The Pasadena City College women's water polo team has two key players in returning All-South Coast Conference Second Team choice Luna Encinas and top freshman Marissa Granados as PCC opened the 2024 season on Wednesday.
A center, Encinatas was the team's leading scorer last year with 25 goals while Granados, a 5-foot-10 talent from Walnut High, has a strong arm and is outstanding on the defensive side of the pool.
In the team's 27-8, SCC and season-opening defeat v. Mt. San Antonio at the team's off-campus home pool of Pasadena Poly School, Encinatas scored four goals and used a sidearm whip and quick release to help her fight through a tough Mounties defense.
Granados college debut was a solid as she launched a team-high 10 shot attempts, scored two goals, dished out three assists and showed her defensive prowess with a game-high seven steals plus two field blocks.
"Luna worked hard in the offseason on her shooting approach as she will continue to be our team's go-to scorer," said PCC head coach Terry Stoddard. "Marissa is such a talented newcomer and does so many things in the pool well. As a defender, she is aggressive and can create steals. She's probably the best field blocker we've had since Ariahn Givens (2014-15 Lancers)."
Another returning letterman is utility player Emily Padilla, who scored two long-range goals in the opener, and added two steals.
The team's goalie is Rae Jiao, an international student from Bejing, China, who made five saves. Stoddard said that Jiao has made a quick adjustment to become the team's netminder after her previous playing experience was in the field.
The rest of the team is made up of freshmen as attacker Daisy Reynoso (Downtown Magnet HS), utility player Alondra Vazquez (Maywood Academy) and attacker Angelina Dominguez (Monrovia) each tallied an assist in the opener.
Hannah Solis (utility, Azusa HS) and two Mark Keppel High products and utllity players--Jingxuan Chen and Shufang Zhang--round out the roster.
The Lancers play the state's #1-ranked team at Long Beach City College next Wednesday, Sept. 25 in a 3 p.m. conference contest.
