastie, the Wolverines

entered the second half hungry and ready to compete. Perez and Chavez would find the

back of the net against the Beavers, and Savannah Campos would make crucial saves to

hold the Beavers to one goal in the third quarter. Going into the fourth quarter, with the

game tied 7-7 and the Conference Championship title on the line, Lubiens would add a

point for the Wolverines, and the Beavers would put one more up for themselves. In the

final minute of the game, the ball would be entered into Perez, who was double-teamed in

the center position. She would maintain possession of the ball with a foul and pass the ball

to Arama, who was wide open on the outside. With one hard fake, Arama would loft the ball

over the Beavers' goalkeeper and find the back of the net. With 54 seconds remaining,

Perez and Campos would make a combined effort to regain possession of the ball, wherethe Wolverines would hold the ball for the clock to run out. The final buzzer would sound,

leaving the Wolverines to reign victorious and become the 2025 Big 8 Conference

Champions.

The Wolverines headed home with their 3rd consecutive and 16th overall Conference Title

in Women's Water Polo at Sierra College. In the first year as Head Coach for the Women's

team, Jake Hastie would help secure his first Conference title on the Women's side and

earn his team the first seed going into the Northern California Regional Championships.