Vaqueros cruise past Santa Monica, 11-4

Lily Riley and Erika Meuhring recorded hat tricks on Wednesday and No. 1 SBCC cruised to an 11-4 women's water polo win at Santa Monica.

The Vaqueros won their fifth in a row to improve to 18-1 overall and 5-0 in the WSC. It was their 28th straight WSC victory.

Emma Kopp added two goals and Riley had two assists. Haunani Bautista had four steals and scored her first college goal to cap off a 4-0 first quarter. SBCC led 5-0 at halftime and took a 10-2 lead in the third quarter on Kopp's second goal.

Melisa Walk got the start in goal and made four saves to improve to 6-0. Emma Fraser, the state's leading scorer, played goalie for the last three quarters and made three saves.

"Haunani got her first goal and made four steals in the first half," said coach Chuckie Roth. "We look forward to preparing for the Long Beach Tournament. I am proud of our girls' dedication and improvement this season."

Santa Barbara will play four games in Long Beach's Battle at the Beach on Oct. 19-20. The Vaqueros open against Palomar on Friday, Oct. 19 at Cerritos College at 8 a.m. SBCC is in the "A Bracket" with Golden West, Cerritos and Palomar.